. . . if they're willing to let me post this.
The replies should make for interesting reading and, dare we hope, a shift in policy.
The replies should make for interesting reading and, dare we hope, a shift in policy.
You gotta hand it to 'em. KitchenAid's got guts . . .
- Thread starter joeekaitis
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The stand mixers are the only KA small appliances left made in the USA. Everything else shifted to China a few years ago. What irks me though is the prices for these made in China blenders, toasters etc.. especially the so called PRO line models costing hundreds of dollars yet made in China. That just doesn't compute. And they're cagey about it too..the bottoms of the appliances have a very noticeable KA sticker.. KitchenAid,St.Jos Michigan or something which would lead you to believe that's where they're made.. but no.. look at the imprinting on the base plastic and it says made in China and it doesn't stand out.
I don't think there's any small small appliances made in the USA, Canada, at all anymore,,maybe VitaMix and for how long those KA stand mixers who knows.
I don't think there's any small small appliances made in the USA, Canada, at all anymore,,maybe VitaMix and for how long those KA stand mixers who knows.
The Almighty Profit!
Ugh. I can understand why they're doing it and I would hope that KA standards are, at least in theory, high enough that certain levels of quality are still met before the sticker is slapped on. What should give consumers pause is not just the quality of components and construction, but also HOW this product comes to be. How much damage was wrought on the environment making plastics and other integral parts? How are the laborer's working conditions, living conditions, pay scale? How much oil and subsequent carbon emissions did it take to get this product to the store shelf from Guangdong Province - did any of that oil come from Sudan, contributing to the genocide in Darfur that most people pretend doesn't exist? What is the REAL cost of this China-made crap? Just because the pocketbook isn't hit as hard, doesn't mean there wasn't a price that was paid. The more I read and learn about the "Made in China" phenomenon that is so pervasive into every facet of our consuming frenzy, the more I am disgusted by it all.
Ugh. I can understand why they're doing it and I would hope that KA standards are, at least in theory, high enough that certain levels of quality are still met before the sticker is slapped on. What should give consumers pause is not just the quality of components and construction, but also HOW this product comes to be. How much damage was wrought on the environment making plastics and other integral parts? How are the laborer's working conditions, living conditions, pay scale? How much oil and subsequent carbon emissions did it take to get this product to the store shelf from Guangdong Province - did any of that oil come from Sudan, contributing to the genocide in Darfur that most people pretend doesn't exist? What is the REAL cost of this China-made crap? Just because the pocketbook isn't hit as hard, doesn't mean there wasn't a price that was paid. The more I read and learn about the "Made in China" phenomenon that is so pervasive into every facet of our consuming frenzy, the more I am disgusted by it all.
That's why
it is smart, as much as possible, to BUY VINTAGE/Resale!
My 5 cup KitchenAid processor, which I dearly love, is one of the last Made in France ones. Got it as a refurb from Amazon a few years back.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
it is smart, as much as possible, to BUY VINTAGE/Resale!
My 5 cup KitchenAid processor, which I dearly love, is one of the last Made in France ones. Got it as a refurb from Amazon a few years back.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
There have been a few news and documentaries about what's going on over there and while I don't disparage the people for trying to make a living and bring up their standard of living the "worker" doesn't look to be benefitting all that much. Well actually they are "better off" than they were but having to work long hours usually 6 days a week and live in company "housing" ie dorms for pretty low wages. Those wages do go a lot further than they would here though.. What irks me like I said above,, they sell a Pro blender here for say $199, you know they paid less than $10 for it including packaging and more than likely shipping as well. Of course all the other junk,, the stuff that sells for a few bucks including those $8 Walmart toasters and mixers they probably buy for a couple of bucks but those sell by the millions.. the $200 ones not so much.
The other thing as well.. most people really have zero clue as to how big this really is because they don't see the enormity of how much stuff is actually coming off those boats from China. Saying things like there's a 5 billion dollar trade deficit doesn't put it into perspective in peoples mind. You really have to see it..when those gigantic container ships come in to all the west coast ports in the US and Canada..how many thousands of containers come off those boats each and every day. 20 years ago it was a huge week the first time we shipped 500 containers in one week...it was only a few years after that that we were shipping 500 to 1000 containers, mostly from China PER DAY and that's only 1 railroad, 1 port, then you have Seattle, Portland and gigantic LA... it really is mind-boggling how much stuff we're talking.
I have a KitchenAid hand mixer, which I got in the mid-1990s. The model number is KHM5T8, and it says Ultra Power Plus on it. It has five speeds. I remember seeing Debbi Fields use what looked like the same mixer on her baking show, Great American Desserts. It says St Joseph Michigan USA on it, but it does not specifically say Made in USA. Can I surmise that it was made in the United States? I don’t have occasion to use it frequently, but it works very well when I do. I guess I should hold onto it?
On a related note, I read that the new GE FL washers are made in China. :-( I also read that Frigidaire is outsourcing its FL washer production to Mexico by the end of the year. Double :-(
On a related note, I read that the new GE FL washers are made in China. :-( I also read that Frigidaire is outsourcing its FL washer production to Mexico by the end of the year. Double :-(
whirlcool
Well-known member
And of course we haven't even touched on the fact that all these jobs are leaving the United States once and for all!
Somebody should check KitchenAid's financials to see if the BOD gave themselves a big bonus for doing this.
Somebody should check KitchenAid's financials to see if the BOD gave themselves a big bonus for doing this.
It's possible your mixer was made in the USA it wasn't that long ago. I think the toasters and blenders were the first Chinese sourced then the mixers..look closely to see if it's engraved into the plastic somewhere hard to see.
The ''MADE IN CHINA'' is almost a watermark
On the one I looked at in Macy's, it's down by the heel but I had to hold it at just right angle to see it.
On the one I looked at in Macy's, it's down by the heel but I had to hold it at just right angle to see it.
''The stand mixers are the only KA small appliances
I was watching an "Unwrapped" episode about mixers on Food Network and they included footage of the KitchenAid stand mixer factory in St. Joseph. I couldn't help thinking, "But will it be true a year from now?" just as I wondered when they showed the Waring blender factory where a few commercial and pro-style models are made.
Pity we'll never again see Corning Ware Pyroceram being made, especially with the 50th anniversary right around the corner.
I was watching an "Unwrapped" episode about mixers on Food Network and they included footage of the KitchenAid stand mixer factory in St. Joseph. I couldn't help thinking, "But will it be true a year from now?" just as I wondered when they showed the Waring blender factory where a few commercial and pro-style models are made.
Pity we'll never again see Corning Ware Pyroceram being made, especially with the 50th anniversary right around the corner.
Actually, the standard of living for the workers living in the company dorms isn't a whole lot better than when they were eeking out a subsistence life in the rural areas. Many times, the family of the worker borrowed money from the local loan shark to send their son/daughter to the city for the promise of a better life for themselves as the child will be expected to send most of the money they make back home to re-pay the loan shark in the village and raise the standard of living for the whole family. The ones who don't find work or only very low-paying jobs cannot afford to send money home after paying their own living expenses back to the company ("I owe my soul to the company store...") and very often the families back home are subjected to violence and other horrors much worse than a sternly worded collection letter. It is also estimated that China has a transient working population, existing outside of census data collection of approximately 200-300,000,000! China claims to have a population of about 1,300,000,000, but it's probably closer to 1.5 billion. That's a lot of mouths to feed!
hsi yi ji
hsi yi ji
perc-o-prince
Well-known member
(opening myself up for a lot here, but.....)
... and I don't know if the KA units were made in a union shop, but.......
if the US union workers didn't get paid so much for sitting on their a**es more than actually working, things wouldn't cost so much to produce here! I'm generalizing, but......
Chuck
... and I don't know if the KA units were made in a union shop, but.......
if the US union workers didn't get paid so much for sitting on their a**es more than actually working, things wouldn't cost so much to produce here! I'm generalizing, but......
Chuck
WELL SAID!
I agree with you 100% Gansky.
I agree with you 100% Gansky.
brettsomers
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2005
- Messages
- 1,993
Chuck
There is some truth in what youve said. Sure it had some effect on old Maytag and The Hoover Co's fate.
There is some truth in what youve said. Sure it had some effect on old Maytag and The Hoover Co's fate.
Parlez-vous KA?
When I had to move my Mom out of her apartment into a rest home, I "inherited" her blue KA 5 cup food processor. Since I already have a 1980's Cuisinart Classic (USA made), I've never used the KA 5 cup, and I came real close to donating it to Goodwill. But for some reason I've hung onto it. And yes, it's Made in France. Since I have two kitchens, I suppose I could set up the KA in one and the Cuisinart in the other.
I've seen the KA "Pro" line at Costco - they had a very nice toaster and an equally nice coffee grinder. Lots of cast metal housing, nice matt silver and chrome styling, but pricey. The coffee grinder is probably a good one, but I didn't like the thin walled glass container, it looked very breakable and not easily replaced by something else (although a jam jar of right height would probably do just as well). Not sure if the grinding burrs on the KA Pro are any better than the run-of-the mill burrs on my $20 Melitta burr grinder.
I would hate to see the KA Stand mixers go to China, but it seems like just about everything is made there now. I guess companies feel they must outsource mfg to China because all their competitors are doing it. I have read (was it here?) that Chinese workers make an average of $.57/day. That won't even get you a cup of coffee these days.
Interestingly, I now work in manufacturing. I run a CNC mill and make parts for local high tech companies. Some of it is prototype stuff, some of it is custom, some of it is relatively small runs that wouldn't make economic sense to ship all the way to China for.
I have to admit, though, that most manufacturing factory jobs are probably deadly tedium, and I don't mind when someone else is picked to run a bunch of the same thing over the weekend, while I enjoy my garden
. The fun part is taking a new drawing, interpreting it, writing a program to make it, and setting up the machine and making sure the first few parts are right and made as efficiently as possible. Making the same part day in, day out, for years, would probably not be my idea of a good job.
When I had to move my Mom out of her apartment into a rest home, I "inherited" her blue KA 5 cup food processor. Since I already have a 1980's Cuisinart Classic (USA made), I've never used the KA 5 cup, and I came real close to donating it to Goodwill. But for some reason I've hung onto it. And yes, it's Made in France. Since I have two kitchens, I suppose I could set up the KA in one and the Cuisinart in the other.
I've seen the KA "Pro" line at Costco - they had a very nice toaster and an equally nice coffee grinder. Lots of cast metal housing, nice matt silver and chrome styling, but pricey. The coffee grinder is probably a good one, but I didn't like the thin walled glass container, it looked very breakable and not easily replaced by something else (although a jam jar of right height would probably do just as well). Not sure if the grinding burrs on the KA Pro are any better than the run-of-the mill burrs on my $20 Melitta burr grinder.
I would hate to see the KA Stand mixers go to China, but it seems like just about everything is made there now. I guess companies feel they must outsource mfg to China because all their competitors are doing it. I have read (was it here?) that Chinese workers make an average of $.57/day. That won't even get you a cup of coffee these days.
Interestingly, I now work in manufacturing. I run a CNC mill and make parts for local high tech companies. Some of it is prototype stuff, some of it is custom, some of it is relatively small runs that wouldn't make economic sense to ship all the way to China for.
I have to admit, though, that most manufacturing factory jobs are probably deadly tedium, and I don't mind when someone else is picked to run a bunch of the same thing over the weekend, while I enjoy my garden
. The fun part is taking a new drawing, interpreting it, writing a program to make it, and setting up the machine and making sure the first few parts are right and made as efficiently as possible. Making the same part day in, day out, for years, would probably not be my idea of a good job.
My trusty old Moulinex which I had always assumed was made in France was made in the USA.
I also have a USA-made KA hand-held 3 speed mixer. It's a Model KHM3WH-1, labled "Ultra Power". It was my second mixer; the previous one was an older cheapie (which I can't locate at the moment) that didn't work all that well. Although the KA is only about 70 watts, it worked well enough for cake mixes and pancake batters, etc.
By way of comparison, the Sunbeam Mixmaster Model 9 I recently acquired is listed at 120 watts. Also have a "Merit Mercury" hand mixer that claims 130 watts, and a very old GE hand mixer at 100 watts.
By way of comparison, the Sunbeam Mixmaster Model 9 I recently acquired is listed at 120 watts. Also have a "Merit Mercury" hand mixer that claims 130 watts, and a very old GE hand mixer at 100 watts.
PS-I would have to add that of all the hand mixers I've seen or used, the KA 3-speed is most sturdy, with the cleanest lines.
