GRACE and Witek Mazur were introduced to Thermomix during a holiday to their homeland, Poland, more than a decade ago.
GRACE and Witek Mazur were introduced to Thermomix during a holiday to their homeland, Poland, more than a decade ago.
Making a surprise visit to a childhood friend, Ms Mazur was amazed to find that, within minutes, her friend's teenage children had whipped up a meal using a Thermomix.
Being an avid cook, she just had to bring one home.
Thermomix is a kitchen appliance that unites the functions of more than 10 appliances in a single unit - it cooks, blends, steams, minces, weighs ingredients, grates cheese, and even peels garlic.
The Thermomix allows for healthier meals with complete control of what is added to the food, according to the manufacturer.
It is useful for people short on time, those with dietary conditions and parents who want to cut additives from their children's diets.
After using the Thermomix for several months and discovering the appliance was not available in Australia, in 2001 Ms Mazur began negotiations with Vorwerk, the German-based manufacturer, to import the revolutionary cooker-mixer.
"Because the Thermomix replaces more than a dozen other machines in the kitchen, it's become a favourite among first home buyers and anyone wanting to stretch their dollar further," Ms Mazur told WA Business News.
But introducing any new product into a market is challenging and, as Ms Mazur discovered, the lack of any real market equivalent for Thermomix made this challenge even greater.
Initial research done by Vorwerk, although not very in-depth, gave reports that Australia was 'barbecue country' and therefore not a priority market.
The original Thermomix Australia team consisted of three personnel - the Mazurs and one employee.
In the beginning, the Mazurs' lounge room served as head office, warehousing took over the garage, and Ms Mazur was the public face of Thermomix.
Within the first month, Ms Mazur's vision and passion had enabled her to recruit 20 prospective consultants, but she still found herself doing most of the demonstrations across Australia, recruiting along the way.
She began recruiting friends, family and former acquaintances as consultants to host demonstrations at prospective customers' homes, which in turn were the very people she was tapping to recruit.
The strategy to grow the brand in WA first was simple - recruit as many consultants as possible and demonstrate the product to as many people as possible through a direct sales method.
Ms Mazur said potential consumers benefited from her direct selling because of the convenience and service it provided, including a personal demonstration and explanation of the product, home delivery, and generous satisfaction guarantees.
In contrast to franchising, the cost for an individual to start an independent direct selling business is typically very low, with little or no required inventory or other cash commitments to begin.
Thermomix is not sold by any retailer in Australia and is only available through a direct sales method, where in-house demonstrations are still held for small groups by a team of consultants.
Nine years, two moves, 15 full-time staff and 360 consultants later, Thermomix Australia continues to grow from strength to strength.
Earlier this year the 10,000th Thermomix was sold into the Australian market.
From small beginnings in 2001 with 217 sales for the year, Thermomix in 2009 sells more than double this number on a monthly basis.
The main focus now for Thermomix is recruiting more consultants to keep up with the growing demand.
"Having no previous experience in the direct sales market, and limited resources readily available, the beginning stages were very challenging and based mainly on trial and error," Ms Mazur said.
"From an employment perspective, more and more people are coming to us to either subsidise their income or for a full-time career change.
"Direct sales companies like ours are booming because the only way to recession-proof yourself in this climate is to be your own boss."
