Vita-Mix Corporation, doing business as Vitamix, is an American manufacturer and seller of professional home blenders. Since 1921, the Barnard family has privately owned Vitamix, headquartered since 1948 in Olmsted Township, Ohio. It employs over 700 individuals, most of whom work at its Northeast Ohio headquarters and production plants. Vitamix products may be purchased in over 130 different countries across the world.
Vitamix is considered one of the leading brands in the blender industry. Their logo is a significant part of the brand’s recognition. Founded in 1921 by William Grover Barnard, Vitamix has been providing high-quality and reliable blenders trusted by professional chefs and home cooks for over 100 years. The company primarily provides versatile, high-performance blenders that tackle almost any recipe. Here are some creative ways to use your blender for cooking and baking.
History
William Grover Barnard established Vita-Mix Corporation in 1921 as the Barnard Sales Company. Barnard sold can openers and other kitchen products around the country. Barnard became an enthusiast for whole food nutrition after helping a family member through sickness. He refocused the company’s attention on selling health foods and supplements through the mail, which Barnard largely marketed with live demonstrations. Barnard was attending a trade fair in 1937 when he saw a blender and was inspired to create the Vita-Mix to match the healthy food products he was selling. The term Vita-Mix is derived from the Latin word “vita,” which means “life.” Barnard renamed the firm the Natural Food Institute that year and built a shop in Cleveland, Ohio. The firm relocated to Olmsted Township in 1948.
In 1949, Bill Barnard, William Barnard’s son, convinced his father to broadcast his blender demonstrations on television. Barnard purchased air time on the WEWS television station in Cleveland to advertise the Vita-Mix. As a result, Barnard was the first company to air an informational commercial for a particular manufactured good. Barnard commissioned Cinécraft Productions, a Cleveland-based video company, to create the infomercial. The event was successful, with the business selling over 650 devices that night. The infomercial was rerun weekly on the channel, and Barnard organized a series of demonstrations broadcast in other cities, including New York City.
Bill Barnard took over the business in 1955, and his wife, Ruth, wrote a cookbook that helped improve sales. Grover Barnard, Bill Barnard’s son, joined the firm in 1962. The company stopped marketing health food items and changed its attention to blenders. In 1966, the firm was renamed Vita-Mix Corporation. The company’s latest infomercials, which included fitness figure, Richard Simmons, were made in the 1980s.
Blendtec sued Vita-Mix Corporation in February 2006 for patent infringement on its “Wild Side” jar design, which Vita-Mix allegedly imitated for its containers. The court determined that Vita-Mix had violated Blendtec’s patents and gave Blendtec total damages of about $24 million, the biggest patent-related punishment in Utah history. Jodi Berg, founder William Grover Barnard’s great-granddaughter, was appointed president of Vita-Mix in 2009, making her the fourth generation member of the Barnard family to occupy the position. In 2011, she was appointed CEO. In 2010, the business unveiled a new logo like a blender vortex and renamed itself Vitamix. Under Berg’s leadership, the company increased its marketing and retail presence, selling 1.4 million blenders in 2013, a 52% increase year over year.
Vitamix largely advertises its blenders through live demonstrations. The company hired over 500 representatives in 2013 to demonstrate its products at culinary festivals, grocery shops, wholesale clubs, and conventions. Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Jamba Juice are among Vitamix’s corporate clients (Jamba Juice moved to rival Blendtec in 2015). Vitamix provides blenders to the Culinary Institute of America to foster ties with chefs. The firm established a 175,000-square-foot manufacturing plant south of Cleveland in 2013.
Steve Laserson was appointed CEO in 2022, making him the company’s first non-family leader.
Logo
In 2010, Vitamix proudly unveiled a new logo and branding strategy, the first in more than 20 years, to highlight the company’s and its customer base’s vitality and passion. “Plug Into the Movement,” the company’s new tagline, captures the core of the rebranding project and the company’s vision: to improve the vibrancy of people’s lives by freeing the globe from conventional food and beverage preparation constraints.
The logo consists of a bold, capitalized letter V, followed by the word “itamix” in smaller, lower-case letters in red color. The logo is simple and minimalist, yet perfectly captures the brand’s values. This choice of color is eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing. Red is often associated with energy and vitality.
Products
Apart from its logo design, Vitamix’s wide range of blenders offers unparalleled blending performance, making it a household name worldwide. Their products come with multiple options, including commercial-grade machines, personal-sized blenders, industrial blenders, and immersion blenders, catering to every household and commercial kitchen need.
Vitamix products are the first choice of food operators, restaurateurs, and bartenders worldwide for both front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house applications because they are built for exceptional durability and adaptability. Vitamix has been designing and manufacturing well-engineered, high-performance blenders and food mixers that offer remarkable and consistent results for over 70 years. Vitamix distinguishes itself as a worldwide commercial blending industry leader by providing value to its clients through improved blend quality and consistency, faster service, dependability, and the development of customized programs. Vitamix products are now offered in the United States and Canada, with a distribution network in over 80 countries.
The Vita-Mix, the company’s first blender, debuted in 1937 and cost $11.95. The containers were made of stainless steel. In 1949, the Vita-Mix cost $34.95 at the time of the company’s debut infomercial and came with an optional glass container. The Vita-Mix Mark 20 blender, with variable speeds, was introduced in 1950.
The Vita-Mix 3600 debuted in 1970. It included a more powerful engine originally built for circular saws to accomplish duties like grinding wheat into flour and pulverizing peanuts into peanut butter. It also included more robust stainless steel blades and containers and a spout at the bottom of the container. The Vita-Mix 4000, a commercial variation of the 3600 blender, was released in 1988.
1992 marked the launch of the Vita-Mix 5000, which at the time was also marketed under the name Total Nutrition Center. It was the first blender from the firm to have a boxier plastic base, an 11-speed motor, and a transparent polycarbonate container. A timer was included in a 1995 edition.
The company’s first blender with a microprocessor and a ramp-up speed dial, the Vitamix 7500, was introduced in 2012. The Ascent series, the company’s first “Smart System” blenders with Bluetooth and NFC connectivity to recognize containers, was released in 2016. Older containers without an NFC chip are incompatible with Smart System blenders, and the base will not work with them. Vitamix announced a food processor attachment for its NFC-enabled blenders in 2020.
Over 100,000 containers were recalled in 2017 and 2018. The headline on Fast Company was, “Vitamix recall: Your $500 blender might hurt you.”
Vitamix’s full-sized blenders range in price from $350 to $650 as of 2023. Vitamix’s cost has been criticized as extravagant and mocked on Saturday Night Live. In tests done by reviewers such as The New York Times, Consumer Reports, Good Housekeeping, and America’s Test Kitchen, Vitamix blenders have regularly come out on top in terms of performance and longevity.
Non-Blender Products
Vita-Mix experimented with marketing fitness equipment and juicers in the 1970s and 1980s. The Flurry (later called the Mix’n Machine), a commercial ice cream and frozen concoction maker, was developed in 1985. Until the early 2000s, the company also sold a Vita-Vac vacuum cleaner.
The FoodCycler, a home composter, debuted in 2021 as the company’s only current non-blender appliance.
Conclusion
The Vitamix logo symbolizes the brand’s commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle by providing versatile, high-performance blenders. With its unique design, unmatched blending performance, and focus on healthy living, Vitamix has secured its position as a leading brand in the blender industry. The company has been around for over a century. The Vitamix brand and logo are iconic symbols of a healthy lifestyle, quality, durability, performance, and innovation in the blending industry. Therefore, it is no surprise that Vitamix remains a favorite among consumers worldwide. The brand’s commitment to producing high-performance blenders has earned it a loyal following of professional chefs and home cooks. Its minimalist logo perfectly captures the brand’s values and aesthetic. Whether you are a professional chef or a home cook, a Vitamix blender is a must-have tool in any kitchen.