Franke Group decided to merge the Faber Hoods & Cooking Systems and Franke Kitchen Systems divisions. The new unit is now operative under the name of Franke Home Solutions. The operation follows the Group’s strategy of pooling its expertise in the areas of food preparation and cooking for the residential kitchen with the vision to be present in each and every household with a Franke anchor product. The new Franke Home Solutions division will produce and commercialize products in the food preparation segment, (bowls, sinks and taps etc.) and in the cooking area (hoods and hobs). It also reflects the perspective to leverage the division’s expertise in order to grow its presence in the kitchen.
Groupe SEB has announced a new partnership agreement with Chefclub,
Groupe SEB has announced a new partnership agreement with Chefclub, as well as the acquisition of a minority stake via its investment company, SEB Alliance.
Simplifying cooking and making it accessible to all: that’s what Chefclub, the start-up created in 2016 by three brothers, Thomas, Jonathan and Axel Lang, has set as its corporate mission. Chefclub has rapidly become a leading brand in the production and dissemination of cooking content. It has already sold 700,000 books and launched a series of innovative products for kids, which more than 150,000 families have enjoyed so far, all created in collaboration with its online community. Groupe SEB, always at the forefront of innovation, decided to partner with Chefclub, in its new round of financing, for its appeal of experiential content and direct access to online communities which represents the future of e-commerce.
100 million followers: direct access to a powerful global online community
Free dissemination of quality content has enabled the brand to attract a community of tens of millions of followers. A true Digital Native Vertical Brand (DNVB), Chefclub has built a relationship of trust with its users, who they can consult and involve in the development of their products. Each product is designed based on the tastes of and requests and comments from the online community, expressed at different stages of the creation process.
More than one billion views per month: unrivaled visibility
Unlike traditional DNVBs, however, Chefclub stands out thanks to one key strength. As viewers switch from television to social media, Chefclub promotes its brand and its products via inspirational and amusing video recipes viewed all over the world: in December 2020, more than 50 million Americans and close to 15 million French viewers watched Chefclub’s recipe videos.
And a strategic brand license: “Chefclub by Tefal”
This acquisition is also part of joint efforts which will be stepped up in H1 2021 with the launch of a range of products under the brand license “Chefclub by Tefal”, including skillets, saucepans, kitchen tools and small domestic appliances. Created in collaboration with the Chefclub community, this range combines Chefclub’s expertise in the development of creative recipes with Tefal’s sustainable design for simple products to make cooking easier. It will be launched shortly in France and internationally (Germany, Brazil, Italy, South Korea, Canada, Spain, the UK and Mexico), and will be sold via all offline and online channels as well as directly to customers (DtoC) on the Tefal and Chefclub websites.
The new brand “Chefclub by Tefal” benefits from unprecedented visibility on social networks and will broaden Groupe SEB’s reach, particularly with Millennials, who are discovering or rediscovering the joys of cooking thanks to the start-up’s content. By joining forces with Groupe SEB, world reference for small domestic appliances, Chefclub has access to recognized industrial expertise, the renown of the Tefal brand and a broader retail network which will enable its community to discover its products via the Group’s retail channels.
Podback, a new recycling programme for coffee pods in UK
Podback is the coffee pod recycling service.
Created by the two biggest names in the UK coffee industry, Nestlé and JDE, who, together, own Nespresso, NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto and Tassimo.
Podback, a not-for-profit organisation, is the UK’s first cross-industry collaboration of its kind within the coffee sector, providing several easy ways for UK consumers to recycle their coffee pods. Launching in early 2021
Gaggenau will make a debut at AWE2021
Gaggenau will offer an exclusive show for VIPs only at AWE2021.
AWE is Asia’s largest and one of the top three international appliance and consumer electronics shows worldwide
March 11-14 2021
Shanghai International New Expo Center, Shanghai, China
Bauknecht is streamlining its brand portfolio in Germany
Bauknecht is streamlining its brand portfolio in Germany
The premium brand of the Whirlpool Group was unable to complete against Gaggenau, Miele or V-Zug in the highly competitive German market.
Spectrum Brands Holdings Strong sales
Spectrum Brands was propelled to strong sales and earnings in its fiscal first quarter with help from steep holiday season gains from small kitchen appliances and personal care appliances.
Spectrum’s Home & Personal Care group posted net sales of $378.5 million during the quarter ended January 3, 2021, a 17.5% increase over the $322.1 million in sales from the group in the year-earlier period.
Operating income during the quarter from the group, which markets small appliances under such brands as George Foreman, Black & Decker and Remington, registered $36.7 million, compared to $23.7 million for the year-earlier period.
Spectrum reported holiday sales growth from the small appliance group was particularly strong in the Americas, adding high growth from e-commerce was a driving factor.
Haier confirms plans to open its first European refrigerators plant in Romania
Haier Tech Romania, a subsidiary of the China-based global appliance manufacturer Haier Group, announced that works on the first Haier refrigerator production facility in Europe advance according to schedule, and the factory will begin operations at the end of spring 2021.
The new plant will produce both built-in and standard refrigerators for Haier Europe’s three European brands – Candy, Hoover, and Haier.
“This large-scale investment project exceeds EUR 70 million. The 63,000 sqm plant sits on a 130,000-sqm plot in the Allianso Industrial Park in Aricestii Rahtivani, near Ploiesti,” the company said in a statement
According to the source, the new facility will hire almost 800 people at maximum capacity for an estimated output of 600,000 units after 2022.
V-ZUU new UK 🇬🇧 service manger
Premium Swiss appliance manufacturer, V-ZUG has announced the appointment of Martin smy to the position UK service manager
New American Appliance Manufacturer Is Born
Ethan Weston-Altea announced on Thursday evening the launch of a new American appliance manufacturer, Inovant.
Inovant’s mission will be to bring beautiful, innovative, and functional home appliances that instill customer excitement, elevate creative industrial design and engineering to new heights, are manufactured in USA, and retail at an accessible price.
Inovant will keep all product development and manufacturing in-house, as well as operate its own marketing, sales, distribution and after-sales support departments. In an effort to keep prices low, Inovant will offer online ordering and direct-to-customer sales.
Inovant’s new factory in Fresno, California is set to be completed and begin initial production runs in Summer 2021, with production capacity gradually increasing and expected to reach full manufacturing capability by mid-2022.
Inovant will begin with releasing a selection of consumer home appliances that were originally invented by Ethan Weston-Altea and designed and engineered by him and his team. Inovant will reveal more details of its initial products lineup towards the end of Q1 2021, which will become part of a large and rapidly expanding product line.
One of Inovant’s first products is an advanced home appliance that has been under active development since 2015, and is based on an idea Ethan Weston-Altea conceived back when he was a child but to this day never saw materialize as a real product. Inovant’s launch was initially set to take place in 2020, but was moved to 2021 due to several setbacks, primarily the covid-19 pandemic and the strict safety measures that apply to all manufacturers in the state of California.
This marks the beginning of an exciting new manufacturer in the home appliance space, and the first chapter of what we hope will become a long and captivating story in the technology world. The team at Inovant couldn’t be more eager to reveal some of the exciting products we will be releasing later this year.
Ethan Weston-Altea commented: “It is with great honor to see this life-long dream of mine, which represents the culmination of years of hard work and dedication, finally materialize. To bring revolutionary products that make a difference in people’s lives, right at the center of their own home, is one of the highest accomplishments any designer or engineer could dream to accomplish, and I can’t wait to show you some of the exciting things we’ve got awaiting you.”
Electrolux posts 4Q beat on home-improvement boom
Electrolux AB on Tuesday posted a forecast-beating fourth-quarter net profit as customers continued to allocate more of their household budgets to home improvement, but cautioned that visibility this year remains limited.
The Swedish home-appliance manufacturer posted net profit of 1.86 billion Swedish kronor ($220.7 million) in the quarter, up from SEK560 million last year, as sales rose 5.9% to SEK33.9 billion.
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