One hundred and thirty years ago, Bertazzoni, the family-owned company that manufactures ranges, ovens, cooktops and ventilation systems, laid the foundation for capturing the hearts of passionate home chefs all over Italy. Today, Bertazzoni is the oldest family owned appliance manufacturing company in the world that continues to bring the rich food culture of the Emilia Romagna region to kitchens on all five continents. Staying true to one guiding vision, Bertazzoni aims to create innovative, high-performing, and elegantly designed appliances that meet the needs and lifestyles of today’s cooks. Bertazzoni will celebrate the company’s 130 year milestone with an exclusive anniversary celebration for family, friends, and distributors of the brand in the Bertazzoni family’s hometown of Guastalla, Italy.

“Over the past 13 decades, we have focused on understanding what is happening in homes around the world in an effort to translate those lifestyle demands into precisely engineered and beautifully crafted products,” says Paolo Bertazzoni, president and fifth generation chief executive officer of Bertazzoni. “It’s also very important to our brand that culinary Italian identity, which is based so heavily on tradition, remains an anchor in the rapidly evolving product development process. I’m enormously proud of what we’ve accomplished and even more excited about what’s to come for the Bertazzoni brand.”

The Evolution of Bertazzoni
A pioneer of the industrial age, Francesco Bertazzoni began laying the foundation of his family’s entrepreneurial engineering spirit in 1882. He crafted innovative wood burning stoves taking inspiration from the stoves he saw being delivered to his hometown of Guastalla, Italy on the new railroad that connected Italy to the industrial centers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

As time went on, Bertazzoni stayed true to its focus on engineering, design, and the epicurean roots of the region, building the first factory in 1909, embracing the discovery of oil and gas in the Po River Basin in the 1950s, and distributing its products to home owners in Europe and Asia in the 1970s. In 2005, Bertazzoni began selling in the North American market with the introduction of the Bertazzoni Professional Series, available in a rainbow of eight colors of Italy and specifically developed to meet needs and aspirations of the American home. Since débuting in the North American market seven years ago, the company has launched a total of four product lines: Professional Series, Master Series, Heritage Series, and most recently, the Built-In Line.

“We had been watching Bertazzoni in Europe and were thrilled when the products became available to us in the U.S.,” states Tim Murray of Purcell Murray, Bertazzoni’s distributor in California, Nevada, and Arizona. “We have seen the brand widely embraced by homeowners, architects, interior designers and other industry influencers. Beyond the company’s impressive commercial success, we have a very special relationship with the Bertazzoni family members, which make this brand so unique and authentic to us.”

Bertazzoni’s Industry Recognition and Award-Winning Built-In Line
Shortly after entering the U.S. market, Bertazzoni earned one of the highest industry accolades, named to the Luxury Institute’s Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) as one of the top two premium brands in the kitchen appliance market.
In 2011, Bertazzoni unveiled a complete Built-In Line featuring a series of wall ovens, range tops, cooktops, and ventilation that combine metropolitan flair and technical virtuosity to offer unparalleled style and precise performance.

The new line marked several important industry firsts:

Exclusive high-resolution LCD display with an Apple-inspired user friendly approach

Dual diagonal convection technology for optimal heat distribution on seven levels

The Assistant — a bank of cooking sequences programmed with an algorithm spanning nine food categories and equipped with sensors to provide the cook with the desired cooking results

Segmented cooktops combining the power of gas, electric griddle, and induction cooking in one flexible product platform

Recognition of the Built-In suite was for its design and innovation by several industry organizations:

CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree: Bertazzoni Design Series 30 inch Double Oven

-Interior Design Best of Year Award Finalist: Bertazzoni Design Series 36 inch Segmented Cooktop

GOOD Design 2011 Finalist: Bertazzoni Design Series Built-in Oven

Loyal Bertazzoni Customers and Distributors–
Bertazzoni has many important constituencies to thank for its success, including

Customers around the world who have embraced Bertazzoni products in their homes over the past 130 years

Retail partners, builders, and distributors in over 60 countries who have sold Bertazzoni, including original partners such as General Heat Corporation based in Manila, Philippines who have supported the
brand for half a century

Business Success and Expansion Plans
For six generations, the Bertazzoni family has created a growing and prosperous business through real product innovation. This credo has remained consistent over time, continues to resonate with the market today, and will serve as a catalyst for the brand’s future. Bertazzoni’s growth plans include a significant expansion and remodeling of the factory in Guastalla, Italy and working with an increased number of distributors and retailers in Asian and South American markets.

“We feel fortunate to currently find ourselves in the ‘sweet spot’ of the kitchen appliance market and we are encouraged by this success,” said Nicola Bertazzoni, vice president of sales for Bertazzoni. “Despite the prevailing challenging market conditions in some regions, our current position as a market leader and our road map for the future are corner stones of our business strategy.”