Krups - Never Again!

[MrX]

Groupe SEB (France)

French company Groupe SEB owns :

Krups, Moulinex, Rowenta, and Tefal

As well as SEB, Calor, All-Clad, Arno, Samurai, Langostina, Panex and Mirro-WearEver

Sadly, the likes of Krups, Moulinex etc were loosing sales in Europe and elsewhere to cheap far-eastern imports. They were all independent until fairly recently, but were struggling to survive both Moulinex and Krups almost went into liquidation as they were just unable to compete.

Groupe SEB basically purchased a whole collection of brands and at the lower ends i.e. cheaper products have simply off-shored the manufacture outside the EU i.e. mostly to China.

Their cheaper products are no longer the quality that they used to be.

Seems everything is rapidly becoming disposable plastic junk thesedays

I even saw a Gaggia coffee maker that was made in China recently and it looked plasticy too.

 

[kirk280980]

I have a Krups Expert coffee machine in my study, about a year old now, that was made in France. Brews directly into a stainless steel vacuum flask, so no hotplate, and generally it makes good coffee as long as you use fresh beans and the correct grind. However, the build quality is dire, and it feels very flimsy and plasticky with numerous parts that don't line up correctly. The fact that it wasn't cheap only adds to the disappointment.

My Krups grinder (made in China!) feels more solidly constructed, but is finicky in operation. The design of the hopper allows coffee beans to get stuck before they even reach the burrs, so I have to keep tapping and shaking the entire grinder to get them moving again. Also the grind adjustment won't stay put, and shifts settings while the unit is running. It looks pretty and matches the coffee maker, but that's about all it has going for it.

Other Krups products may in fact be fine, but that's neither here nor there because I won't be buying any more in future. One poor product is just annoying, but two is enough to sour me on a brand for life.

 

[irishwashguy]

I have had pretty good luck with my stuff

Although, I did have a Cuisenart toaster catch fire on my counterop.I was so irritated, that I went to Williams Sonoma and bought a Duilit toaster, and have not had one probem with it. Even that company is shipping some of their cheaper models to what they refered to as their "Asian Division", although, the model that they sell as Williams sonoma I bought has a fabulous waranty, and still hand made in the UK.. If I have a problem with it, I can bring it back any time for an exchange or a refund. I have a reto Percalator, for coffee, and a Briel coffee maker (made in Portugal), still Europe, just not Germany or Switzerland like i wish it was. I flat out refuse to buy kitchen appliances made in China, I have to look harder, they sell them. I did find a kitchen timer at Wild Oats made in Switzerland, and 14.95, pretty good deal, as far as the Krups thing, i almost bought a Krups before my Cuisenart, and even bought the same toaster for a couple of friends of mine, one of them, after five years had to replace it. She said that it will not pop up any more.It was the stainless metal one , and at 50 bucks , well not bad for how long and hard it was used. She has a family, and makes toast every day.

 

[mielabor]

Shameless plug

Maybe it is interesting to know that we have a factory here in the Netherlands that still manufactures coffeemakers in the traditional way.

Moccamaster USA: Premium Pour-Over Coffee Brewers

Coffee brewers handmade in the Netherlands out of high-quality, sustainable materials, built to last a lifetime. Dedicated to seeking the real taste of coffee.

www.technivorm.com

 

[lederstiefel1]

Krups

It's always the same - and we had it here named and discussed a thousand times...
KRUPS was once a small but very well reputated company/brand in Germany until....it was taken over by a foreign company...
Same with ROWENTA (I have old coffee-makers and my mom's iron lasted well over 45 years!!!) - I do not buy these brands anylonger..!
Ralf

 

[whirlcool]

It is bad enough that the names and good wills of companies like Krups and Rowenta are being recycled by cheaper companies. It's the fact that they are producing cheap goods with the original hefty price tags of the original manufacturer on them that gets me!
I'm still keeping my eye open for a Sunbeam C-50 that's in good condition. The ones that have been popping up on fleabay lately look like junkers.

 

[foraloysius]

Theo,

That is the best drip coffee maker! Strangely enough it's not available in the regular shops overhere, but only through the shops of a coffee chain (Douwe Egberts). The coffeemakers of this brand (Moccamaster) is very popular in Scandinavia because it makes a wonderful cup of coffee. I know, I have one too. But I guess the Dutch are not particularly proud of their own quality product.

 

[petek]

I cringe when I see that infomercial for the Bell & Howell rotary shaver. What do they say it is, a $140 value yours for only $19 and if you order right away they'll throw in a second one for "free", a $280 value for $19 LOL Then shamelessly stating how great it is because it has the "Bell & Howell" name you can trust.. puke. Another piece of plasticrap from China that probably cost 50 cents to produce, package and ship.

 

[mielabor]

Talking about quality...

Well Louis,
I just wanted to point out that there are still quality items being made. I've heard that the Techniform coffee makers are constructed in such a way that every part can be repaired or replaced and they use high quality materials. They also seem to do well in tests. I would certainly buy one of these when I had a taste for coffee

 

[foraloysius]

High quality materials

Indeed Theo! Ofcourse I have one! ;-)

For the Americans interested in this drip coffeemaker with Melitta type filter, here's the link to the American website.

technivorm-us.com

 

[oxydolfan1]

Wow, thanks, foraloysius! That's very similar to what I'm looking for, and I'm gonna check that site out right now!

If I am not mistaken, I saw such a machine in a kitchen in South Africa, across the planet from Scandinavia!