 | |
| Company type | Aktiengesellschaft |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cookware |
| Predecessor | Heinrich Kuhn Metallwarenfabrik |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Founder | Heinruch Kuhn-Boller |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 160 (2009) |
| Website | www |
Kuhn Rikon is a Swiss cookware manufacturer based in Zell-Rikon im Tösstal, Switzerland. It is particularly known for pressure cookers sold under the brand name Duromatic, which is often used in Switzerland as a synonym for pressure cooker. The company is a family owned public limited company. The name Kuhn Rikon is also associated with the Tibet Institute Rikon, which was established by the co-founders of the business as a non-profit spiritual and cultural center for the exiled Tibetans in Switzerland.
History
editIn 1926, Heinruch Kuhn-Boller acquired the bankrupt copper and steel manufacturer Kindlimann and founded the Heinrich Kuhn Metallwarenfabrik. He developed the cookware brand Duro which was designed for the emerging electric stoves and used aluminium rather than brass or copper.
When Heinrich Kuhn died in 1932 as a result of a brain tumour operation, Henri Kuhn, took over the management and transformed the business into a share limited company (Aktiengesellschaft). From 1947 his younger brother Jacques Kuhn worked as the technical director and introduced the production line. In 1949 they released the Duromatic pressure cooker which laid the basis for export activities, becoming the market leader.
In 1964 when Switzerland took in 1,000 Tibetan refugees, Henri and Jacques Kuhn provided them with jobs and company housing. In 1967, on the advice of the Dalai Lama, they founded the Tibet Institute Rikon with an endowment of 100,000 francs and land for building. The institue was inaugurated in 1968 and has become a major religious centre for Tibertans in Switzerland and neighbouring countries. Even now, employees of Kuhn Rikon have many workers of Tibetan descent.
Henri Kuhn died unexpectedly in 1969, but in 1976 his son Hans-Heinrich Kuhn joined the family business, as the third generation. This phase also coincided with the launch of the world's first double-walled cookware (Durotherm), which was patented worldwide and boosted international expansion. In 1984, Jacques Kuhn retired from the company.
In 2001 the company changed its name from Heinrich Kuhn Metallwarenfabrik to its present name Kuhn Rikon AG.
In 2006 Kuhn Rikon opened a museum on the history of cooking.
In 2010 they launched a range of cheese and meat fondue pots, portable stoves and forks, co-developed by Kuhn Rikon and ceramic expert Hanspeter Landert.
In 2012 Philipp Kuhn, Dorothee Auwärter, Christian Kuhn and Willi Auwärter became the fourth generation of family owners, joining the Board of Directors. In April 2014, Dorothee Auwärter took over the company presidency.
Criticism
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Add to edit summary: Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at de:Kuhn_Rikon; see its history for attribution.