| Industry | Home Appliances |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1921 |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Products | Blenders |
| Website | http://www.vitamix.com |
Vitamix is a company that produces blenders for home and commercial use, including food service.[1] The Vitamix household and professional series models have a 2-horsepower (1380-watt) motor,[2] and are used by top chefs and culinary institutes around the globe.[3]
Vitamix was founded in 1921 selling modern kitchen appliances. In the 1930s, W.G. (Papa) Barnard - the famed, self-taught salesman - began demonstrating the performance of Vitamix. Under the advice of his son, Bill, Papa Barnard took Vitamix to the television airwaves in 1949 - it was the first direct response infomercial ever created. Product demonstration has always been key to the success of Vitamix, and today accounts for engaging 19 million prospects annually in the U.S. alone.
Vitamix remains a family company, with all of its machines still built in Cleveland. Vitamix has grown into distribution in over 80 countries. Vitamix has developed a zealous consumer following, taking premium blending equipment to the heart of the home.
According to the Vitamix company, its mission is "To develop and produce the world's best-performing and most reliable blending equipment and create enduring relationships for life."
In February 2006, Blendtec sued Vitamix Corporation for infringing its patents on Blendtec’s “Wild Side” jar design, which Vitamix had allegedly copied as its own MP and XP containers. The United States District Court of Utah concluded Vitamix had infringed Blendtec’s patents. In June 2010 the jury concluded that Vitamix’s infringement of Blendtec’s patents were “willful” and awarded Blendtec approximately $11 million in damages. On January 26, 2011, the Court enhanced the damages awarded by an additional $11 million, resulting in total damages of approximately $24 million. The Court also issued a permanent injunction to stop sales of the MP and XP containers, and required Vitamix to notify all of its distributors and manufactures about the injunction.[4]