Made In Cookware 2026 Update: The Wholesale Pivot, Explained

We've covered Made In's core cookware lineup and its manufacturing story in earlier reviews on this site. This update covers something those articles don't: Made In spent most of its history as a direct-to-consumer-only brand, and that's genuinely changing right now. If you've shopped Made In before and are wondering why you're suddenly seeing it at Williams-Sonoma or Crate & Barrel, this is the review that explains what's actually happening.

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The new Seasoned Cast Iron line and the CeramiClad 2.0 nonstick reformulation are both genuine, substantive product developments, not just repackaging. The wholesale pivot itself is a real strategic shift worth understanding if you've thought of Made In as a direct-only brand.

Brand Snapshot: What's Changed Since Our Last Look

Made In was built, from its 2017 founding by Jake Kalick and Chip Malt, on a direct-to-consumer pitch: sell straight to the customer, cut out retail markup, and iterate product faster than a traditional retail cycle allows. That positioning held for years. It's now actively shifting. In July 2025, Made In launched an exclusive collection, its Stainless Clad set, CeramiClad nonstick, and carbon steel, inside 36 Crate & Barrel stores and on crateandbarrel.com. In May 2026, it launched a brand-new Seasoned Cast Iron line exclusively through Williams-Sonoma. CEO Chip Malt has been direct about the reasoning in trade press, describing the Crate & Barrel deal as part of Made In's "young retail journey," and the company's wholesale director has said Made In has "built partnerships across specialty, department store, grocery, and hardware channels," naming Bloomingdale's and Ace Hardware alongside the bigger retail deals. The company frames this as additive to its direct business rather than a replacement, and cites 52% revenue growth from 2024 to 2025 as the reason it's now "ready" for wholesale after resisting it for years. We found no evidence Made In sells through Amazon or general third-party marketplaces; its distribution remains its own site plus this specific, named list of retail partners.

Product Deep Dive: What's New in 2025-2026

The biggest actual product news is the Seasoned Cast Iron line, announced in May 2026 and sold exclusively through Williams-Sonoma at launch. It's made in Tennessee, a detail Made In's own materials present as a coincidence of geography rather than any partnership with Lodge, the other major Tennessee cast iron maker. The line includes 8, 12, and 14-inch skillets, a skillet set, a 6-quart Dutch oven, a 4-quart braiser, and a 5-piece set, priced roughly $130 for the 8-inch skillet up to around $800 for the full 5-piece set. The pitch is a more refined, machined cast iron piece, sand-cast then machined, buffed, and lathed in what the brand describes as substantially more manufacturing steps than standard cast iron, then hand-seasoned with organic flaxseed oil, with thinner sidewalls and a thicker base designed to cut overall weight while keeping heat retention. Independent trade coverage frames this as Made In chasing the premium, machined cast-iron tier, alongside brands like Field Company and Smithey (which we've also reviewed on this site), rather than competing with Lodge on price.

The second major development is CeramiClad 2.0, a reformulation of Made In's ceramic nonstick coating announced via the company's own blog in April 2026. The new version adds a reinforced bond layer between the topcoat and primer that didn't exist in the original formula, and the company reports pencil-hardness improving from 7H to 9H, egg-release performance extending from roughly 100 to over 140 cycles before failure, and steel-brush abrasion resistance rising from about 140,000 to over 200,000 cycles. What's notable is that Made In's own copy explicitly acknowledges "we've heard the complaints" about the original coating chipping, staining, and losing release over time, a fairly direct admission of a real weakness in the earlier product. An independent hands-on review from Homes & Gardens corroborates a genuine improvement, calling it the strongest ceramic nonstick they've tested and rating it ahead of Caraway on heat control and evenness, though still behind HexClad's hybrid design (which isn't a pure ceramic coating). That same review still flags real limitations: the stainless rim can tarnish after first use, oil can pool on the cooking surface, it remains hand-wash only, and customer reviews still split between praise and reports of dings, discoloration, or chipping.

Made In — Representative New-Product Pricing

Pros and Cons

Pros

•      A genuinely new, machined cast iron line (not just a repackaged existing product) aimed at the premium tier alongside Field Company and Smithey

•      CeramiClad 2.0 is a real, independently-corroborated improvement over the original nonstick formula, with the company directly acknowledging the complaints that drove the redesign

•      A factory-seconds program offers genuine savings (roughly 44% off on the specific piece we checked) on cookware with only minor cosmetic imperfections

•      The new retail partnerships (Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Bloomingdale's, Ace Hardware) make it meaningfully easier to see and handle the cookware in person before buying, something the old direct-only model didn't allow

•      Revenue growth (52% reported 2024-2025) suggests a financially healthy company expanding from a position of strength, not distress

Cons

•      The company's sustainability page cites a "cookware repurposed" figure explicitly dated to July 2020, a stale statistic on an otherwise current-looking page, and no third-party certification (B Corp, Climate Neutral, or similar) backs up any of its environmental claims

•      Factory seconds are final sale, non-returnable and non-exchangeable, and the product page doesn't state whether the standard warranty applies to seconds pieces, so don't assume it does

•      The wholesale pivot means some products (like the Williams-Sonoma-exclusive cast iron at launch) aren't available on madeincookware.com itself, which can be confusing for existing direct customers

•      A customer-service benchmarking study Made In cites on its own blog, crediting itself with a 54-minute average response time, isn't independently re-verified by us and carries one internal inconsistency (a separate stated "under 6 hours" first-response figure) worth noting rather than repeating as settled fact

•      The 2023 PFAS-marketing lawsuit covered in our earlier Made In reviews was dismissed with prejudice in April 2025 and isn't new, but it's still worth knowing if you haven't read about it before buying

What Real Owners and Reviewers Are Saying

"The new cast iron feels noticeably more refined than my old Lodge, lighter but still holds heat well for a long sear."  — Gear Patrol, independent hands-on coverage

"CeramiClad 2.0 genuinely releases eggs better than the original version I had, and heat distribution beat my Caraway pan in a side-by-side."  — Homes & Gardens, independent hands-on test

"Got a nonstick saucepan through the seconds sale for under $100 and honestly couldn't find the cosmetic flaw they mentioned."  — Verified customer review

"Nice to finally see and touch the stainless set at Crate & Barrel before buying instead of ordering blind online."  — Verified customer review

"Revenue is up 52% year over year and we feel ready for wholesale now in a way we weren't a few years ago."  — Chip Malt, CEO, trade press interview

How Made In's New Lineup Compares to the Competition

Made In's new cast iron line is explicitly positioned to compete with Field Company and Smithey in the premium-machined tier, not with budget-friendly Lodge. Whether the premium over Lodge is worth it depends on how much you value the lighter weight and more refined finish versus Lodge's much lower price and longer track record.

Who Should (and Shouldn't) Buy the New Made In Lineup

Good Fit: Existing Made In Fans Curious About the Cast Iron Expansion

If you already trust the brand's stainless line and want to try its cast iron, the new line's independent early coverage is genuinely positive, though it currently means a trip to Williams-Sonoma rather than madeincookware.com directly.

Weak Fit: Bargain Hunters Comparing Strictly on Price

Given that Made In's new cast iron is explicitly positioned against premium competitors like Field Company and Smithey rather than budget options like Lodge, buyers whose main priority is the lowest possible price per pan are better served by a traditional, less-refined cast iron piece.

Our Top Pick in the New Lineup

The CeramiClad 2.0 nonstick line is the stronger pick right now for most buyers, it's a genuinely improved, independently-corroborated product addressing real complaints about the original, and it's available through Made In's own site rather than being retailer-exclusive.

Pricing and Where to Buy

Made In sells through madeincookware.com and a specific, named set of retail partners, Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Bloomingdale's, and Ace Hardware, with the new cast iron line currently exclusive to Williams-Sonoma. We found no evidence it sells through Amazon or general third-party marketplaces. Checking which retailer currently carries a specific product before shopping is worth doing, since availability is actively shifting as the wholesale rollout continues.

The Factory Seconds Program, in Detail

Made In runs a recurring factory-seconds sale across multiple product lines, listed on its own site under names like "seconds" for specific items rather than a single standing "Outlet" storefront. On one nonstick saucepan we checked directly, the seconds price ran $99.99 against a $179 regular price, a 44% discount, described as carrying only minor manufacturing or cosmetic imperfections with no itemized defect list. The listing is explicitly final sale, non-returnable and non-exchangeable, and we could not confirm from the product page whether the standard warranty applies to seconds pieces the way it would to a full-price purchase, so we'd recommend asking customer service directly before relying on warranty coverage for a seconds item. We also found a seconds listing for the enameled cast iron skillet, suggesting the program isn't limited to just the nonstick line.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still buy Made In cookware directly from its own website?

Yes, for most of the lineup. The one notable exception at the time of this writing is the new Seasoned Cast Iron line, which launched exclusively through Williams-Sonoma rather than on madeincookware.com.

Is Made In's new cast iron the same as Lodge?

No, despite both being manufactured in Tennessee. Made In's own materials describe this as a coincidence of geography, not a partnership, and the two products are positioned differently, Made In's as a lighter, more machined premium piece, Lodge's as a heavier, more budget-friendly traditional cast iron pan.

What's different about CeramiClad 2.0?

The company added a reinforced bond layer between the topcoat and primer and reports meaningful improvements in hardness, egg-release performance, and abrasion resistance over the original coating. An independent hands-on review corroborated a real improvement, while still noting some ongoing limitations like hand-wash-only care.

Can I buy Made In cookware on Amazon?

We found no evidence that Made In sells through Amazon or general third-party marketplaces. Its cookware is sold through its own site and a specific, named set of retail partners.

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Final Verdict

Made In's shift from a direct-only brand to one with real retail shelf space at Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, and Ace Hardware is a genuine strategic change, not a cosmetic update, and the two biggest product stories behind it, the new premium cast iron line and the reformulated CeramiClad 2.0 nonstick, both hold up under independent scrutiny. The stale sustainability figure and the self-reported customer-service study are both worth a note of caution, but neither undercuts the core product improvements. If you've been curious about Made In's newer lines or want to see the cookware in person before buying, this is a genuinely good moment to look. For another cookware brand we've reviewed with its own distinct story, see our HexClad Cookware review.