Microplane

Microplane is an American manufacturing brand known for exceptionally sharp stainless-steel tools, including a personal-care range of foot files used to remove calluses and dead skin. It is a division of Grace Manufacturing Inc., a metal photo-etching company based in Russellville, Arkansas [2]. The brand remains active, selling its culinary, woodworking and foot-care lines through a live storefront and multi-channel global distribution.

Although Microplane is best known for kitchen graters and zesters, the same precision rasp technology underpins its beauty footprint: a dedicated foot-file and buffer line marketed for smooth feet. The company describes these tools as designed to remove calluses and dead skin and deliver "professional-grade results at home."

Microplane grew out of Grace Manufacturing, a precision metal-etching shop the Grace family established in the 1960s. The underlying tool — a chemically etched wood rasp — was invented in Russellville, Arkansas, and sources differ on the details. Only In Arkansas and Wikipedia credit brothers Richard and Jeff Grace with inventing the rasp around 1990 [6], while the parent company's own corporate history dates the invention to 1991 and credits Richard Grace alone [7].

The kitchen business began by accident. According to Microplane, a Canadian home cook, frustrated with a dull grater, picked up the woodworking tool to zest an orange for a cake and found it worked remarkably well [1]. The corporate account adds that the Canadian woodworking retailer Lee Valley Tools recognised the same dual use, helping launch the tool into the culinary market in 1994 [7].

The brand's commercial breakthrough came in 1999, when a New York Times article about the zester prompted cooks Julia Child and Martha Stewart to buy Microplanes, fuelling a surge of interest that led to a dedicated kitchen division [6].

The personal-care line emerged later and, again, unexpectedly. The company says it began receiving calls about women using its kitchen graters as foot files "and having remarkable results," and responded by developing a foot file built for salons [6]. Microplane states it marked its 25th anniversary in 2019, dating the kitchen brand's founding to 1994 [1] — distinct from the earlier invention date of the rasp itself.

Microplane operates as a division of Grace Manufacturing Inc. In 2018 the Grace family sold the company to its workforce, creating a trust under which employees own 100% of the business [7]. The company is now 100% employee-owned through an employee stock ownership plan, which it describes as giving staff a financial stake in the company [2].

What distinguishes Microplane's tools is the manufacturing method. Rather than the stamped-metal process used by many competitors, the company uses photo-etching — a chemical process it says "defines and sharpens the edge of each tooth" to produce sharper, longer-lasting blades [1]. The manufacturing process was patented and the Microplane name trademarked [7]. The chemically etched blades are still made in the United States, with assembly carried out at a company-owned facility in Mexico [1].

Within personal care, Microplane's foot-care range includes the Original Foot File, the Colossal Foot File, the Sole Surfer Foot File and the XL Pro 2-in-1 Foot File and Foot Buffer System, alongside buffing pads and replacement cartridges. The foot file carries the tagline "Transform your soles" and, per editorial coverage, features 95 small files intended to exfoliate skin and remove calluses [6].

Microplane's wider recognition stems largely from its culinary tools. The 1999 New York Times article and the subsequent endorsements from Julia Child and Martha Stewart are frequently cited in coverage of the brand's rise [6].

Microplane is an active, established manufacturer. It maintains a live e-commerce storefront and continues to sell a current personal-care foot-file and pedicure range in addition to its core culinary and woodworking lines, with global distribution that includes the Nordic market.