Meyer Corporation

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Meyer Corporation is a cookware distributor based in Vallejo, California whose parent company is Meyer Manufacturing Co. Ltd. It is the largest cookware distributor in the United States and second largest in the world. Cookware labels or lines that Meyer is the parent firm include Circulon, Anolon, NapaStyle, SilverStone, Prestige and Bonjour. Meyer owns the licenses for cookware produced under the KitchenAid and Farberware labels in addition to producing private label cookware for Macy's and Sur La Table.

The roots of the company began in Hong Kong with aluminum goods manufacturing and changed to cookware beginning in 1971 with the ascension of Stanley K. Cheng as CEO and chief inventor. The name of the firm is a transliteration of the Chinese words 'beautiful' (mai) and 'Asia' (yah). In 1972, the first line of cookware produced by Meyer was sold in London. Marketing distribution centers in Liverpool, England and Milwaukee, Wisconsin were founded in 1976 and 1980, respectively. Meyer's cookware is manufactured and distributed internationally with factories in China, Thailand and Italy. Cookware lines are comprised of stainless steel, hard-anodized aluminum and non-stick aluminum. The parent manufacturing firm is still based in Hong Kong while the distribution company moved to California in 1992. Revenues for the parent and subsidiary distributor was $287 million (US) for fiscal year 2005.

[edit] Cookware Innovations

Meyer Corporation developed Circulon in 1984 with the innovation of non-stick cookware bonded to hard-anodized aluminum and tiny grooves in the interior that reduced abrasion of the Teflon surface. The "high-low food release system" was developed and patented by Stanley K. Cheng. The development of Anolon was to satisfy the marketplace which desired thicker gauge non-stick pans that were also dishwasher safe. The Anolon technology was not patented and was quickly incorporated by rivals into their own cookware lines.