Can ANYONE find a bread maker that's not made in China??

[AntsyEm]

I'm at my wits end. I looked all over and can't find a SINGLE bread maker that's not made in China. I've given up on brands like Breville, but I was hoping with tariffs that Japanese brands would start finding other places to make them. Does anyone have ANY idea if ANYONE makes these outside of China??!

[steve]

Unfortunately, this is an area where China definitely has a stranglehold on the supply chain and manufacturing, including brands that go out of their way to make products outside of China for other product lines (i.e. Zojirushi and Cuckoo with rice makers and Dash with waffle makers).

Zojirushi - China
Breville - China
Cuisinart - China
Hamilton Beach - China
Amazon Basics - China

The only one I could confirm is not made in China is this particular model from Panasonic, the SD-BMT2000-W, that's made in Japan for the Japanese market (meaning it's for 110V and not 120V outlets, so you'd need a transformer that could handle the load).

Other than that your best bet is eBay. Looking through their listings is like looking through a time machine to a time before China manufacturing took over when most machines were made in Japan—even though Japan was considered the "cheap offshore manufacturer" of the time, you'll find many more units and parts on the resale market. Why? Because made-in-China models are just thrown away into a landfill; there's not even any use trying to repair those.

Here were some of the top models. The good thing about buying used bread machines is that chances are most of them probably really were "gently used"...most of us with breadmakers probably use them about once or twice a year in a good year.

The first commercially available bread maker was created by Panasonic (then Matsushita) in 1986. In the late 1980s, Funai created a bread machine (called, appropriately, "The Breach Machine" and sold it under the Welbilt and DAK brands in the USA. Manufacturers like Sanyo and HItachi were also made in Japan, along with Panasonic and a new entrant into the market called Zojiurishi.

Bread machines follow that classic pattern of being a relatively new invention (no "legacy" manufacturers like Dualit and Kitchenaid) where Japan dominated the era when innovation and engineering was the norm. But once China achieved permanent MFN status, the Japanese brands (no different than American brands) decided that bread makers weren't a core strategic product, so they sent all of them to be made in China. China, of course, stole their IP, monopolized supply chains for the specialized parts, and started making their own brands. And of course, there is ZERO product innovation happening with bread makers. If you see prices rising, it doesn't mean any company is investing in innovation, it means that China has so thoroughly monopolized production that they're calling the shots. And because ALL manufacturing is done in China, tariffs are irrelevant—there's no other source to provide competition.

I have a Zojirushi myself, and the bread it makes is too dense, unevenly baked, and just not as much fun as a cheap (presumably made in Japan) one I had during college. For a while I thought it had to be the recipe I was making, but no, the breadmaker has a lot to do with it (and mine was considered top of the line).

Let's hope that SOME manufacturer has the bravery to start making these outside of China. It's tough, because these aren't in huge demand, and people who are rich enough to buy one of these probably are also rich enough to toss them in the trash once they stop working.

[Doughboy]

IMO breadmakers are overrated. Just make your bread the old fashioned way; mix it, knead it, let it rise covered on on a windowsill, and bake it. It's actually not bad considering how much superior to the quality is.