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.
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.
In 1984 and 1985, Cuisinart began promoting culinary education and awareness through cookbooks and other media. Anne Greer’s American Southwest, published by Cuisinart, won the Tastemaker Award presented by the R.T. French Company as the best American cuisine cookbook of 1984. The following year, Cuisinart began a cooking videotape series to enhance the culinary education of consumers. The year 1996 marked Cuisinart’s 25th anniversary in culinary appliances. To commemorate the occasion, the company adopted “Your Kitchen Resource” as a new advertising tag line.
With its product firmly established, the company suspended its contracting of Robot-Coupe as the manufacturer of its food processors. A Japanese firm assumed the production of Cuisinart models instead. Whip up delicious drinks, smoothies, purees, and soups hamilton beach smoothie blender with the touch of a button. Make crushed-ice, ground spices, and nut-butters in a jiffy with the right blender on hand. Blenders save time and take up very little space in your kitchen. Target has a wide range of blenders in varying designs and functions.
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.
Cuisinart Corporation is a well-known manufacturer of small kitchen appliances. Best known for its food processors, Cuisinart established this home appliance as a market segment in its own right. The company eventually expanded its product line to include coffee makers, hand blenders, hand mixers, and toasters, among other housewares.
Whatever the kitchen convenience, the Cuisinart brand has been equated with quality construction and top-of-the-line pricing. Other well-known kitchen appliance manufacturers–Sunbeam and Hamilton Beach, hamilton beach smoothie blender 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, varying in price from $30 to $400.
The next year, Cuisinart followed the Mini-Mate with the Little Pro, a similar product in the $75 range. Conair renamed the company Cuisinart Corporation and instituted a new marketing program for its hamilton beach smoothie blender products. With more advertising and product demonstrations, the new owners hoped to improve relations between Cuisinart and department stores, as well as become a presence in the bridal market.