Vorwerk

Overview

Vorwerk & Co. began in Wuppertal, Germany in 1883 as a carpet manufacturer founded by brothers Carl and Adolf Vorwerk. Under the Mittelsten Scheid family, which has led the company for four generations, Vorwerk pivoted into household appliances, introducing an early Kobold vacuum cleaner around 1930 and adopting a direct-sales distribution model in the mid-1930s. It later developed the multipurpose Thermomix kitchen appliance, first launched in the 1970s and expanded through its dedicated Thermomix division starting in 1985. Today the group operates under the legal name Vorwerk SE & Co. KG and remains privately held by the founding family. Its core business lines are Thermomix (also branded Bimby in some markets) and Kobold/Folletto cleaning appliances, distributed primarily through independent advisors in a door-to-door and party-style direct-sales model, supplemented in recent years by flagship retail stores and e-commerce. The group also owns akf bank, a financing arm for small and mid-sized businesses, and previously owned Jafra Cosmetics until its sale in 2022. Vorwerk reported group sales of roughly €3.2 billion in 2024 and states it operates in more than 60 countries worldwide, either through its own national sales subsidiaries or via trading partners, with manufacturing sites in Germany, France, and China.