Zyliss: the Swiss brand that invented the garlic press
From the world's first garlic press in 1951 to a fresh run of kitchen gadgets this year, Zyliss keeps building on one idea: practical tools for a practical kitchen.
In 1951, a Swiss inventor named Karl Zysset built something that had never existed before: the world’s first garlic press. That single object became the starting point for Zyliss, a Swiss kitchenware brand that has spent more than seventy years turning small cooking frustrations into equally small mechanical solutions. The company is run today by DK Household Brands AG, headquartered in Zürich, and it still frames itself around that founding idea. Zyliss describes itself as “the Swiss ingenious brand” — a tagline that leads straight back to Zysset’s original press.
An idea from Karl Zysset
The Zyliss story begins with one person and one problem. Karl Zysset wanted a faster, cleaner way to crush garlic, and in 1951 he designed the tool to do it — a press that did not exist anywhere else at the time. That invention gave the brand both its first product and its founding logic: identify a repetitive kitchen task, then design a dedicated tool for it. Decades later, the company built by Zysset is still operating under the Zyliss name, now as part of DK Household Brands AG, based in Zürich. The brand itself leans on this history directly, describing more than seventy years of what it calls Swiss expertise.
Tools for a working kitchen
Zyliss builds single-purpose kitchen tools rather than broad cookware ranges. The garlic press that started it all remains the clearest example of the brand’s approach, but recent additions show the same thinking applied to other everyday tasks. A cheese knife with a rectangular stainless steel blade, a press designed for making Swiss-style vermicelles at home, a can opener with a built-in magnet to lift the lid cleanly, and a three-in-one tool for preparing mangoes have all joined the catalogue recently. Each one targets a specific job in the kitchen rather than trying to do everything — a pattern that runs through the brand’s history from 1951 onwards.
Materials and making
Some material choices are visible in the products themselves — the recent cheese knife, for instance, uses a stainless steel blade. Beyond individual products, the brand states that it is working towards more environmentally friendly materials and packaging across its range. It is a direction stated by the company, and it points to where Zyliss says its production choices are heading.
The Swiss ingenious brand
Zyliss’s own language leans heavily on its Swiss identity and its age. The brand calls itself “the Swiss ingenious brand” and claims more than seventy years of Swiss expertise, tying its current catalogue back to Karl Zysset’s original invention. It also describes its kitchen tools as award-winning. Alongside that, the brand states its intention to move towards greener materials and packaging — a commitment it frames as ongoing rather than finished. These are the company’s own claims about itself, worth noting as such rather than as independently confirmed facts.
Recent launches
Zyliss has kept a steady release schedule through 2026. On 24 September 2026, the brand launched the Signature Cheese Cleaver, a cheese knife with a rectangular stainless steel blade. A week earlier, on 16 September 2026, it introduced the Vermicelles Press, built specifically for making Swiss-style vermicelles at home. On 9 September 2026 came the Lock & Lift Can Opener, which pairs a standard opening mechanism with a built-in magnet to lift the cut lid away cleanly. And on 24 August 2026, the Mango Splitter arrived — a three-in-one tool designed around the specific awkwardness of preparing a mango. Taken together, the four launches show a brand still working the same way it did in 1951: one task, one dedicated tool.
Made from Zürich
Zyliss is run by DK Household Brands AG, with its head office at Eggbühlstrasse 28 in Zürich. That gives the brand a clear Swiss base, even if it now operates as part of a larger household-goods company rather than as an independent Zysset-run business. The throughline is clear: a Zürich-headquartered company still selling kitchen tools built on an idea one Swiss inventor had in 1951.
Why we like it
We like that Zyliss can point to one very concrete origin story: an inventor solving a real kitchen problem in 1951 and ending up with the world's first garlic press. Seventy-odd years on, the brand is still releasing small, single-purpose tools — a vermicelles press, a magnetic can opener — that follow the same logic.
Exactly the kind of brand we’d love to come across on O!deal one day.
Zyliss products we’ve spotted
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Zyliss Signature Cheese Cleaver: Swiss steel made for hard cheese
A stainless steel cheese cleaver from Zurich-based Zyliss, built with a wide blade and a pointed tip for slicing and cubing hard cheese such as Gruyère or Parmesan.