About Cuisinart
Cuisinart is a well-known home appliance and kitchen appliance manufacturing brand from America. The brand is owned by Conair Corporation and is widely popular for its easy going products. It is a leading brand for kitchen convenience and has made its own market of home appliances.
Foundation, Development and Expansion
Cuisinart was first founded by Carl and Shirley Sontheimer in year 1971. They were trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an engineer and physicist, Carl Sontheimer owned and operated Amzac Electronics until he sold the company in 1967. The Sontheimers first saw restaurant food preparation machines manufactured by Robot-Coupe while visiting a housewares show in France in 1971. They had a strange love towards French food and cooking, thus they launched their own housewares appliances business. The couple first allocated $20,000 to import and resell top-of-the-line cookware from Europe to Americans.
They first started with the creation of the only product, which is food processor. They also initiated safety features
that brought the device in line with U.S. codes and standards. Throughout the decade of 1970s, they kept refining their food processor. The sales by Cuisinart kept growing, till 1977; however, Cuisinart's sales totalled $50 million.
Other well-known kitchen appliance manufacturers--Sunbeam and Hamilton Beach, for example--began to enter the food processor market around 1977. By the end of that year, consumers could choose from more than 30 models of food processors, ranging in price from $30 to $400.
In 1988, the Sontheimers sold Cuisinart to a group of investors for $60 million, owing to its decline in sales. Conair renamed the company Cuisinart Corporation and brought a new marketing program for its products. With more advertising, it helped in improving relations between Cuisinart and department stores.
Over the course of time, Cuisinart diversified into variety of products, it launched many new products with improved designs, Like Rice Cookers, Microwave ovens, Hand Mixers, Grinders, Cutlery, Cutting and Chopping boards, Cookware and Bakeware etc.
