Knife Sharpening Company Adds Drop Box at Outpost
Customers can incorporate sharpening with their grocery shopping. Also available at Enlightened Brewing.
The Sharpening Company drop box at Outpost Natural Foods. Photo courtesy of Cody Berg.
There’s rarely a dull moment for small businesses as entrepreneurs work to tackle new challenges and seize opportunities for growth.
That’s especially true for Cody Berg, founder of The Sharpening Company, who spends his days bouncing between restaurants to deliver freshly-sharpened knives, completing projects for home cooks and — during the warmer months — toting his sharpening equipment to local farmers markets and businesses. That’s not to mention the day-to-day responsibilities of operating a small — but growing — company.
“Knife sharpening is, when it comes down to it, a very small part of the whole business,” Berg said. “Whether it’s going on sales calls or doing graphics or coordinating product deliveries.”
But there’s no doubt that out of all Berg’s responsibilities, sharpening is his favorite. “A lot of people work jobs where you don’t actually see the benefit of what you’re doing for days or weeks or even months to come,” he said. “But I really enjoy working with my hands and seeing that transformation.”
It also doesn’t hurt that his customers are overwhelmingly satisfied. “100% of people that I work with are happy to see me,” he said.
Heading into the winter months, Berg will transition the business away from his outdoor pop-ups, focusing instead on drop-box services and a growing portfolio of restaurant clients.
The drop boxes, with two locations in Bay View, enable customers to deposit their kitchen knives, scissors, gardening tools and other dull blades, then pick them up — freshly sharpened — from the same location at a later date.
Berg gathers the orders and runs them through his three-step sharpening process. That includes honing the dull blade using 320-grit sandpaper and a belt sander, removing burrs and finishing off with a good polish on a cotton wheel.
He fits the razor-sharp blades with disposable sheaths and wraps them in newspaper, tucks in a bandaid and a fridge magnet and sticks the whole parcel into a paper bag, which customers can pick up from the drop-site.
The model is meant to maximize efficiency. “From start to finish, we make it pretty easy,” said Berg, noting that customers can easily incorporate knife sharpening into their daily errands.
Berg maintains a drop box at Enlightened Brewing Company, 2020 S. Allis St. A second box was recently installed at Outpost Natural Foods, 2826 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
The drop-boxes operate 24 hours per day. For a video demonstration and step-by-step instructions on how to use the boxes, visit The Sharpening Company online.
Those who use the Outpost drop-box during the month of November will be entered to win a $50 gift card to the grocery store.
In the coming months, Berg will also put his efforts towards expanding partnerships with local restaurants. The company’s unique knife exchange program allows partnered establishments to work collaboratively with Berg in order to pick out a set of knives that fit the needs of the business. The Sharpening Company then supplies two sets of knives, which are regularly rotated to ensure that the restaurant is always equipped with sharp knives.
“It’s just a quick switch and it just takes a couple minutes,” he said. “The only reason you’ll know that I’ve been there is because your knives are all sharp.”
Berg currently works with 10 establishments including DanDan, Lebnani House, Sabrosa Cafe and Gallery and Milwaukee Sail Loft. Restaurateurs who are interested in working with The Sharpening Company can inquire online.
The sharpening entrepreneur is not a big fan of talking about himself, he said, but his enthusiasm and experience speaks for itself. Since he started sharpening in high school, Berg has encountered a wide variety of blades, whether that’s everyday kitchen knives and gardening tools or specialty items such as throwing stars, swords or a great-grandparents’ hunting dagger.
He’s seen it all, and assures potential customers that their blades are in good hands. In fact, they may even return better than new.
As for at-home sharpening, Berg said it’s not worth the risk. “You can cut your own hair,” he said, as an analogy. “Is your hair gonna be cut? Yeah. Is it going to look nice, is it going to work well and gonna feel good?”
“Paying someone to professionally do your knives is ensuring that you’re not only going to get an excellent finished product, but you’re also going to take away the guesswork from what you’re doing,” he said.
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