Smeg (appliances)
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| Private | |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Headquarters | Guastalla, Italy |
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Key people
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Vittorio Bertazzoni, founder. Roberto Bertazzoni, current Chairman and CEO |
| Products | Home appliances |
| Website | http://www.smeg.com |
Smeg is an Italian manufacturer of upmarket domestic appliances. Vittorio Bertazzoni founded the company in 1948 in the village of Guastalla, Reggio Emilia, Italy. The name is an acronym for Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla ("Emilian metallurgical enamel works of Guastalla").
The company remains in the private ownership of the Bertazzoni family with its headquarters still in Guastalla. Smeg is best known for its FAB range of 1950s-style, retro refrigerators that have curved corners and come in a variety of non-traditional colors and patterns. The company also manufactures dishwashers (freestanding - available in FAB style, semi-integrated and fully integrated), washing machines, ovens, microwaves, cooktops, freestanding cookers, rangehoods, refrigeration, wine cabinets, in-built coffee machines.
Vittorio Bertazzoni Snr founded Smeg in 1948. The company originally specialised in enamelling and metalwork. It soon began to produce innovative cooking appliances. "Elisabeth", launched in 1956, was one of the first gas ranges to feature automatic ignition, safety valves in the oven and a cooking programmer.
In the 1960s, the washing range was introduced with the production of the first Smeg dishwashers, which soon led to a world premiere in 1970: the first 60 cm wide dishwashers with capacity for 14 place settings. High performance hobs and ovens were then designed and produced from the mid 1970s and, during the 1990s, Smeg completed its product range with the introduction of distinctive sinks and hoods after buying Apell, an Italian manufacturer of extractor hoods, sinks and taps based in Ancona.
Having established itself in the residential sector, Smeg later entered the commercial market. Smeg Food Service manufactures appliances for the professional hotel, restaurant and catering market and Smeg Instruments supplies disinfection equipment to hospitals and dental surgeries.
The design and manufacture of Smeg appliances is concentrated in three factories based in Northern Italy, each specialising in a specific type of appliance. Excluding the United Kingdom, the company operates sixteen subsidiaries (France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, United States, South Africa, Denmark, Australia, Mozambique, Kazakhstan, Poland, Mexico), as well as two representative offices in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia with a network of distributors around the world.
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Wikipedia