A Conversation with Harald Wusthof
By Micah Cheek
It is an exciting time to sell knives. The market is healthy, with consumers buying more and better cutlery. Harald Wüsthof, Chairman of WÜSTHOF-Trident of America, Inc., has observed the slow opening up of the premium knife market. “It used to be mostly affluent people who could afford more expensive tools. It was defined by ZIP code,” says Wüsthof. “Nowadays, I would say it’s not as much income dependent. Now it’s more the foodies.”
The foodies, treating cooking as a hobby, are doing more research into the tools that they use. “People are willing to spend more on their food – why should you buy a high quality prime rib, and then take tools and almost destroy that piece of beef? People are putting it more in context, and they are more investing than buying, and they’re more cautious about what they buy,” says Wüsthof.
Though this new group of consumers doesn’t necessarily have the income of the affluent crowd, they are treating a knife purchase as an investment, putting more money down for a knife they expect to use for decades. “I run into more and more conversations where retailers say, ‘This guy is really, really into knives, and he puts aside 10 dollars a month and bought it as a personal Christmas present,’” Wüsthof adds.
One shift in these purchasing habits is the growing preference for blades with higher carbon content. While carbon steel is renowned for its edge retention and easier sharpening, this alloy has until recently been skipped over in favor of stainless steel. One reason for this is the tendency for carbon steel to darken over time, forming a patina on the blade. “When you look at a knife, if you don’t know what that is, you could be a little scared,” says Wüsthof. “But the better people are informed, the more they know what they’re doing, and they know a high carbon knife isn’t bad at all.” A carbon steel blade requires more upkeep to keep the blade in working order.
Now, the extra care required for using a carbon steel blade has become a selling point. With the attitude of knives as an investment, consumers are seeing the appeal of a knife that they know how to take care of. WÜSTHOF now uses a specialized alloy of high-carbon stain-free steel to reap the benefits of carbon steel while keeping the aesthetics of a stain-free blade. “This ties exactly into that people are more informed, and more task oriented, so they know carbon steel or wooden handles should never go into the dishwasher,” says Wüsthof.
As knife buyers are learning more about the care and feeding of their knives, more of them are sharpening their blades at home as well. “It’s like a car without a tire if you buy a knife without a sharpening device,” says Wüsthof. “The sharpening tools change. Ten or 15 years ago, it was mostly the sharpening steel. The stones, the ceramics have picked up. Particularly, the stones have gotten a greater market share.”
Even with a more informed buyer, the retailer’s influence is important in making sure the customer buys the right knife for the job. “They might need the push of an informed sales person to clear up any fuzziness, but they are more informed,” says Wüsthof.
Just as retailers help customers, Wüsthof feels a responsibility to keep things fair for retailers. “If it comes to collaboration and support to the independent and smaller retailers, I get the impression that we have the same DNA in us, that they’re family-owned and family-operated,” says Wusthof. An important part of maintaining those relationships is avoiding direct competition with retailers, as well as careful pricing. “We’re a hard believer of keeping prices comparable and stable. If you buy the knife at a retailer or online or a chain, if it’s the same knife, it should be the same price. It’s the same sharpness, the same steel, the same product. And the consumer gets the same quality.”
Predicting future trends for cutlery can be difficult due to the lifespan of the products. “You also have to consider that knives are not a fast-moving consumer good like a candy bar. How often does someone by a knife? Every 15 years or so, unless they’re a chef,” says Wüsthof. Still, clear trends have been emerging. “I would say in general that more hand-friendly materials will become more popular: woods or other composite. I think in general it’s getting a little warmer materials,” says Wüsthof. “Blade shapes like santoku and nakiri are becoming more popular. That’s something we react to or sometimes are in the driver’s seat. In the past, we had one santoku or nakiri: now we have several different sizes. Since we consider ourselves the experts in the knife industry, we feel almost obligated to go that deep. The consumer needs to have a choice.”
Having a wide variety of blade styles is beneficial to consumers who are now purchasing more knives for specific jobs. “I also see that people are getting more particular. They have their bread knife that they like to bake with, their santoku for precision; they have their own butchering and boning equipment. It’s getting more detail- or task-oriented.” says Wüsthof.
This specialization is even reflected in the knives Wüsthof uses in his home kitchen. “I have five major blade shapes I like to work with, which is the chef’s knife, the santoku, the double serrated bread knife, which I call the crumb-free bread knife. Then I have a little utility knife. I have also four paring knives – that’s the one which is always circling,” Wüsthof adds. “It’s just handier and easier if you have several of the blade shape.”
