Vitamix blenders are among the consistently top rated blenders on the market today. Here’s a short history of the company that revolutionized the blender industry.
In 1921, the company’s founder William Grover “Papa” Barnard started his career selling kitchen appliances. He traveled across the country, plying his trade, selling kitchen appliances at fairs and shows during the Great Depression.
Through helping a friend who was recovering from an illness, Barnard gradually realized the connection between whole foods and good health. He decided to name his company to The Natural Food Institute, which aimed to provide products that would improve the health and well-being of their customers.
Blenders had just been introduced during the 1930s, so they were the newest kitchen appliance at that time – Check Juicer Critic for best juicers and blenders reviews. When Barnard was introduced to the blender in 1937, he saw them as a big potential in nutrients-rich but delicious meals that could be made easily and quickly. With this discovery in mind, Barnard decided that his company turn its focus into manufacturing high-performance blenders. He named the blender with the brand “Vita-Mix,” emphasizing the Latin word vita, which means “life.”
In 1949, William’s son Bill took advantage of the new medium, television, to demonstrate and promote how the Vitamix machine could help people to eat healthier food. This led it to become the country’s (or probably the world’s) first infomercial. In this demonstration, it included a variety of recipes and food preparations from bread crumbs to potato pancakes and veggie drinks.
In 1964 Bill Barnard took over the family business and changed the name of the company from The Natural Food to Vita-Mix Corporation. Bill’s goal was to make healthy but delicious meals and drinks a lot easier than ever. Soon, the Vitamix’s power, versatility, and ingenuity set it apart from the other blenders on the market.
The granddaddy of the Vitamix machines, the Vitamix 3600, was released in 1969. It was the first blender that could do a variety of kitchen tasks, including making hot soup, knead dough, create ice cream and other frozen foods, and grind grain.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, the company released the Mix’n Machine and the Drink Machine, some of Vitamix’s very first heavy-duty, large-capacity commercial blenders. They had also begun manufacturing customized models for certain food chains, such as McDonald’s and Starbucks. The Vitamix machines have also found their way into several gourmet restaurants, and are also the preferred kitchen equipment of several of the finest chefs around the globe.
Recently, Vitamix has found a new niche in the raw foods market as well as new devotees among health buffs.
Even though Vitamix has an assured place as one of the “elites” in the blender department — in fact, it has attained a cult-like status — the company doesn’t stop improving its machines. Do you know that a few of the company’s engineers were once NASA scientists? Now you know why Vitamix blenders are a work of art and science, as well as an engineering genius.
Vitamix’s headquarters are located in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, the very city where William Barnard first founded his company.
Today, the Vitamix brand has spread to over 80 countries around the world and it has been considered by many as one of the best blenders ever. Vitamix products have consistently garnered positive reviews from the customers themselves and blender experts. Despite its global reach, the company is purely a family affair, and it looks like it’s going to stay that way. Jodi Berg, a fourth-generation family member, has served as the company’s president since 2009.