Thermomix
 

Just heard about this today. Supposedly they are super popular in parts of Europe, but no one I have talked to from there knows about them. IT kinda sounds to me like a slow cooker combined with a food processor. Is that all it is? Do you use one, and do you like it?

Most top end pro chefs have them in the uk use them but they are very expensive and can only be bought direct or through a demonstrator. The price is therefore fixed and a few other manufacturers have made multi function units to compete. Users - amateurs - consider they save some space and many claim they us them daily. Most people seem the feel the original is the better than the clones. It also has a blender in it and it is programmable. They are really good at sauces and soups but you either will find the price fine or be certain you'll use it a lot.

There are several blenders with heating elements that are marketed as soup makers. Amazon has a couple of heavily discounted Cuisinart models (1, 2).

About 10% of Spanish households have them.

Thing is, of the Spanish people I know who own them, their Thermomixs were given to them as wedding/house warming presents and they just gather dust in their kitchens. All can cook well, are not against gadgets (their pressure cookers are indispensable) they just don't find a Thermomix useful.

Chefs who make LOTS of sauces love them, otherwise the other devotees seem to be people who would otherwise be buying lots of frozen ready meals - and they get their money's worth pretty quickly. Since chopping onions and garlic and cooking spattery tomatoes for long periods is such an integral part of Spanish cuisine a Thermomix is, arguably, of more use in Southern Europe than in the North (not so popular in the UK or Germany).

As TWA884 has said, there are other lower priced competitors geared towards the Northern Europe market where the Thermomix (in the home market - not necessarily the professional kitchen) is used mainly as a soup maker.
Some of the alternative machines are (there's more, like those from Cuisinart already mentioned)
Kenwood cooking chef
Jamie Oliver Home Cooking Machine from Phillips
Thermochef
Vitamix

Amongst the Spanish Thermomix detractors there's the comment that the gadget is priced perfectly. Low enough (just) that it is within reach of aspirational consumers, high enough to pressure those who buy it to persist with learning (and adapting the way they cook) to get on with it and convince themselves that it is actually worth the money rather than feel they were conned.

This review - and the intelligent comments - pretty much sums up my thoughts:
http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-food/...320-2geuj.html

Consumer Reports gave it less than a stellar review.

They seem to be have been selling for £99 at John Lewis for a while now (though without the chopping attachment). I've been tempted to get one, mainly to use as a stirred saucepan. It's not that I find sauces hard, it's just that I normally have plenty of other things to keep me busy in the kitchen and not having to worry about delicate sauces catching miht be worth it. I've also wondered whether it'd work for tempering chocolate or making custard.

There used to be something called 'Le Saucier' but I'm not sure they're still available.

I've looked at the Thermomix a number of times and have never been convinced I'd get value for money from it. I guess because I already have a food processor and mixer, those functions are just duplicating ones I already have ... though perhaps if I were starting from scratch it'd be more tempting.

Very suprised to read all of your comments. Interested to hear:

1. Where is the source that 10% of Spanish households have them .... in fact I am gobsmacked!

2. What is the price of a Thermomix in Spain that makes it so accessable? In the UK they are around £900 and are only available anywhere in the World from demonstrators at fixed prices. On ebay they are currently resold at £980. In the US they are around $2000.

3. You say that most of the people in Spain got them as gifts? Where did the people gifting them buy them? There can only be bought (including in Spain) during a demo. It also seems odd, as most people receiving one would not have a clue how to get much benefit from one without a couple of hours instruction. It's unsuitable as a gift. If people are receiving them as gifts - as you believe -then I'm not surprised most put them in a cupboard.

I'm wondering whether you are confusing this with another brand as nothing to me makes sense?

:)

Thanks.

1- http://www.elconfidencial.com/econom...crisis--116887 "Thermomix tiene una penetración del 10% en España"

2 - didn't say they were "so accessible" but "within reach of aspirational consumers". When folks hit by recession start doing their sums on how much their ready meals and take outs have been costing them, the 980Euros cost of a Thermomix can actually be justified.

3. "Of the Spanish people I know who own them..." is NOT the same thing as saying "most of the people in Spain got them as gifts".

I'm wondering whether you are confusing what I said with what you think I am saying. :)

You should take a look at the Spanish Thermomix forums and on youtube to see how active the thermomix market is in Spain.

Just found out that the company has opened a huge space in Alicante - considering the small population 340,000 for the city and double that for the province, Thermomix must be doing better in this region than even I had realised
Building:
http://blogosferathermomix.es/elblog...nde-de-espana/
Online presence:
http://thermomix-alicante.es/delegacion/

They are referring to market share. 10% market share of the market for intelligent mixers sold in a year in Spain is not the same as "About 10% of Spanish households have them." now is it? :)

10% market share of which market???

40 million Spaniards, 10 million households, approx 125,000 units sold a year (250,000 units sold last year and this year alone). Thermomix has been around for way more than a decade, so even in previous years with lower sales one can assume that 1 million units have been sold in the Spanish Market over the past 20 years.

10% of households.

And from the source quoted above:
"Y eso parece cuando se pregunta a los propietarios del aparato, presente en 1,6 millones de cocinas en nuestro país."
There is a Thermomix in 1,600,000 Kitchens in Spain

Forget about the article for a moment and what you think it means. Just think about it for a moment .... use your judgement. ;)

Do you really believe that 10% of all Spanish households have a Thermomix in their kitchens that they have either purchased or had purchased for them at a cost of approxinmately 1000 euros and as you put it "and they just gather dust in their kitchens"?

Does your judgment tell you that that sounds plausible?

Anyway ... if you do believe this - then fine!

Let's just disagree!

:)

Another article from one of Spain's leading news sources quoting the 1.6 million Thermomix units in Spain:
http://economia.elpais.com/economia/...39_418822.html

As to what I really think and believe. Easy, out of at least 100 friends and family members that I have in Spain, these include members of 5 households where there is a Thermomix. This, it turns out, conforms to (it might even exceed - others might have them I am not aware of), the 10% of households estimate. I would never have attempted to extrapolate from this tiny sample but it does fit in with the figures from the Spanish media.
AND I NEVER SAID THAT ALL THE UNITS ARE GATHERING DUST, just the ones of the people I know. It's you who are extrapolating here.
It may be hard to believe, but I do not know absolutely everyone in Spain. :)

It doesn't surprise me that you would rather keep to your emotional assumptions than accept that Spain is one of the largest markets for Thermomix.

There is no need to be rude .....:eek:

You are quite right. I don't believe everything I read ..... even FT posts ...:)

No rudeness intended.

From the outset there has been a marked gap between what I wrote and what you have twisted my words to mean. You started with an assumption and the tweaks and pinches you have bruised my words with have all been performed in an attempt to prod them into fitting in with that assumption. In other words, you were reading what you wanted to read.

Hopefully, this will lighten the now darkened tone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAw8RbDGsAw&sns=em
Ladies from Andalucia belting out the joys of owning a Thermomix, flamenco (Sevillanas) style.

And a recap here to report on a spectacular year for Thermomix in Spain

http://www.efeempresas.com/noticia/t...el-primer-mes/

"España es el principal mercado de Thermomix, seguida de Italia, Francia y Alemania"
Spain is the principal market for Thermomix followed by Italy, France & Germany.

"la compañía espera cerrar 2014 con la venta de 145.000 unidades"
(In October) company expected close the year having sold 145,000 units.

"Otro de los objetivos de Thermomix, perteneciente al grupo alemán Vorwerk, es conseguir que en tres o cuatro años este aparato esté presente en el 20% de los hogares españoles (desde el 12% actual) y tener unas ventas anuales de 200.000 unidades, según explicó Fernández-Simal, que anteriormente fue director general comercial de BMW Group España."
Another of the objectives of Thermomix is for their units to be present in 20% of Spanish homes (currently 12%) and achieve sales of 200,000 units a year.

Company estimates there are now 1,850,000 users in Spain (up from 1.6 million)

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I still have no interest in owning one and still don't have any friends or family in Spain who use theirs (if they have one) regularly.