 the pampered chef, ltd. is a global multi-level marketing company that offers a line of kitchen tools, food products, and cookbooks for preparing food in the home.gregory karp, "the fine line between legitimate businesses and pyramid schemes", chicago tribune, 10 february 2013 it has a worldwide direct sales force of about 50,000 in addition to 750 corporate staff. the company is currently headquartered in addison, illinois and operates in five countries: usa, united kingdom, germany and canada]. == history == founded in 1980 by doris christopher, the company began in the basement of mrs. christopher's home. the company started to sell these items to housewives on the party plan, a system in which a homemaker invited her friends over for a social event at which the products were demonstrated and sold, a concept first used with great success with tupperware. the products gained popularity in the 1990s, even as many other party plan merchandisers were faltering due to changing lifestyles. it started its global presence with canada in 1996. it spread to europe with the uk in 1999 and germany in 2000. the company was acquired in 2002 by warren buffett's berkshire hathaway corporation. on october 30, 2014, berkshire hathaway appointed long time advisor tracy britt cool to the position of ceo.noah buhayar, "buffettâs assistant cool named ceo of pampered chef unit", bloomberg, 30 october 2014 ==references==  
Berkshire_Hathaway Companies_based_in_DuPage_County,_Illinois Companies_established_in_1980 Direct_sales_companies Kitchenware_brands Multi-level_marketing_companies Personal_selling