What Makes Vitamix …

When you type the phrase “what makes vitamix” into Google, you get the following auto-complete suggestions: “what makes vitamix so great,” “what makes vitamix so special” and “what makes vitamix so expensive.” Let’s tackle these FAQs one by one!

What Makes Vitamix So Great?

Instead of delving into the mechanics of how Vitamix blenders work or detailing how uniquely powerful they are, I’ll focus on the result of all that precise engineering and impressive horsepower: amazingly consistent smoothies, soups and sauces, regardless of the ingredients.

More than anything, it’s the smooth, silky “mouthfeel” that wins people (and corporations like Starbucks) over. With Vitamix, you don’t get uneven blends. You don’t get tiny bits of kale stuck in your teeth. No shards of ice will block your straw.

In an exhaustive blender comparison, Cooks Illustrated crowned Vitamix king, due to its performance in a variety of tests and equally important, its toughness in the face of heavy use and challenging ingredients. “Its exceptional durability (not to mention seven-year warranty) makes it cheaper in the long run than a less expensive blender that needs continual replacing,” they wrote.

What Makes Vitamix So Special?

Part of what makes Vitamix special is its enormous grassroots popularity. Very few kitchen appliances inspire as much fanatical devotion as Vitamix blenders do. (KitchenAid mixers seem to have a similarly passionate fan base.)

Even Slate.com, an online news magazine notorious for its contrarian viewpoints, has unabashedly joined the pro-Vitamix chorus. Food writer Catherine Price:

When you first buy a Vitamix 5200, the so-called Ferrari of blenders, two thoughts are likely to pass through your mind. The first is “Did I really just spend more than $400 on a blender?” And the second is “This machine is going to change my life.”

Modern marketing campaigns are predicated on the promise, implicit or explicit, of a better life. Our basements and kitchen cabinets fill up with exercise equipment and appliances that we purchase in hopes of improving our health and well being. Most of the time, these gadgets collect dust, seem to mock our attempts at self-improvement, and eventually find their way to the nearest Goodwill.

But when it comes Vitamix, that promise seems … legitimate, kept. If you believe the breathless reports from Vitamix owners themselves, these machines actually deliver on those bold promises of betterment.

What Makes Vitamix So Expensive?

Let’s not beat around the bush: these machines are SPENDY. Prices start around $400 and go (way) up from there. When you can purchase a blender for $30 from Walmart, the leap to a Vitamix might seem reckless—or pointless. After all, how much better could they be?

But every Vitamix owner I’ve spoken to (several, as a matter of fact; they love to spread the Vitamix gospel) has expressed approximately ZERO buyer’s remorse.

As someone who doesn’t own a Vitamix (yet) I understand the qualms about the pricetag. That said, I’ve started to wonder … what if these Vitamix fans are on to something?