MATTE BLACK BY SMEG As the new year begins, Smeg is pleased to introduce an elegant new finish to its current offerings of stainless steel, enamel, and glass for large appliances… matte black. The new matte black finish will be added to the Classic collection, providing another option for homeowners who value timeless design but want to add new interest to their kitchen. The collection includes a suite of appliances with a tactile premium matte finish and a durable coating that will add an effortless elegance to your home.
This exciting new matte black range features a 60cm pyrolytic multifunctional oven with a large cavity big enough for your Sunday roast dinner, 10 cooking functions including circulaire for multi-level cooking without flavour transference and an impressive A+ energy rating. A 45cm compact microwave with grill provides fast cooking if you’re in a hurry and the warming drawer is excellent for proving bread and reheating food.
The oven and the microwave feature Smeg’s Eclipse black glass, coordinating black handles and controls, and intuitive LCD displays.
To complete the look, there is also a 75cm Gas hob with 5 burners, one of which is an ultra-rapid burner ideal for high-temperature cooking such as stir-frying and a 60cm Gas hob with 4 burners.
Whirlpool Corporation’s iconic KitchenAid brand is turning heads and attracting consumers with the release of its 2023 Color of the Year. It’s bold. It’s lush. It’s countertop couture. And it embodies the energy-boosting hues that are springing to life in art, design and pop culture today.
Hibiscus is all about bright energy. We wanted to choose something that reminded us to embrace new styles and empower us to explore new things in and out of the kitchen.
The 2023 KitchenAid Color of the Year is made to attract. Inspired by the vivid color of the Hibiscus flower, the Color of the Year blooms with possibilities for extraordinary kitchen experiences.
“Hibiscus is all about bright energy. We wanted to choose something that reminded us to embrace new styles and empower us to explore new things in and out of the kitchen,” said Brittni Pertijs, Lead Color, Material & Finish Designer for the KitchenAid brand. “Hibiscus can be styled in so many ways. We love pairing Hibiscus with a neutral kitchen, to add a pop of color. Or, we love a maximalist pink and green combination! Don’t be afraid to pair Hibiscus with various textures as well.”
KitchenAid has championed the power of color to fuel creativity since introducing the first Stand Mixer colors in 1955. Today the brand’s Color of the Year taps global trends, capturing the current moment and inspiring makers around the world.
The recycled plastic content and advanced food preservation features of our new built-in refrigerators have been well received by consumers. Simona Oboroceanu, Category Marketing Manager from the Food Preservation team at Electrolux tells us why.
Hi Simona! Tell us more about our breakthrough in incorporating recycled plastic in our refrigerators.
The Electrolux Group has developed a new line of built-in refrigerators – the Electrolux 500-900 Series and AEG 5000-9000 Series – that we’re currently launching in Europe. The recent launches have inner liners made from 70% recycled plastic, which equates to 13% of the total plastic used in the refrigerator. We are the first in the world to incorporate this much recycled plastic into a refrigerator so it’s an important industry breakthrough.
The plastic is sourced from a specialty supplier that collects and refines plastic from discarded refrigerators in Europe. It is very important that we work with strong and reliable partners that can provide access to high-quality recycled materials.
The range has been well received at fairs such as IFA in Berlin as the industry sees the product as being concrete proof that we take sustainability seriously.
How have consumers responded to the inner liners made from recycled plastic?
Consumers have responded very positively to the inner liners, and they perceive the gray shade of plastic as being more premium than standard white liners. They favor products made from recycled materials and our research has shown they want this kind of refrigerator with recycled materials.
How do our built-in fridges help retain nutrients and avoid food waste?
The recent launches have an innovative GreenZone crisper drawer to keep fruit and vegetables fresh. They are offered in two versions – one with a manual vent that consumers can open or close depending on how full the drawer is and an automatic version. The automatic crisper has a membrane that allows ingredients to breathe by regulating and optimizing humidity.
Third-party studies have shown that our GreenZone crisper drawer can retain 95% of the vitamin C in blueberries after 11 days. None of our competitors use this kind of innovative membrane so it is a clear competitive advantage for us.
The recent launches also use innovative cooling technology that keeps the temperature stable to help ingredients last longer. One of the solutions is Cooling 360, which maintains a more stable temperature distribution, to preserve food for longer by avoiding temperature shocks and stress on food. Our TwinTech® No Frost also keeps food hydrated with independent cooling systems for the fridge and the freezer parts.
What do customers think about these enhanced abilities to help preserve ingredients?
Consumers immediately understand the value to them – not only in terms of retaining the vitamins in their ingredients for their health, but also making ingredients last longer and ultimately helping them to avoid food waste. Importantly, consumers really value the third-party verified fact-based claims we make. At Electrolux Group we’re committed to help consumers live better, more sustainable lives in the home and this refrigerator line reflects that.
Consumers have shown increased interest in healthy eating, particularly since the pandemic, and we go beyond the standard refrigerator offering by helping them to maintain the vitamin content and quality of the food they eat. Also, people are becoming increasingly conscious of food waste and the materials that are used to manufacture their products.
Will they be launched in other markets in 2023?
Yes, as well as continuing to roll out these innovations across Europe in 2023, we are looking at launching in other regions, such as Asia Pacific, in the coming years. Watch this space!
Prima, the kitchen brand exclusive to distributor PJH, has added a new ‘Full Black’ Venting Induction Hob to its premium ‘Prima+’ range. Sleek, with contemporary on-trend styling, the Prima+ PRVH001 Black 80cm Venting Induction Hob, boasts a flawless black glass frameless appearance, with a highly efficient integrated matt black steel extractor grid that can easily remove steam and cooking smells at source.
As an integrated 2-in-1 induction hob and extractor, the Prima+ PRVH001 Black Venting Induction Hob gives consumers complete flexibility when it comes to placement, making it ideal for kitchen island installations as well as in front of windows or traditional back-to-wall. Without requiring a hood, its space-saving design is also ideal for smaller kitchens too.
With 3 venting speed levels, an extraction rate of up to 398m3 /H and running at just 61dB (A) during operation, the Prima+ PRVH001 Black 80cm Venting Induction Hob, is as practical as it is stylish. The hob also has easy-to-use digital touch controls with 9 power level settings, a bridge section and all the safety features intrinsic to induction cooking such as an auto shut-off mechanism, child lock and residual heat indication.
Rob Brooks, product manager, Prima, said: “The new Prima+ PRVH001 Black 80cm Venting Induction Hob, with its fully black glass frameless design means customers can now achieve that much-in-demand all black contemporary styling in their kitchen as well as coordinate with our Prima+ Oven collection.
“The Prima+ PRVH001 Black 80cm Venting Induction Hob, retails at an extremely competitive price point, and offering all the style, functions and features expected from a high spec venting induction hob, it represents extremely good value for money.”
Measuring H 60 x W 800 x D 520mm, the Prima+ PRVH001 Black 80cm Induction Hob comes with a 5-years parts and 2-years labour warranty
BeefEater has presented the 7000 Series roster of grills, constituting of four Deluxe models and four Classic models, to be had with four or five burners.,,Made from durable cast iron and advanced stainless steel, the BeefEater 7000 Series is designed to withstand the Australian atmosphere.,,The top-tier Deluxe Five Burner BBQ provides formidable 17MJ burners, an 11MJ back ceramic burner constructed for roasts as well as slow-prepared dishes and a 23MJ side burner to widen the barbecuing experience past tradition. The controls are LED lit up and the stand is adjustable in height.
Whirlpool Corporation has been recognized by Fortune as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies for the thirteenth consecutive year. The list includes the most respected and reputable companies around the world, as ranked by peers within their respective industries.
This recognition is only possible due to hard work and collaboration by our people and their commitment to improving life at home for consumers around the world.” “We feel incredibly honored to once again be recognized by Fortune as one of the most admired companies,” said Marc Bitzer, Chairman and CEO of Whirlpool Corporation. “This recognition is only possible due to hard work and collaboration by our people and their commitment to improving life at home for consumers around the world.”
Mehdi Dahmani , 55, will take care of the commercial animation of Fnac stores in France from February 20, directly or as a franchise. He will work in collaboration with the Fnac regional sales directors.
A graduate of KEDGE Business School , Mehdi Dahmani rose through the ranks, becoming store manager Darty , then sector manager Leroy Merlin . In the early 2000s, he took care of the French development of PC World for the Dixons Retail UK group , before becoming the European director of logistics upgrading.
Mehdi Dahmani joined the PPR Group (formerly Kering) in 2007, first as Operations Director of the Surcouf site , then Director of Home Services at Fnac . He continued his rise by becoming director of quality and operations at Fnac in 2012, then director of after-sales and second-life operations. He was director of after-sales and omnichannel logistics operations for the Fnac brand since 2017.
During his career at Fnac and Fnac-Darty, Mehdi Dahmani mainly operated the digital transformation of logistics operations and modernized the after-sales service
Japanese companies, including Panasonic Holdings and Daikin Industries, are increasing their investments in China amid the post-Covid shake-up of global supply chains.
From 2022 to 2024, Panasonic’s investment in China will exceed JPY50 billion (USD385 million), including transferring its production line of electric rice cookers to Hangzhou, the Osaka-headquartered firm told Yicai Global recently.
Panasonic will also build or upgrade more than 10 plants to produce home appliances and air conditioning supplies in China, an insider said. The Hangzhou plant will become Panasonic’s first newly-built home appliance plant in China over the past 18 years. The facility will go into operation next year to make CNY2 billion (USD296.2 million) worth of microwaves, electric rice cookers, and other cooking appliances per year.
Strategic Decisions
Transferring the production line of electric rice cookers to Hangzhou is not a recent decision as it was made after long and thorough deliberation since the Covid-19 pandemic, Tetsuro Homma, regional head of China & Northeast Asia at Panasonic Holdings, told Yicai Global.
The basic idea is to sell products where they are produced, Homma said. “We see that supply chains in China are resilient and we are willing to bring the advantages of Chinese supply chains into full play.”
Besides Hangzhou, Panasonic also produces electric rice cookers in India’s Chennai, Homma said, adding that the eastern Chinese city has advantages in policies on bonded areas, technologies, and supply chains while India has lower labor costs.
Another Japanese firm Daikin will start building its third production base in China in Huizhou, Guangdong province, next month. The new plant is scheduled to start production in August 2024 and achieve CNY7 billion in revenue per year.
Daikin’s rising capacity indicates that the air conditioning giant is confident about the potential of the Chinese market and its after-market demand, said Fei Teng, analyst at research platform ChinaIOL. “Users in the central A/C market, in particular, speak highly of Japanese products
In full-year 2022, net sales were SEK 134,880m (125,631) and operating income excl. non-recurring items was SEK 831m (7,528). Earnings declined due to lower volumes, as a result of weaker market demand, and to elevated cost levels from production inefficiencies in North America. Strong price execution and attractive product and brand offering contributed positively to earnings. Highlights of the fourth quarter of 2022
In the fourth quarter, net sales amounted to SEK 35,769m (35,372) and operating income to SEK -1,964m (882), corresponding to a margin of -5.5% (2.5). Operating income includes non-recurring items of SEK -1,352m (-727). Excluding these non-recurring items, operating income amounted to SEK -612m (1,609), corresponding to a margin of -1.7% (4.5). The year-over-year decline was a result of lower volumes in all four business areas and significantly higher cost levels in Business Area North America, which reported an underlying loss of SEK 1.2bn. Income for the period amounted to SEK -1,922m (596) and earnings per share were SEK -7.12 (2.09). Operating cash flow after investments was SEK 242m (2,103). The Board of Directors proposes that no payment of dividend will be made for 2022. Decision on February 1, 2023, to discontinue production at the Nyíregyháza factory in Hungary from the beginning of 2024 will result in a negative non-recurring item of approximately SEK 550m in the first quarter of 2023. President and CEO Jonas Samuelson’s comment
In 2022, new challenges presented themselves in addition to supply chain constraints: high general inflation, raised interest rates, soaring energy prices, and increased geopolitical tensions. These negatively impacted consumer demand for household appliances, especially evident in the latter part of the year.
In the fourth quarter, significantly lower sales volumes resulted in an organic sales decline of 8.4%. The volume decline across all regions was coupled with severely elevated cost levels in our North American operation. This resulted in an operating loss for the Group of SEK 612m, excluding non-recurring items. We have firm plans in place to structurally lower costs under the Group-wide cost reduction and North America turnaround program and in the quarter we continued to reduce discretionary spending. A strong focus on inventory management and adjusting production rates to the current demand environment resulted in an overall inventory reduction from previously high levels, especially of in-house produced finished products that at the end of the year were at overall normal levels.
On a positive note, I am pleased with how well received our product launches across all regions have been during 2022. This was particularly evident in the fourth quarter with the strong earnings contribution from our attractive product offering, even in this challenging demand environment with reduced consumer purchasing power. This strengthens my confidence in our ability to drive mix improvement also going forward, with an average consumer star rating of 4.64 for the Group in 2022. Another achievement was the strong net price realization across all regions, despite promotional activity returning to normal levels towards the end of 2022. I am very pleased that we through price increases fully offset significant cost inflation, primarily in raw material and logistics, both in the full-year as well as in the quarter.
It is encouraging that we have reduced our climate footprint significantly and already in 2022 reached the 2025 science-based climate target to reduce CO2 emissions in our own operations by 80% compared to 2015. We are now reviewing our targets going forward, raising the bar on our own sustainability agenda even further.
Based on our review of production capacity needs, we have decided to discontinue production at the Nyíregyháza factory in Hungary from the beginning of 2024. The strategic direction is to optimize the refrigeration production footprint from a cost perspective through both outsourcing and own production leveraging Group scale.
Looking into 2023, consumer sentiment is anticipated to continue to be negatively impacted by a high inflation and interest rate environment, although with regional differences. Demand for core appliances in 2023 full-year is therefore expected to be negative for all regions except for the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, which is assessed to be flat compared to 2022.
On the back of this, we estimate our volumes in 2023 to decline year-over-year, partly mitigated by mix improvements from our strong offering. We expect External factors to be negative for the year, driven by energy and labor cost inflation as well as currency headwind and most of this will impact Europe and Latin America. Although we foresee benefits from lower raw material costs, the positive impact on earnings is reduced as a higher share than normal of raw material procured at last year’s rates will be consumed in 2023. This as a consequence of higher inventory levels of supplies and reduced production rate in the fourth quarter of 2022. Given the regional variations in cost inflation and demand outlook, we anticipate differences in the price dynamic for our business areas, with high promotional activity in North America. Hence, we see a challenge to fully offset an anticipated negative impact from External factors in 2023 full-year with price on a Group level. The expected positive year-over-year earnings contribution of SEK 4-5bn from Cost efficiency and reduced investments in innovation and marketing combined, related to the Group-wide cost reduction and North America turnaround program, is reconfirmed.
I am convinced that we have the right strategy as well as the experience and the organizational structure needed to navigate in volatile environment and seize opportunities. A successful implementation of the Group-wide cost reduction and North America turnaround program will be our number one priority for 2023.
Whirlpool’s production volumes took a 5% hit in Q4 because of a “one-off” disruption at an unnamed supplier that has since been resolved, CFO Jim Peters told investors Tuesday. Peters described the firm as a “critical supplier providing a common platform of parts for multiple manufacturing locations and products.” The issue was fixed in mid-January, but the finance chief noted that there were confidential “ongoing discussions” with the supplier, which prevented Whirlpool from sharing additional details about the disruption.Supply Chain Dive MENU menu DIVE BRIEF Whirlpool’s production takes a hit after supplier disruption Published Feb. 1, 2023 Ben Unglesbee’s headshot Ben Unglesbee Senior Reporter The Whirlpool logo is seen on a display of clothes washers and dryers The Whirlpool logo is seen on a display of clothes washers and dryers. The appliance maker’s profits took a $100 million hit after an interruption at a key supplier. Justin Sullivan via Getty Images Listen to the article 3 min Dive Brief: Whirlpool’s production volumes took a 5% hit in Q4 because of a “one-off” disruption at an unnamed supplier that has since been resolved, CFO Jim Peters told investors Tuesday. Peters described the firm as a “critical supplier providing a common platform of parts for multiple manufacturing locations and products.” The issue was fixed in mid-January, but the finance chief noted that there were confidential “ongoing discussions” with the supplier, which prevented Whirlpool from sharing additional details about the disruption.
Dive Insight: While Whirlpool did not disclose specifics, the interruption at the supplier took a toll on the home appliance company’s sales. Net sales fell 15.3% in Q4 and organic sales declined 10.8%, which the company attributed to the supply chain issues.
The disruption, coupled with a previously announced production reduction, also led to a $100 million hit to the company’s profits, CEO Marc Bitzer said on the earnings call.
The hiccup comes after Whirlpool spent two years working to make its supply chain more efficient and resilient amid the many challenges of the pandemic era.
In that time, the company slashed its active parts from 110,000 to 70,000 to reduce complexity in its supply chain, Bitzer said. He added that in the medium-term, Whirlpool management sees a path to getting that number down even further, to “well below” 50,000 parts.
The appliance maker has also “significantly expanded” into dual sourcing, putting priority on high-value strategic parts and components, according to Bitzer.
“But we still have a tail end of lower value parts that are single source,” the CEO said. “This will be our focus in the coming months and years.”
Looking to the year ahead, Bitzer said that “flawless execution of our supply chain” is one of Whirlpool’s top operational priorities, along with “very significant” targets for cutting costs. The company is eyeing $800 million to $900 million in potential cost reductions.
The two goals are closely related. As part of the cost cuts, Whirlpool expects to remove over $250 million in what Bitzer described as “premium costs and inefficiency in our supply chain operations.”
The company also expects cost reductions in raw materials of up to $400 million, with some help from easing inflation.
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