Now we’ve translated everything we know into a complete kitchen of easy-to-use appliances that makes cooking a pleasure. 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. Rather than face retirement, he opted for a livelihood that combined his expertise in electronics with cooking, his favorite hobby. Stay up-to-date on the hottest food trends with our blog, discover a new favorite dish with recipes from our Test Kitchen, access your account, and so much more.
At first, the couple allocated $20,000 to import and resell top-of-the-line cookware from Europe to Americans. The Sontheimers also obtained the sole U.S. distribution rights for three prototype food preparation machines purchased from the inventor of Robot-Coupe’s restaurant food processors. This device was a food processor with a feed tube large enough to hold whole tomatoes and a whisk attachment so that it could handle operations of a standard mixer. In 1991, planning for the brand extension of upscale products began in earnest. In the meantime, Cuisinart introduced the Mini Prep, a smaller version of its food processor, and offered a newsletter and coupon incentives to Cuisinart buyers.
The Cuisinart Deluxe Pasta Maker debuted at the Gourmet Products Show. With a three-pound capacity and heavy-duty induction motor, the machine made a lot of pasta at once–and quickly hamilton beach blender (in about 20 minutes). The pasta maker directly answered consumers requests for kitchen appliances that supported more health-conscious lifestyles and more consumers staying at home.
Around 1983, Kitchen Aid introduced a direct competitor to the Cuisinart food processor–a high-priced food processor manufactured by Robot-Coupe. In response, Cuisinart instituted a trade-in allowance on its food processors to encourage existing food processor owners to upgrade their equipment. Consumers were allowed up to $66 in credit toward the purchase of a newer, more advanced Cuisinart model when they returned their older models. Soon the company accepted any brand of food processor for credit when upgrading to a new Cuisinart model. Though Cuisinart emerged from this litigation victoriously, the company was less successful later in 1980 when a grand jury accused it of price fixing. The courts fined Cuisinart $250,000 and prohibited the company from suggesting retail prices for one year.
Though professional chefs long had been using food preparation machines for slicing and shredding, the device largely was unknown to the American public before its debut in Chicago. Marketed to department and food stores, the Cuisinart food processor appeared to retailers and consumers to be nothing more than a high-priced, revved-up blender. The Sontheimers first saw restaurant food preparation machines manufactured by Robot-Coupe while visiting a housewares show in France in 1971. Certain that they could create a home version of the device, the Sontheimers launched their own housewares business–Cuisinart.
Overcoming Sontheimer’s reticence, Cuisinart introduced the Mini-Mate, a chopper and grinder with a reversible, patented blade, in the fall of 1986. At $40 the device was less expensive than competing products and was introduced through a glossy magazine ad campaign created by Geers Gross. Promotions emphasized the Mini-Mate’s use in preparing common recipes such as tacos.
In addition, Cuisinart was required to clarify for retailers that compliance with any suggested pricing was purely voluntary. Nonetheless Cuisinart impressed the industry with a line of coffee makers introduced at the 1995 Gourmet Products Show. These coffee makers reduced the acidity common to many home models. In addition, Cuisinart models responded to consumers’ tangible needs such as color and design. Moderately priced coffee makers started to look like Euro-styled top-of-the-line models.
Cuisinart showed good cash flow, and–with 85 percent of its revenue from food processors–the company’s line of extensions was ready for development. The new owners–a leveraged buyout group headed by former E. F. Hutton chair Robert Fomon–renamed the company Cuisinart, Inc., and readied itself for the upcoming decade.
Owning a Cuisinart, Pomice observed, “was tantamount to wearing a pair of Calvin Klein jeans. You could hardly boast of a gourmet kitchen if you didn’t own one of these.” The following year Cuisinart continued to plan for a product line beyond food processors. In 1993, Cuisinart introduced its first hand-held and countertop blenders.