Breville

An assortment of Breville appliances

In 1932, Bill O'Brien and Harry Norville (born Charles Henry Norville) mixed their last names together and the Breville brand was created. They started off making radios, then mine detectors for the war. After World War II and the commencement of television transmission in Australia in 1956, Breville turned its attention to small appliances. It also commenced manufacturing television sets under the Precedent brand name. The television business was sold to Electronic Industries Limited in 1955.[3]

The O'Brien family continued developing the Breville business for three generations, with Bill's son John O'Brien setting up the Breville Research and Development centre in the late 1960s, and his daughter Barbara, running the Marketing department throughout the 1990s. John continued to lead many product development initiatives For the Breville brand up until his death in December 2003. Breville's R&D team has over 100 active patents and has been awarded more than 40 international design awards. In 1974, it completed development of the toastie maker. The product was a huge success upon its launch in Australia in 1974, selling 400,000 units in its first year and making the Breville brand a household name in Australia. Soon after, the Breville toasted sandwich maker was launched in New Zealand and the United Kingdom where it met with similar success.[4]

In 1982, Breville Australia sold its ownership of the brand in Europe, which today is owned by Newell Brands. In Europe, Breville works with partners who use their own brands for local marketing. These brands are Sage Appliances (Eastern and Western Europe), Solis (Western Europe), Riviera & Bar (solely in France), Gastroback, and Bork (Eastern Europe and Russia)[5][6]. Breville has collaborated with Antony Worrall Thompson. Pulse manages its own product development and is no longer affiliated with Breville's Centre of Design Excellence in Australia.

Outside of Europe, the Breville brand is a division of the Australian ASX listed Breville Group, which also has bases in Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States.

Breville trades in over 70 countries[7] including China, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, and Israel.[8] In 2002, the Breville brand was launched in Canada and the United States.

The company makes contact grills, kettles, espresso machines, toasters, microwave ovens, pressure cookers, coffeemakers, breadmakers, juicers, deep fryers, blenders and food processors.[9][10]

• Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead has been credited with doubling the sales of Breville juicers since the documentary launched on Netflix in the US in July 2011.[11]

• Official website