Based in the Chicago suburb of Woodridge, Illinois, the company has come a long way since its humble beginnings during the United States’ Great Depression.

From baking pans and instructional manuals to pastry decorating tools and food colorings, Wilton currently offers 2,500 different bake ware and food-related products. In fact, Wilton develops an average of 400 new consumer products every year and distributes to retailers in 150 countries.

In 1929, as the United States teetered on the edge of its darkest economical era in history, a pulled sugar artist by the name of Dewey McKinley Wilton, with the help of his wife, began a small cake decorating business in Chicago. During the lean depression years, the family business flourished by creating wedding cakes for famous hotels and clubs.

Building on the reputation they earned by serving the rich and famous, the Wiltons opened a cake decorating and candy-making school for caterers and chefs. The Wilton Method grew in popularity, and in 1947 the Wiltons began marketing cake decorating products, which were retailed by one of the nation’s top department store chains at the time, JC Penney.

The Wilton school’s reputation and the association with a mass-market retailer paved the way for the building of the Wilton’s decorating empire that would influence wedding cake trends for years to come. Soon the Wilton brand name become synonymous with cake decorating supplies and schools.

In 1977, Wilton CEO Vince Naccarato united three diverse companies as Wilton Industries. Wilton Enterprises, sells more than 2,000 cake baking and decorating items. Wilton’s Copco division is the premier designer and marketer of teakettles and quality kitchenware. Its Weston Gallery unit designs and distributes photo frames and mats.

CEO since 1977, Naccarato led the company to strong sales growth and national distribution through “category management,” the principle of basing its selling on tracking trends, and to “supply chain management,” which focuses on ways to drive down the cost of merchandising for retailers.

An Austin Chronicle report notes that the Wilton Method was unparalleled until the 1980’s when Martha Stewart appeared on the scene. She advocated made-from-scratch cakes that taste as wonderful as they look, thus challenging the Wilton Method that often included using cake mixes and vegetable shortening.

Wilton continues to enjoy sweet success. According to Hoover’s November, 2006 business report, Wilton Industries reported $325 million in sales for the 2005 fiscal year, a 7.8 percent increase from the previous year.

For the past 75 years, Wilton has provided a wide variety of cake decorating classes throughout United States and Canada, including the Wilton School of Cake Decorating in northern Illinois. Wilton’s method instructors have helped introduce the intricate, European way of cake decorating to North America. Instructing nearly 200,000 eager students annually, Wilton classes attract individuals from around the world.

While many cake decorators enjoy the Wilton classroom experience, others prefer learning at their own pace at home with video instruction that allows them to replay as many times as needed, such as with the “Cake Decorating Made Easy!” series. Still others like Lorrie have enjoy the best of both worlds:

“ I’ve been decorating cakes since I was 12, and I’m pretty close to 50 now. I’ve taken all the Wilton classes I could take, made lots of cakes, have lots of books and still found lots of new things in the videos. They are a great addition to my library. And it’s been wonderful to have access to a teacher that I wouldn’t have had normally. I’ve learned so much that has been helpful. Thanks!”

Lorrie G.
Carleton Place, Ontario

One more note about Wilton’s ingredients for success. Their annual “Your Take on Cake” contest has drawn thousands of talented cake decorators from across the United States and Canada.

For creating the winning cake, the crowned winner receives $5,000 in cash and an all-expenses-paid trip to attend The Wilton School’s two-week Master Course for Cake Decorating

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Samantha Mitchell, Co-Author
“Cake Decorating Made Easy!” Vol. 1 & 2.
The World’s First Cake Decorating Video Books

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