by NAIPO
CalmConcept by NAIPO
We are building the machine behind a very old gesture.
CalmConcept develops devices that dispense a warm or ice-cold towel at the touch of a button. Individually, freshly, without a warming cabinet or laundry. Developed and tested for over two years in real-world operations in Hamburg.
- Developed in Hamburg
- Tried and tested in restaurant operations for two years
- Hot and ice-cold from one device
There was no good solution. So we built one.
A warm towel before a meal is commonplace in Japan. In Germany, it's lacking due to the necessary technology.
Those who still wanted to offer it had three options. The warming cabinet, in which pre-made sheets lay for hours. The laundry cycle with cloth sheets, collection, and fabric softener. Or the import of a machine from Japan or the USA, without spare parts and without anyone to call.
None of these approaches are suitable for a German company. CalmConcept is the fourth.
Why a cloth in particular?
A towel is the smallest conceivable service. It takes almost no time, requires no explanation, and arrives at the moment when the guest least expects it.
That's precisely why it works. Anyone who receives a warm towel knows that someone has put some thought into it. In summer, the same device with ice cubes, then ice cold.
CalmConcept turns this gesture into something that a business can repeat a hundred times a day without anyone having to go to the laundry.
What NAIPO is
NAIPO originates from massage technology. Developed between Hamburg and Shenzhen since 2016, massage chairs are the company's main product and the source of its expertise: mechanics, materials, controls, and software.
This includes dedicated spaces. The first store opened in Hamburg in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, and was conceived from the outset as both a retail space and a testing ground. Today, NAIPO can be experienced in over 40 cities across Germany.
The Plus X Award named NAIPO Best Brand of the Year in 2025, in addition to the Red Dot and iF Design Awards.
How CalmConcept became
At NAIPO, there's a principle that predates CalmConcept: We don't just develop our technology, we operate it. A sold armchair disappears into the living room, and you only hear about it again when something goes wrong. An armchair in your own space, however, is in constant use, right before your eyes.
That's precisely how CalmConcept came about. Anyone who runs a space where guests are received and treated will eventually encounter the question of the perfect warm towel. And they won't find a good answer.
A massage chair manufacturer doesn't build a fabric machine by chance. He builds it because he knows where it's needed.
Developed in Hamburg, tested in operation
- January 2024The Kofookoo restaurant in Hamburg is integrating CalmConcept into its regular service. From this point on, the decision is made not by the workshop, but by the guest.
- 2024The device is also running daily in our own store in HafenCity. We don't sell anything we don't use ourselves every day.
- January 2026Two years of daily operation at Kofookoo have been evaluated. Two years in which every guest has received their towel.
- TodayCalmConcept is used by Mr. Cao in Hamburg, by massage therapists and in medical practices. And in a compact form on the counter at home.
Two years of continuous operation is no longer a prototype.
A device in a showroom says little. One that runs every evening for two years in a packed restaurant says everything.
Kofookoo Hamburg operated CalmConcept as part of its regular service from January 2024 to January 2026. Simultaneously, the same device ran daily in our own store in HafenCity. Two operations, two processes, the same question every day: Will it hold up, and will it disrupt service?
This period is the reason why devices look the way they do today.
What we develop according to
Four basic principles. They explain why the devices are built the way they are and not otherwise.
- Fresh instead of stockedEach towel is created only at the moment of distribution. No one has touched it beforehand; nothing lies warm for hours. This replaces the need to build a warming cabinet.
- Tap water onlyNo chemicals, no cartridges, no supplies other than the wipes themselves. What a business doesn't have to order can't run out of.
- Hot and cold from one applianceHot in winter, freezing cold with ice cubes in summer. An appliance that only fits for half the year gets in the way the other half.
- Into the process, not beside itThe service staff doesn't have a second to spare. One button, one cloth, on to the next. Anything that requires training isn't used in everyday practice.
Anything not on this list, we will not include.
One gesture, surprisingly many places
It started at the dining table. It didn't stay there.
Restaurants offer hot towels after meals. Hotels use them at reception when someone arrives after a long journey. Spas and beauty salons use hot compresses for the face and neck. Barbers have always used hot towels before shaving, just without a laundry basket behind them. Massage therapists apply them before and after treatments. In medical practices, the most important thing is that no one has touched the towel beforehand.
And at home, the same principle turns a dinner into an occasion.
One idea led to the development of several devices.
A restaurant with a hundred guests in the evening needs something different than a beauty salon with eight appointments. And both need something different than a sideboard in the living room.
That's why CalmConcept comes in several sizes. The principle remains the same in all of them: tap water in, towel out, warm or cold.
Where is this going?
In Japan, nobody asks why a cloth exists. It's simply there.
That is precisely the goal for Europe. Not as a Japanese imitation, but as a natural part of how we welcome, treat, and care for guests. A niche becomes the norm when someone makes the technology so simple that no one even notices it anymore.
We're working on it.
Discover CalmConcept
An overview of all models, from devices for full service to compact ones for home use. Try them out in Hamburg at Am Grasbrookpark 1 and Ballindamm 2-3.
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