Are you familiar with these often angrily shouted household queries like, "Honey, did you forget the milk…again?"All-American Makers.All-American Makers is the celebration of makers in America," he said. "The fact that there's a show that celebrates entrepreneurship in a reality TV format is inspiring to makers of any age, and encourages anyone to learn about science and dream big."All-American Makers' diligence in testing GeniCan's claims on the show makes winning the investment "a true honor and validation."The Newtown Bee that the biggest challenge for the team was striking the right balance between functionality and price. That price point is currently $99 after the available $20 discount.genican.com.

Thanks to Newtowner and inventor Rob Griffin and colleague Dave Pestka, their innovative GeniCan helps ensure the stuff you want or use most is always at the top of your grocery list.

Their small, low-profile electronic scanning device is in production now, and anyone preordering the invention through Mr Griffin's genican.com website will receive a $20 discount for being among the first to take home the nifty little gadget.

Mr Griffin and Mr Pestka have been refining the GeniCan's design and readying it for market for nearly two years. But the duo recently received a major prelaunch boost when GeniCan earned an investment from venture capitalist Marc Portney on the Science Channel's hit show

In the hourlong episode, GeniCan was put through a series of rigorous tests by hardware startup experts Brook Drumm and Brian Roe. After moving on to a challenging focus group and an in-depth session with an expert in industrial design, GeniCan proved its mettle and came out on top, Mr Griffin said in a release.

"I think the biggest takeaway from

Mr Pestka observed that

"Marc's expertise and investment is going to go a long way to bringing GeniCan to market," Mr Pestka added.

The GeniCan team also came away from their show experience with valuable advice on ways to improve the product. One such suggestion was a redesign to give GeniCan a sleeker, more modern look.

Heeding that advice, the GeniCan team immediately hired industrial creative firm Evo Design to give the product an updated look and feel that visitors can see at genican.com.

Mr Griffin told

"There are some really costly items in the device, but we wanted to hit a number that would help get as many of these into as many people's homes as possible," Mr Griffin said.

In a November 2015 blog, Mr Griffin recants the humble beginnings of the GeniCan story.

"I used to get a lot of texts from my wife while she was at the store. 'Hey can you send me a pic of the grocery list?' Talking with friends made me realize that leaving the grocery list at home was an issue for other shoppers too," Mr Griffin wrote. "Then there's the issue of going to the store without a complete list, which means coming home without those things that never got added to the list. I knew there was a problem to solve here and with IoT [Internet of Things] and 'smart' homes becoming a reality, it seemed like now was the time."

Besides GeniCan's availability, Mr Griffin said there are several major retailers jockeying to add the product to their retail shelves.

So how does it actually work?

"First and most importantly, GeniCan doesn't record every barcode you recycle or throw away," Mr Griffin explained. "You have to either [initially] scan it or talk to it. It's literally a point in time reordering system."

Besides negotiating with retailers to sell their invention, Mr Griffin is also working with other service providers that would access GeniCan data to literally reorder, ship, and deliver your most-used items as you run out.

"So if your on the last few squeezes of your catsup bottle, you scan it into GeniCan and by the time you run out, our partner will have delivered you a fresh bottle - possibly in as little as a day or two," he said. "Every time GeniCan sees or hears you tell it 'reorder catsup,' it sends out the order for delivery."

The device also interfaces with a mobile and computer application that parks a real-time list on the cloud so if dad is popping into the store when coming home from work, he can see that mom already picked up a tub of his favorite ice cream a few hours earlier.

For preordering information or details about GeniCan, visit