Pampered Chef
{{short description|American multi-level marketing company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Pampered Chef
| logo = File:Pamperedchief.png
| type = Subsidiary
| area_served = United States, Canada, Germany, Austria, France
| key_people = Nevena Srebreva (CEO)
Doris Christopher
(chairman & founder)
| industry = Kitchen and Food products
| products = {{Flatlist|
}}
| owner = Berkshire Hathaway
| parent =
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1980}}
| location =
| location_city = Addison Township, DuPage County, Illinois
| location_country = United States
| homepage = {{URL|www.pamperedchef.com}}
}}
Pampered Chef is a multinational multi-level marketing companyGregory Karp, [https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/02/10/the-fine-line-between-legitimate-businesses-and-pyramid-schemes/ "The fine line between legitimate businesses and pyramid schemes"], Chicago Tribune, February 10, 2013 that offers a line of kitchen tools, food products, and cookbooks for preparing food in the home.
It has a worldwide direct sales force of about 35,000 in addition to 400 corporate staff.{{cite web|url=https://www.pamperedchef.com/company-facts|title=Pampered Chef Company Facts|publisher=Pampered Chef|access-date=March 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408214203/https://www.pamperedchef.com/company-facts|archive-date=April 8, 2016|url-status=live}} The company is headquartered in Addison, Illinois, and operates in five countries: the United States, Germany, Canada, Austria, and France.
History
Doris Christopher founded Pampered Chef in 1980 in the basement of her suburban Chicago home. Christopher came up with a party plan to offer kitchen tools directly to consumers through in-home cooking demonstrations, a concept first popularized by Tupperware. The company expanded to Canada in 1996, the UK in 1999, Germany in 2000, Austria in 2019, and France in 2020.{{cite web|title=Pampered Chef Enters Austria Market|publisher=Pampered Chef|url=https://newsroom.pamperedchef.com/pampered-chef-enters-austria-market.htm|date=September 23, 2019}}{{Cite web|last=Chen|first=I-chun|title=Pampered Chef brings its kitchenware to France|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2020/11/02/pampered-chef-brings-its-kitchenware-to-france.html|website=Chicago Business Journal}}
The company was acquired in 2002 by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway corporation.{{cite web|title=Berkshire Hathaway to acquire The Pampered Chef|publisher=Berkshire Hathaway|url=http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/news/sep2302.html|access-date=September 23, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021014201050/http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/news/sep2302.html|archive-date=October 14, 2002|url-status=live}} On October 30, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway appointed long time advisor Tracy Britt Cool to the position of CEO.Noah Buhayar, [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-27/buffett-s-assistant-cool-named-ceo-of-pampered-chef-unit-1-.html "Buffett's Assistant Cool Named CEO of Pampered Chef Unit"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110235522/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-27/buffett-s-assistant-cool-named-ceo-of-pampered-chef-unit-1-.html |date=January 10, 2015 }}, Bloomberg, October 30, 2014 According to Direct Selling News, "the company's revenue has fallen from $320 million in 2015 to $280 million in 2018."{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2019/09/18/buffett-protege-tracy-britt-cool-leaving-berkshire-hathaway/|title=Buffett protégé Tracy Britt Cool leaving Berkshire Hathaway|last=Kosman|first=Josh|date=September 19, 2019|website=New York Post|language=en|access-date=April 3, 2020}} In March 2020, the company's COO, Andrew Treanor, took over on the role of CEO.{{cite web|title=Tracy Britt Cool to Leave Berkshire Hathaway, Pampered Chef To Start New Venture.|url=https://newsroom.pamperedchef.com/tracy-britt-cool-to-leave-berkshire-hathaway-pampered-chef-to-start-new-venture.htm|date=September 19, 2019}} Nevena Srebreva, in turn, took over the CEO role in May 2024. She was Pampered Chef's Chief Field & International Officer prior to that. {{Cite web |title=Pampered Chef® Names Nevena Srebreva as New Chief Executive Officer |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240429589982/en/Pampered-Chef%C2%AE-Names-Nevena-Srebreva-as-New-Chief-Executive-Officer |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=PamperedChef.com |language=en}}
The company closed its UK business, and wound down UK operations as of December 31, 2015.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Tina |date=2015-09-17 |title=Pampered Chef Begins Shutting Down Facilities - Closure Is Surprising To Affiliates |url=https://www.businessforhome.org/2015/09/pampered-chef-begins-shutting-down-facilities-closure-is-surprising-to-affiliates/ |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=Direct Selling Facts, Figures and News |language=en-US}}{{cite web|title=Pampered Chef winding down UK operations|publisher=PamperedChef|url=http://www.pamperedchef.co.uk/join_us/business-announcement.html|access-date=September 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920204516/http://www.pamperedchef.co.uk/join_us/business-announcement.html|archive-date=September 20, 2015|url-status=live}}
Products
{{redirect|Bread tube|the online community|BreadTube}}
In 1990, Pampered Chef released a product known as the Valtrompia bread tube. The product is a metal tube in which refrigerated bread dough can be baked into a narrow, scalloped-edge loaf.{{Cite web |last=McKinley |first=Kay |date=August 8, 1990 |title=Stocking up for fun: Party demonstrations give cooks a chance to buy equipment to ease meal preparation |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/333432927 |access-date=August 30, 2022 |publisher=Milwaukee Journal |id={{ProQuest|333432927}} }} As of the late 1990s, the product is available in five shapes—flower, square, heart, scalloped, and star. The bread is baked with the tube placed upright in the oven, allowing the bread to rise vertically along the tube.{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Dayna |date=April 8, 2021 |title=A Bread Tube Will Cure the Mundanity of Regular Bread-Baking |url=https://www.eater.com/22368496/decorative-scalloped-bread-tube-baking |access-date=August 30, 2022 |website=Eater |language=en}}
Lawsuit
In April 2023, Pampered Chef was sued for alleged data sharing and sharing video viewing history from people visiting the company website with Google and Facebook.{{Cite web |title=Pampered Chef Sued Over Video Data Sharing with Google, Meta |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/pampered-chef-sued-over-video-data-sharing-with-google-meta |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=news.bloomberglaw.com |language=en}} In June 2023, Pampered Chef settled the lawsuit claiming they did share video viewing history of users.{{Cite web |title=Pampered Chef Agrees to Settle Suit Over Sharing of Video Info |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/pampered-chef-agrees-to-settle-suit-over-sharing-of-video-info |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=news.bloomberglaw.com |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Berkshire Hathaway}}
{{Multi-level marketing}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pampered Chef, The}}
Category:Multi-level marketing companies
Category:Marketing companies established in 1980
Category:Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois
Category:1980 establishments in Illinois
Category:2002 mergers and acquisitions
Category:American corporate subsidiaries
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