Smeg's New Stand Mixers Take Aim at KitchenAid's Grip on the Market

Italian appliance maker Smeg USA unveiled two new stand mixer models in April 2024: the Forte and the Classico. Both are designed to compete with KitchenAid, the brand that has dominated the countertop mixer market for decades.

The Forte is the more powerful of the two. It has a 750-watt motor (think of a motor's wattage like its raw power output), ten different speed settings, and a feature called "Smooth Start" that eases the mixer into motion so ingredients don't splash everywhere at the beginning. It comes with a 5-quart metal bowl—large enough for most home baking—plus four attachments: a wire whisk, flat beater, dough hook, and a special beater with flexible edges. The pouring shield is made from a recycled plastic called Tritan Renew, a material choice that shows Smeg is thinking about the environment.

The Classico is simpler. It has a 600-watt motor and a two-tone design: a silver body with a colored head that stands out visually from the Forte's uniform look.

What You Can Actually Buy

Smeg sells the Forte in at least three colors on its website: black, pastel green, and cream. WIRED's review suggests up to seven colors might be available through other retailers, though not all have been officially confirmed. The Classico comes in various colors too. Both mixers are sold on smegstore.us and through regular retail channels.

How This Mixer Works

Both new Smeg models use a "direct drive" motor instead of a belt-driven system—think of it like the difference between a car with a direct transmission versus one with a belt-and-pulley system. The direct drive typically lasts longer and delivers more consistent power because there are fewer moving parts and nothing can slip. This is becoming common in high-end mixers.

The Forte's 750-watt motor gives it more muscle than KitchenAid's standard Artisan model, which uses 325 watts. The ten speeds let you adjust everything from gentle folding to high-speed whipping. The 5-quart bowl holds enough dough and batter for most recipes without needing to mix in batches.

Why Smeg Is Making These Mixers

Smeg is known for selling appliances that look beautiful. Marketing director Karen Olle said these new mixers aim to combine that iconic design with solid performance. The company is betting that people who care about how their kitchen looks will choose Smeg over utilitarian brands, even if those brands dominate the market.

WIRED gave the Forte a 7 out of 10 rating, which suggests it performs well but isn't exceptional compared to other stand mixers.

Looking at how markets work, this is a pattern we have seen before. A design-forward brand enters a category owned by an established leader by making a prettier, better-made product and hoping that's enough to win customers. It worked when Apple entered phones against BlackBerry, and when Tesla started making cars. But stand mixers are different. People buy them expecting to keep them for twenty or thirty years. They trust established brands. They want to know they can get parts and repairs if something breaks. Design alone rarely overturns that kind of loyalty.

Smeg's Bigger Picture

These aren't "smart" mixers connected to the internet. But they do represent the appliance industry's slow push toward better motors and more precise control. The choice of recycled plastic for the pouring shield also shows manufacturers are thinking about sustainability.

These mixers are aimed at home bakers and cooking enthusiasts, not commercial kitchens. The power and bowl size put them in the serious-home-baker category, not the industrial range.

Smeg timed this launch for spring 2024, when people are preparing for entertaining season and thinking about kitchen upgrades. Whether the company can really challenge KitchenAid will come down to price, how easy they are to find in stores, how long they last, and whether Smeg can build the kind of trust that makes people willing to spend significant money on an appliance from a brand they're less familiar with. Design heritage helps, but it has rarely been enough by itself in the appliance world.