The Pampered Chef, Ltd. a global company that offers a line of kitchen tools, food products, and cookbooks aimed for preparing food in the home with a worldwide direct sales force over 60,000 in addition to 750 corporate staff. The company is currently headquartered in Addison, Illinois

Addison, Illinois

Addison is a village located west of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 35,914 at the 2000 census. The estimated population was 36,378 as of 2002.The Village of Addison lies on Salt Creek...

 and operates in five countries: USA, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

History

Founded in 1980 by Doris Christopher, the company began to sell these items to housewives on the party plan

Party plan

The party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting what is presented as a social event at which products will be offered for sale. It is a form of direct selling...

, a system in which a homemaker invited her friends over for a social event at which the products were demonstrated and sold, a concept first used with great success with Tupperware

Tupperware

Tupperware is the name of a home products line that includes preparation, storage, containment, and serving products for the kitchen and home, which were first introduced to the public in 1946....

. The products gained popularity in the 1990s, even as many other party plan merchandisers were faltering due to changing lifestyles. It started its global presence with Canada in 1996. It spread to Europe with the UK in 1999 and Germany in 2000. The company was acquired in 2002 by Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett

Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...

's Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...

Corporation. It recently opened up its doors to Mexico in 2009.