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 and operates in five countries: USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1980 by Doris Christopher, the company began in the basement of Mrs. Christopher's home. The company began to sell these items to housewives on the party plan, 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. 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's Berkshire Hathaway Corporation. It recently opened up its doors to Mexico in 2009.
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