Horizontal blender for low intensity mixing comprises of a group of multi purpose mixers that have a wide variety of blending and mixing applications. They can perform solids-to-solids and also liquids-to-solids blending. It consists of a U-shaped horizontal trough and a specially fabricated ribbon or paddle type agitator. A ribbon agitator consists of a set of inner and outer helical agitators. The outer ribbon moves materials in one direction and the inner ribbon moves the materials in the opposite direction. The ribbon rotates at approximately 350 fpm, moves materials both radially and laterally to insure through blends in short cycle times.