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Berkel: History

Gianpaolo Bottanelli and Berkel: Love at first sight!

Vintage Berkel slicers, universally considered, not only for their flame red colour, the butcher’s “Ferrari”, are one of the most required modern articles.

Wilhelmus Adrianus Van Berkel is the one who invented and patented the first slicers with flywheel, and who founded the first Van Berkel factory in Rotterdam on October 12th in 1898. He owned various butcher’s shops, that’s why he felt the necessity to figured out a way to slice more pieces of meat of the same thickness to better served his customers. Thus he designed a food carriage that functioned getting closer to the circular and concave blade, that rotated thanks to the action of a flywheel. After various prototypes, in 1888 he opened the first slicing machine factory.

The first slicers he sold were called Model A, Model B and Model C, and had been produced until 1906. Berkel slicers had the peculiarity to be positioned on a pedestal, the ones white or black varnished were destined to factories, while the red ones were for craft workshops or gastronomy shops. Afterwards they produced Model D and Model L, made and sold from 1907 to 1916, when they also produced Model 1 and 2 and Model R.

In 1915 these models were replaced by Model 3, produced until 1924. Between 1922 and 1928 they produced Model 5 and Model 7. All these machines are considered the most important and prestigious to collect.

From 1928 on they made substantial changes, especially concerning the slicers mechanics, to move with the times and make them more functional and modern. Models produced in those years were: Model 8H (1st series), named Model 21 or 8B in Italy, Model 8H (2nd series), known in Italy as Model 21 (2nd series), Model 8H (2nd series) named Model 21 (3rd series) in Italy, Model 20 and at last Model 9H and Model 12. Some models as for instance 115E worked both manually and electrically.

During the thirties they created smaller machines, like Model BB2 and Model P30, Model NL, Model NS and Model P28.

During the forties Berkel produced the first models functioning only electrically. The last slicers electrical, but with fly-wheel, was Model 115. In the first decades of the 20th century Berkel created also scales for stores and factories. It’s interesting to specify that Van Berkel, besides slicers and scales, also produced engines for airplanes, trains, ships and cutters for metal and mechanical industry.

From Rotterdam, where Berkel began his production, he broaden and opened factories all over the world: Milan, Paris, Lion, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, London, North and South America. Thus, Van Berkel, a simple butcher, became one of the bigger industrialist of his age.