Auk's $239 Mini 2 Countertop Garden Wins 2026 Design Award

A $239 countertop garden from Norwegian brand Auk just won a 2026 European Product Design Award in the Kitchen Appliances category — a jury-judged international competition spanning more than 800 categories. The Mini 2, designed in Oslo by Johan Schreiner, Jostein Kvitvang, Magnus Bjørnstad and Didrik Dimmen, is the sequel to Auk's best-selling Auk Mini. It grows herbs, salad greens, chilies and tomatoes from seed on a kitchen counter, all year.

The launch lands amid grocery prices that run roughly 35% higher than in 2019. Prices have cooled, but they never came back down — and the herb aisle still charges luxury rates for a handful of leaves. Auk's answer is a smaller, wetter version of the victory garden. During World War II, Americans planted millions of victory gardens in backyards, vacant lots and rooftops, and by most estimates those plots supplied roughly 40% of the country's fresh vegetables. The Mini 2 shrinks that effort to four pots of basil beside the coffee maker.

What changed from the first model?

Auk's own math calls the unit 12% smaller than the original Auk Mini. The footprint drops from 17.5 x 8.5 in to 16.9 x 7.5 in. Yet the tank holds 0.9 gallons on the first fill — 25% more water than before, which means fewer refill trips. Longer dowels and wider Big Plant Pots, bundled in a chili and tomato kit, let the Mini 2 grow fruiting plants too. The base price sits at $239.

How does Auk solve the grow-light glare problem?

Anyone who has shared a kitchen with a grow light knows the plants aren't the only ones getting lit. The Mini 2 fixes that with an optical lens system that aims light down at the leaves instead of spraying it across the room. Auk's spec sheet lists output between 300 and 1,000 µmol/m²/s of PPFD depending on mode — the number plants actually care about. Average power draw runs from about 5 W in slow mode to 17 W in fruit and vegetable mode. That's somewhere between a night light and a modest LED bulb, so the electric bill barely flinches.

The move echoes a longer Scandinavian tradition. Poul Henningsen's PH lamps for Louis Poulsen in the 1920s hid the bulb behind layered shades so light landed where people needed it. The Mini 2 carries that instinct into horticulture. It contrasts with Lettuce Grow's Counterstand and Glow Lamp, which tames its grow light by tuning the color temperature until it looks warm. Auk controls where the light goes; Lettuce Grow controls what the light looks like when it arrives.

Why does it read as furniture?

A wraparound sleeve of FSC-certified, oil-treated European wood — walnut, oak, beech or ash — rolls around softly radiused corners, with flush seams. Two 0.63-in wooden dowels hold up a light bar made from 100% recycled Norwegian aluminum, its ribbed top borrowing the look of heat-sink fins. The base and pots are recyclable ABS plastic. Even the 5.9-ft braided USB-C cable comes in green. Five colorways, from Espresso Walnut to Sage Ash, let it slip into a moody dark kitchen or a pale Scandinavian one.

Does a $239 garden beat the produce aisle?

A clamshell of basil runs about $3.50. Buy one a week, and the Mini 2's price covers roughly 68 of them — about 16 months of Sunday-night pesto. Auk lists monthly consumption at 3.6 to 12.2 kWh, which works out to a dollar or two at typical US electricity rates. Seeds, coco fiber and nutrients add a little, so treat 16 months as the friendly estimate. After that, every snip is free basil.

Unlike pod-based systems such as Click & Grow, the Mini 2 grows from any seeds in coco fiber, with no pump and no pods. An optional Bluetooth app handles light cycles and modes, and Slow Mode keeps plants from outgrowing the light while you're on vacation. Orders are open at Auk's site, and the first basil is about four to five weeks out.