Slump Sharpens Demand for Damco’s Cutlery

The recession has given an edge to Damco, an Ojai-based producer of high-quality cutlery.

“People are eating out less, but at the same time they’re taking more interest in preparing food at home,” said Bernd Dressler, the company’s president. “This has improved the market for our knives and other kitchen implements.”

Dressler cited the eat-at-home trend as a major reason for Damco’s worldwide sales having increased 40% in the past year. Damco, which is privately held, does not disclose its sales figures.

Damco designs and markets knives and other products worldwide. The items are produced mostly in Germany and Japan.

In late May or early June, Damco will move into its own building, now nearing completion on Bryant Circle in Ojai, Dressler said. He said the new, 8,200-square-foot structure will be twice as large as the company’s current headquarters on the same street.

Dressler and his wife, Debra, founded Damco--an acronym for Dressler American Marketing Co.--in Los Angeles in 1982. They moved the company to Ojai in 1986.