KitchenAid: Американдық үй шаруаға арналған техника брендінің тарихы

American home appliance brand

KitchenAid is an American home appliance brand owned by Whirlpool Corporation. The company was started in 1919 by The Hobart Manufacturing Company to produce stand mixers; the H 5 is the first model that was introduced. The company faced competition as rivals moved into this emerging market, and introduced its trademarked silhouette in the 1930s with the model "K", the work of designer Egmont Arens. The brand's stand mixers have changed little in design since, and attachments from the model "K" onwards are compatible with the modern machines. Dishwashers are the second product line to have been introduced, in 1949. A late 1980s promotional campaign on the back of an expansion by retailer Williams Sonoma saw brand awareness double in three years.

The idea of a stand mixer was formulated by Herbert Johnston, an engineer working at the Hobart Corporation. He had been inspired after seeing a baker mix dough, and thought that there must be a better way of doing the task. In 1914, development began, and soon the model "H" mixer was launched for industrial work. The U. S. Navy ordered mixers for two new , California and Tennessee, as well as the U. S. Navy's first dreadnought battleship, South Carolina. In 1917, Hobart stand mixers became standard equipment on all U. S. Navy ships, prompting development to begin on the first home models. The first machine with the KitchenAid name is the ten quart C 10 model, introduced in 1918 and built at Hobart's Troy Metal Products subsidiary in Springfield, Ohio. Prototype models were given to the wives of factory executives, and the product was named when one stated "I don't care what you call it, but I know it's the best kitchen aid I've ever had!" They were initially marketed to the farmhouse kitchen and were available in hardware stores. In 1922, KitchenAid introduced the H 5 mixer as its new home use offering. The H 5 mixer was smaller and lighter than the C 10, and had a more manageable five quart bowl. The model "G" mixer, about half the weight of the "H 5" was released in August 1928. In the 1920s, several other companies introduced similar mixers, and the Sunbeam Mixmaster became the most popular among consumers until the 1950s. KitchenAid mixers remained popular, and in the late 1930s, the factory would completely sell out its products each Christmas. The factory was closed for the duration of World War II. After the war, production started up again in 1946 when the factory moved to Greenville, Ohio, to expand capacity. In 1985, the company purchased the Chambers Company to incorporate its range of cookers into the KitchenAid brand. Refrigerators were added to the product line later in 1986.

Egmont Arens was hired in the 1930s to design a low cost series of mixers. This resulted in the production of the KitchenAid Model "K" which featured a streamlined profile for the first time, and the KitchenAid standard design has remained relatively unchanged since then. The silhouette has since been made a registered trademark with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. Initially the mixers were only available in white; a range of four colors was introduced in 1955. and its appliances are distributed throughout North America. All KitchenAid stand mixers are assembled in its factory in Greenville, Ohio. The die cast parts of the machines come from various manufacturing plants around the world. A factory tour, known as the "KitchenAid Experience" is conducted by the assembly line workers.

In March 2016, KitchenAid announced that it would offer a line of food mixes with a Michigan food company, Franzese USA, Inc. In their press release, KitchenAid states, “Considering that tens of millions of American kitchens are outfitted with our stand mixers, we’re confident that these mixes will become a staple in many pantries.”