HORL and #tide: Joining Forces to Craft Precision and Protect Our Oceans

When it comes to simple ideas that are brilliantly executed, HORL is definitely a leader in its field. The family-owned company, based in the Black Forest in Germany, started with a single goal: to make it easy for everyone to sharpen their own knives.

Eight years ago, founders Otmar Horl and his son Timo presented a world's first: a rolling knife sharpener called the HORL. Whether you are a professional chef or an ambitious home cook, you now had the means to take care of their most important tools. The HORL quickly found fans all over the world. What started as a small outfit has grown into a fully fledged global e-commerce operation. HORL now employs more than 70 people and sells in 45 countries.

Now they have introduced the third generation of their knife sharpener, the HORL3. A completely redesigned, new and improved version of the product that made them the world leader in their industry.

The HORL3 comes in three versions, and the one we want to focus on is the HORL3 Cruise. While it's predecessors were made of wood, the makers of HORL new wanted to try something new. The HORL3 Cruise is crafted from #tide ocean material®, more specifically from #tide's recycled ocean-bound polypropylene pellets. It's sand-like finish is an aesthetically pleasing reminder of the material's origin.

Historically, wood was the material of choice for HORL. Using plastic is a bold move, but the origin of #tide ocean material gives this tool with a new purpose. These rolling knife sharpeners are built to last a lifetime. Reusing a material that was once destined to pollute the environment for decades is a logical choice that makes all the sense in the world.

At a product presentation in the Black Forest, Julian Ruf, who's leading Manufacturing and R&D at HORL, explained the design process: "For us, the best plastic is the one that already exists. Using virgin plastic was never an option for us. That's why we looked for a solution using recycled plastic." The material had to meet two strict requirements: Quality and transparency," explains Julian Ruf.

"We decided in favour of #tide ocean material because our tests showed that the quality of the material meets our extremely high requirements."
Julian Ruf, Manufacturing and R&D Director at HORL

"At the same time, we demanded the greatest possible transparency about the origin of the material, which we got with #tide."

Being engineers and designers at heart, the people at HORL have a hand-on approach to product development. "It is important to us to work with partners from the region. With #tide, we have a partner very close to us, people we can look in the eye and talk to on site. We share the same values and have the confidence that we can rely on #tide 100%", says Ruf.