06/04/2020 08.00 am

Germany’s doodling king is Walter Hanel. Since he found the German “Beer Coaster Queen” – The KATZ Group – nothing stands in the way of the triumphant procession of the doodle coaster as a game and also as an employment opportunity (if it is not to be the smartphone). The doodle coaster not only allows you to enjoy the benefits of doo-dling. According to Walter Hanel, it is also an ideal tool and toy for more creativity, com-munication and cooperation between young and old. It is a reminiscence of the old slate tablet – and therefore really nice and retro.

The beverage coaster, a quasi “gastronomic cultural asset”, meets the impression of a blackboard, chalk and a sponge as a doodle coaster. Everything is practically packed in a small slipcase. The chalk can be used to write, paint or simply doodle on the twelve black-painted doodle coasters. If you like, you can draw your own tic-tac-toe and play alone. Walter Hanel, successful book and game author had the idea for the doodle coaster in a restaurant: “I saw how a family with two children fell completely silent be-cause everyone sat at the restaurant table bent over their smartphones. It was a sad scene that I wanted to resolve,” he recalls. The beverage coasters in front of him on the table inspired him – the Internet research led him to The KATZ Group. There he found the right product, a 300-year-old company history that impressed him, and a team that inspired him: “The materials for the beverage coasters are pure spruce wood and water, and KATZ is also a role model in terms of sustainability in production.”

With Olaf Müller, Walter Hanel had a contact person at The KATZ Group who immediate-ly set product development in motion: “We quickly developed a solution for coating our groundwood board to meet the demands on the doodle coasters. Black paint and a special varnish result in a finish that allows scribbling with chalk and cleaning with a dry sponge,” explains the KATZ Sales Manager.  According to Müller, the raw material of the doodle lid does not differ from that of the beverage coaster: “Groundwood pulp board from KATZ has been produced in the middle of the Black Forest for more than 100 years. It consists of thinning wood, which the company obtains from a maximum distance of 200 km, natural starch and water.” A closed-loop recycling system, a sophisticated heat recovery system and a closed water cycle show that the subsidiary of the Koehler Paper Group from Oberkirch not only has an idea of, but also a strategy for sustainability.

For Walter Hanel, who has already placed a successful game on the market with “Im Kritzeln eine 1” (engl.: Number one in doodling), the doodle coaster is the slate tablet of the 21st century – but with more charm, creative potential and in a new guise: “On the back of the card, impulses can be written which are then converted into doodles – a wonderfully playful combination of natural material, learned format and an invitation to become creative. Scribbling as such defies any evaluation from the outset and is particu-larly fun for the children, as we have found in tests in schools and kindergartens.” And: The doodle coaster is so much fun that even the smartphone can be left alone for a while.