About Rival

When most people hear the name Rival, one product always comes to mind - Rival crock pots and Rival slow cookers. However, we have two surprises for you. First, the company makes a far wider selection of Rival appliances that you guessed, from Rival deep fryers and Rival electric skillets to Rival icecream makers. Second, since 2005, Crock-Pot is considered a separate brand, no longer using the name Rival, although they are both in the same corporate family.

Founded in 1932 by Henry J. Talge, Rival is an American manufacturer of small appliances that worked under a number of brand names including Bionaire, Crock-Pot, Pollenex, Rival and White Mountain. Their first product was a Rival juicer, which they called the Juice-O-Mat, one of several O-Mat products to follow, including Rival roasting pans and can openers, later introducing the very first electric can opener in 1951. Rival purchased Naxon in 1970, a little company which made the Bean Pot slow cooker, and re-introduced this clever product as the Crock-Pot in 1971. Between 1986 and 1992, many other small appliances were added, including Rival indoor grills which used a variation on the Crock-Pot cooking method. Rival became a subsidiary of Holmes Products in 1999, and are now a Sunbeam brand as a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation, which purchased Holmes in 2005. Nevertheless, Rival still concentrates on comfort cooking, easy cleaning and intuitive, easy-to-use design.