“We are absolutely 100% committed to Made in America,” says the CEO of Cutco.
It’s only fitting that America’s largest brand of stainless-steel kitchen knives is manufactured by members of the United Steelworkers union. Of the 390 manufacturing workers at the Cutco Corporation factory in Olean, New York, 335 of the skilled, hands-on craftspeople are represented by the Steelworkers.
Cutco makes a variety of kitchen utensils but has long been known for its top-quality kitchen knives for the home chef. Cutco has been manufacturing its high-carbon, corrosion-resistant, stainless-steel blades since 1949 and through the years, USW members have touched each and every knife during the production process.
The 76-year-old company was founded by Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) which was looking for a way to bring aluminum products into home kitchens. While the knives have always been made of stainless steel, the thinking was that Alcoa’s new line of aluminum cookware would be more welcome in a home kitchen accompanied by a proven line of stainless-steel knives.
By 1982, Alcoa decided it no longer wanted to be in the consumer goods business and sold the business to five members of the executive team at the company. Four of these five owners have since retired and exited the company, leaving it in the hands of Jim Stitt, Sr.
Today the company President and CEO is Jim Stitt, Jr. who learned the trade and intricacies of running the show from his father. These days, Cutco feels more like a family business than a large corporation.
“When the company was owned by Alcoa, the relationship between the company and the workers was very bad,” said 52-year-old Jim Stitt, Jr. “Prior to my dad and his partner, Erick Laine, coming in it was pretty much the standard that every contract negotiation ended in a strike. It was a very uncomfortable environment, and my dad and his partner really took it upon themselves to say this is no way to work, no way to run a company. So, they rolled up their sleeves and got to know people.
“Today we have a fantastic relationship with our union workforce. They are members of USW Local 5429. We work very closely with them every day. We collaborate and we have shared objectives.”
Those objectives have pushed the company into the 21st century when all its major competition comes from countries like Germany, Japan, and China.
While there may be a few startups making knives in the United States, Cutco is by far the largest to embrace Made in America manufacturing.
“We are absolutely 100% committed to Made in America,” said Stitt, Jr. “We completely understand all the tangible offshoots of Made in America and what it means for people and careers and community. We have zero interest in changing our model and sourcing from outside the United States.
“We are very strongly committed to Olean, N.Y., and our own campus. If we can’t do it ourselves like the flatware, we still partner with a Made in America company.”
That flatware for table settings is contracted out to Sherrill Manufacturing in Sherrill, New York – the makers of Liberty Tabletop tableware.
The Cutco factory is dedicated to producing premium knives for kitchen use such as cutting and chopping but is most known for its steak knives, which are tailored for residential use.
The manufacturing of Cutco’s premium knives is a three-step process that begins with hardening.
“When you purchase the steel, you buy it in a soft state and that is when you can form it,” said Stitt, Jr. “You then need to harden it, and the hardening temperature for the grade of stainless steel we use is over 1,900 degrees. After heating it to 1,900 degrees we bring it down to room temperature and, from a metallurgical perspective, to complete the transformation you have to cool the knife blade down to -120 degrees. That is part of the metallurgy.
“From heating it up and then freezing it, it does create stress in the blade and the blade would be brittle if you did not remove those stresses. So, we run them through a tempering process and get the knife back to roughly 400 degrees, and that tempers the blade. Now you’ve got a blade that’s hard, flexible, and a proper dispersion of your carbon content and your stainless carbon is what gives you the hard, sharp edge. The stainless is what gives you the corrosion resistance so it doesn’t rust.”
The knife blades are fastened to the unique handles with three rivets. The handles were designed in the early 1950s by renowned industrial designer Thomas Lamb. Lamb was known as the “handle man.”
“They are ergonomically designed to fit in the hand. When you grip the handle you feel like ‘wow, my hand is actually on the knife the right way,’” added Stitt, Jr. “We use a thermal plastic for our handles, so our knives are completely dishwasher-safe.”
Cutco sources its stainless steel from two companies in Pennsylvania. The wood blocks that house many of the knife sets are sourced from Ellicottville, N.Y., just a short drive northwest of Olean.
A more recent addition to Cutco’s business model is direct-to-consumer online sales. The company, however, was a pioneer of selling in the home – a common strategy 50 years ago – and still follows that sales model today.
Particularly popular is its summertime recruitment of college students to do in-home demonstrations. Students can spend two summer months on this sales circuit before returning to school. They approach friends and relatives at first and then acquire referrals from them to expand their sales.
“This model has continued to work well and part of it is tied to relationships,” said Stitt, Jr. “Because you have a relationship with the person there is a little bit of a referral, not just cold calling.
“The fact that we are going out and finding customers instead of just waiting for customers to come to us is still working. Communications have changed over the years but it’s the basics and it is still the same.”
There is a total of 700 employees at Cutco’s headquarters and manufacturing plant in Olean, which makes the company a major employer in a small city of approximately 14,000 residents. Cutco occupies about 300,000 square feet of space on its campus, with its factory making up most of the property.
Cutco also has about 500 field offices throughout the U.S. where employees recruit in-home salespeople and supply product to district salespeople. The sales pitch is based on the premium quality of Cutco knives that can be used in a meal and then just thrown into the dishwasher.
“From a quality perspective, these are the key points, and I would say the other two points is No. 1, they are made in America and No. 2 is that they come with a forever guarantee. There is a free resharpening service for the product forever. The product can be passed down to your kids and your grandkids. It’s not a guarantee only for the original owner; it’s a guarantee of the product. If the product ever fails anywhere in the life of the product, we will repair or replace it.”
And after 76 years in business, Cutco and the Steelworkers making and repairing these durable knives are likely to be around – despite the variety of challenges presented by low-paying foreign entities.
“We need to level the playing field, and we need to promote American made manufacturing,” said Stitt, Jr. “This country needs that for sure.”
Cutco knives can be purchased through company representatives who may offer you a discount or you can buy directly online at full retail price at www.cutco.com.