If like many people, you have Cuisinart cookware in your kitchen, then you might be curious about its manufacturing origins. This is handy information to have to determine the quality of your cookware, after all.
Where is Cuisinart cookware made? Cuisinart cookware is made in China despite being founded in the United States (with a company headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut). If yours is the French Classic line of Cuisinart products, those are produced in France.
If you’re eager to learn more about where your Cuisinart cookware comes from, this article is for you. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll be far more well-versed in this long-standing brand of appliances and kitchen tools.
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Are Cuisinart Products Made in China?
Cuisinart is one of the most recognizable names in cookware. If there’s a kitchen tool imaginable, there’s probably a Cuisinart version of it.
They make all the standard appliances and cookware such as air fryers, bakeware, coffeemakers, kettles, microwaves, rice cookers, slow cookers, and toasters. Cuisinart also produces its own bread machines, deep fryers, espresso makers, ice cream and sorbet makers, juice extractors, and waffle makers.
Where does all this great cookware come from? One of two countries, France or China.
Cuisinart Cookware That’s Produced in France
The Cuisinart French Classic line is one of their most beloved. Even better is that its name is not just a marketing ploy; the French Classic cookware is indeed produced in France.
In that line of products, you can buy individual cookware pieces or sets that include up to 13 pieces
.
In the full French Classic set is the following:
- A 24-centimeter pasta insert for an eight-quart stockpot
- An eight-quart stockpot with a cover
- A 4.5-quart Dutch oven with a cover
- A 10-inch French skillet
- An eight-inch French skillet
- A three-quart sauté pan with a cover and a helper handle
- A 2.5-quart saucepan with a cover
- A 1.5-quart saucepan with a cover
Each piece of cookware in the set is made of tri-ply stainless steel with a shiny mirror finish that wins the French Classic cookware major acclaim.
Not only is Cuisinart French Classic cookware durable, appealing, and highly-rated, but chefs and cooks flock to it due to its production authenticity.
Cuisinart Cookware That’s Produced in China
Check the label of your Cuisinart cookware. Is it not part of the French Classic line? Then if it was made in 2014 or after, you can rest assured the cookware was produced in China.
That includes every product I touched on in the earlier paragraphs (besides the French Classic cookware) as well as the following:
- Toaster oven broilers
- Stand mixers
- Specialty appliances
- Scales
- Raclettes
- Popcorn makers
- Kettles
- Kitchen gadgets
- Hand mixers
- Griddles
- Grills
- Food processors
- Espresso makers
- Cutting boards
- Cutlery
- Convection oven
- Coffee grinders
- Can openers
- Brick ovens
- Countertop blenders
- Bread machines
- Handheld blenders
- Bakeware
Why does Cuisinart choose China to manufacture its cookware? It’s a common pick for many companies, even outside of kitchen products.
According to Statista, in 2019, China had the most manufacturing output in the world at a rate of 28.7 percent. That was followed by the United States at 16.8 percent, Japan at 7.5 percent, Germany at 5.3 percent, and India at 3.1 percent.
Lower labor costs make China a less expensive manufacturing option than right here in the US.
I should note that producing its cookware in China is not unique to Cuisinart nor its owner Conair. Many other kitchen brands do the same, and that includes Hamilton Beach, Oster, Breville, Krups, and KitchenAid.
Is Cuisinart an American Company?
Although Cuisinart doesn’t produce its cookware on US soil, its origins are as American as hot dogs or hamburgers.
The Cuisinart brand was founded in 1971. New York-born Carl Sontheimer, an inventor, had lived in France for several years and was interested in breaking into the US market with an electric food processor.
By 1973, Sontheimer was invited to a Chicago food show to display his new creation. Since Cuisinart only manufactured food processors at the time, for a long time, when someone said they were using a Cuisinart, they meant they were using a food processor.
That’s sort of like how other brand names have become synonymous with generic words such as Band-Aid instead of adhesive bandage or Velcro instead of hook-and-pile fasteners.
Although it was a slow start for Cuisinart, once celebrity chefs began getting on board with the company, its stock rose. Before the 1980s ended, Cuisinart had worked with an expert to make Cuisinart products more usable for those with limited vision and mobility.
After some financial stumbles in the 1980s, Conair Corporation–another American company–bought Cuisinart by the end of the decade. Today, they’re headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, which is Conair’s headquarters.
Conair produces its own goods in China, so it makes sense that they’d do the same for Cuisinart as well (outside of the French Press cookware, that is).