News – 2026-02-04
In 2026, RATIONAL will celebrate two milestones: 50 years ago, the global market and technology leader in thermal food preparation launched its first combi oven. Combining heat and steam in one unit has fundamentally changed the way professional kitchens work. The 1.5 millionth combi oven rolled off the production line just in time for this occasion. The anniversary unit, which features a golden dial, was handed over to the St. Nikolaus Children’s Hospice in Bad Grönenbach at the beginning of February.
RATIONAL presented its first combi oven, the CD 101, in 1976 — three years after the company was founded by Siegfried Meister. The combination of steam and convection enabled chefs to use a variety of cooking methods, such as roasting, baking and steaming, with just one appliance for the first time. Four years later came the CD 201, the first floor-standing combi oven to meet the demands of large kitchens with high production volumes.
This laid the foundation for five decades of continuous development, from the introduction of the ClimaPlus Combi (1997), the first combi oven with precise climate control, to the SelfCookingCenter (2004), which could adjust settings automatically, to the iCombi Pro (2020), which achieves the desired result automatically at the touch of a button. Each generation has introduced innovations that continue to make working in professional kitchens easier, more efficient and more sustainable.
The clear goal behind all these developments has always been to offer customers the best appliance for cooking. “Thanks to our high production volumes, we are able to achieve a high degree of automation in manufacturing and assembly and to use technologies that are far from standard in our industry. This ensures that every unit meets the exceptional quality and durability our customers expect,” says Tyler Schwarz, Managing Director at RATIONAL Canada. Profit maximization is not the company’s priority; instead, RATIONAL focuses on maximizing customer benefit – a principle firmly rooted in the corporate culture through the ‘bottleneck-concentrated strategy’. The numbers show that this strategy continues to work: around 50% global market share, around 180 million meals prepared daily in RATIONAL appliances and, just in time for the 50th birthday, 1.5 million combi ovens produced.
"50 years of RATIONAL combi ovens and 1.5 million units are not just figures; they are an expression of the high level of satisfaction and trust that our customers have placed in us worldwide for decades. We’re proud of that. It motivates us to continue prioritising customer benefit in the future," says Tyler Schwarz, Managing Director at RATIONAL Canada.