Monkey Business Gifts: The Brand Behind Your Favourite Kitchen Gadgets

Monkey Business gifts have a habit of turning up in the least expected places — tucked into a stocking, hiding at the bottom of a Kris Kringle pile, sitting on a colleague's desk for three years because nobody's ever managed to get rid of it. That staying power isn't an accident. Monkey Business is an international product design studio with a simple, stubborn philosophy: everyday objects don't have to be boring to be good at their job. A wine stopper can look like it's wearing a tiny beanie. A pair of kitchen tongs can be built to King Kong scale. A drain strainer can be shaped like a shark fin cutting through the sink. None of that cleverness comes at the expense of function — which is the actual reason these pieces keep getting given as gifts, year after year, rather than fading out after one novelty Christmas.

For anyone searching for Monkey Business kitchen gadgets in Australia, or trying to track down a specific Monkey Business gift for a birthday, housewarming or Secret Santa, the appeal usually comes down to the same thing: these are genuinely useful objects that also happen to make people laugh out loud when they unwrap them. That combination is harder to pull off than it sounds. A lot of novelty gifts are novelty first and useful never; Monkey Business built an entire design studio around refusing to make that trade-off, which is why their gadgets end up living on kitchen benches and desks long after the wrapping paper's in the recycling.

This guide walks through the Monkey Business range available at Quirksy — sorted the way real households actually use it, from wine rituals to kitchen prep to desk chaos — with the buying logic behind each pick, a proper guide to choosing well, and answers to the questions we get asked most about the brand.

How to Choose a Monkey Business Gift

The gap between a Monkey Business gift that gets used every single day and one that ends up in a drawer usually comes down to one thing: matching the object to an actual habit, not just the funniest shape on the shelf. Someone who opens a bottle of wine most nights will get real, repeated use out of a proper stopper. Someone who barely drinks won't, no matter how good the beanie looks. The same logic applies to the kitchen gadgets — a genuine cook will use a Karoto or a Cucumbo constantly, while someone who orders in five nights a week is better suited to something desk-based or a small fridge or pantry fix instead.

Build quality is the second thing worth checking before anything else. Monkey Business products are designed by an actual industrial design studio, not stamped out as throwaway novelty plastic — look for food-safe silicone on anything that touches food, BPA-free materials on kitchen tools, and a stopper or seal that's actually airtight rather than just shaped like one. The good pieces in this range are dishwasher-safe, hold up to daily use, and still look sharp after a year on the bench, which is the real test of whether a gift was worth giving.

The most common mistake is buying purely for the laugh and skipping the second question: will they actually use this? A second lemon squeezer for someone who already owns one isn't a win just because this one looks like a piece of pasta. Equally worth avoiding is treating every Monkey Business pick as a stocking-stuffer — some of the range genuinely earns a spot as the main gift, not just the add-on, and pricing it that way, rather than defaulting to the cheapest option in the range, usually lands better.

The Wine Ritual Keeper

It doesn't matter what's in the glass tonight — there's a whole routine around opening it, and a proper stopper is a genuine part of that ceremony, not an afterthought.

Beanie Wine Stopper Set – Monkey Business, $34.95 – three tiny beanie-topped stoppers that seal a bottle airtight while looking like they're dressed for a snowfield regardless of the season. They're a genuinely popular pick for wine lovers because they double as a talking point at the table, not just a cork replacement, and the set of three means there's always a spare for whichever bottle gets opened next.

Karl Corkers Classic Nutcracker – Monkey Business, $14.95 – a solid, no-nonsense stopper shaped like a nutcracker soldier standing guard over the bottle, looking mildly threatening in the nicest possible way. It's an easy, well-priced pick for a Kris Kringle or a small thank-you gift, and it seals just as properly as it looks the part.

Bowler Bottle Stoppers 2-Pack – Monkey Business, $34.95 – a pair of bowler-hatted stoppers that are, genuinely, sharper-dressed than the bottle they're sealing. The two-pack makes it a natural gift for a couple or a household that gets through more than one bottle a week, and the silicone seal holds pressure properly rather than just looking the part.

The Kitchen Comedian

Cooking is half the job in this house. Making everyone laugh while dinner's on the stove is the other half, and this lot pulls double duty on both fronts.

King Tong Kitchen Tongs – Monkey Business, $29.95 – built to King Kong scale, because regular tongs have never once made anyone laugh in the history of kitchens. They're full-length underneath the joke, with a solid grip that handles a barbecue or a roast tray properly, so the size is a genuine upgrade for anyone who cooks in bulk, not just a gag.

Sinkfin Sharkfin Drain Strainer – Monkey Business, $24.95 – a shark fin slicing through the sink, catching everything nobody wants to discuss over dinner. It's a small, cheap, extremely practical gift for someone who's just moved into a new kitchen, and it solves a genuine daily annoyance while looking a lot better sitting in a sink than a standard strainer ever will.

Juice Bruce Lemon Squeezer – Monkey Business, $29.95 – does its actual job properly, looks absolutely ridiculous doing it, and gets the correct citrus-to-pulp ratio every time. It suits anyone who cooks with lemon or lime regularly — cocktails, dressings, baking — and it's sturdy enough that it doesn't crack or seize up the way cheaper squeezers tend to after a few months.

Spredo Butter Spreader & Salt Shaker – Monkey Business, $14.95 – a butter spreader with a built-in salt shaker in the handle, aimed squarely at whoever always wants a pinch of salt on buttered toast. It's a genuinely clever two-in-one design rather than a gimmick bolted onto an existing tool, and at under $15 it's an easy add to a larger gift or a strong stocking-filler on its own.

The Prep-Work Perfectionist

This one cares how the vegetables get cut, not just that they eventually get cut. These upgrade the boring twenty minutes before anyone else even shows up to help cook.

Karoto Veggie Slicer & Peeler – Monkey Business, $29.95 – shaped like a carrot, and peels absolutely everything except carrots with real precision, from potatoes to zucchini. The ergonomic handle makes it a genuine daily-use tool for anyone who preps vegetables often, not just a shelf decoration, and it suits a keen home cook far better than a purely decorative pick.

Cucumbo Spiral Vegetable Slicer – Monkey Business, $14.95 – turns a zucchini into noodles in under five seconds, no exaggeration needed. It's an easy, low-cost gift for anyone experimenting with lower-carb cooking or just wanting more vegetables into a meal without much extra effort, and it's compact enough to store in a single drawer.

Conchiglie Pasta Lemon Squeezer – Monkey Business, $24.95 – shell-shaped, catches every pip, and does the actual job of a lemon squeezer better than most straightforward ones on the market. It's a strong pick for someone who already owns the basics and wants a kitchen gadget with real personality on the bench, and it holds up well to regular use rather than being a one-season novelty.

The Desk-and-Home Organiser

Everything has a designated place, and they will find that place today, thank you very much. This section is small, clever fixes for small, specific annoyances that build up over months.

Ginger Screen Hook – Monkey Business, $19.95 – clips to a monitor and holds headphones, ending the desk-cable chaos in one small move. It's an easy, inexpensive gift for anyone who works from home or spends most of the day at a desk, and it's sturdy enough to hold a decent pair of over-ear headphones without slipping off.

Oh Pen Magnetic Note Holder Pen – Monkey Business, $7.95 – a pen that also pins the note it just wrote straight to the fridge, thanks to a small magnet built into the barrel. At under $8 it's one of the easiest add-on gifts in the whole range, genuinely useful for shopping lists and reminders rather than sitting in a drawer unused.

Store Stick Paper Clip Holder – Monkey Business, $9.95 – magnetic, weirdly satisfying to use, and ends the "where did all the paper clips go" mystery for good. It suits anyone with a home office or a desk that collects loose stationery, and it holds a genuinely useful quantity of clips rather than the token handful some novelty holders manage.

Why the Whole Range Actually Works

The trick with Monkey Business is that the joke is never the whole product. A Sinkfin still strains a drain properly. A Karoto still peels a vegetable cleanly. The design just makes the everyday task worth talking about — which is a genuinely rare balance for a gift to land, whether it's $8 or $35.

Shop the full Monkey Business range →

When to Give a Monkey Business Gift

Monkey Business gifts suit almost any occasion that calls for something better than a gift card but doesn't need to be formal — Kris Kringle and Secret Santa exchanges, housewarmings, birthdays for the person who "has everything," white elephant swaps, Father's Day and Mother's Day for parents who actually cook, or a simple thank-you for a colleague or a share-house flatmate. The lower price points, roughly $5 to $20, work well for Kris Kringle budgets and stocking fillers, while the wine accessories and larger kitchen gadgets, from about $25 to $35, hold their own as a standalone birthday or housewarming gift without needing to be padded out with anything else.

FAQ

What is Monkey Business known for?

Playful, animal-shaped kitchen gadgets and wine accessories that still do their actual job properly — the joke lives in the design, not in a compromise on function.

Are Monkey Business products actually useful, or just novelty items?

Both, genuinely. A Sinkfin still strains a drain, a Karoto still peels a carrot — the personality is the packaging, and the function underneath is real.

What's a good starter gift from the Monkey Business range?

Something they'll actually use weekly rather than once — a wine stopper for someone who opens a bottle most nights, or a kitchen gadget for someone who genuinely cooks, beats a purely decorative pick every time.

Where can I buy Monkey Business gifts in Australia?

Quirksy stocks a wide range of genuine Monkey Business kitchen gadgets, wine accessories and desk organisers, with Australia-wide shipping, so there's no need to import the range or pay international postage.

How much do Monkey Business gifts usually cost?

Most pieces in the range sit between $5 and $35, which makes Monkey Business gifts easy to fit into a Kris Kringle budget, a stocking filler, or a slightly bigger standalone birthday or housewarming present.

So — wine ritual, kitchen comedy, prep perfectionism, or desk chaos? Which one sounds like the person you're buying for?