OBERDERDINGEN, GERMANY / LUMBERTON, NJ / TORONTO, ON, June 2022 – BLANCO, the premium kitchen solutions brand backed by industry-leading German engineering, globally concluded a successful 2021 financial year with an 18.5 percent increase in sales to €483 million compared to the previous year, achieving its highest sales ever. CEO Frank Gfrörer comments on the achievement: “Particularly in this difficult market environment, it is clear that our consistent focus on a premium brand experience at the kitchen water place has won over both our trade partners and our end consumers.”
COVID-19 and the associated restrictions on everyday life also shaped the 2021 financial year. Against this backdrop, many consumers’ desire for a significantly better quality of life in their homes has continued to increase and has reinforced the nesting trend. With that in mind, BLANCO focused on upgrading the kitchen water place: “People spend around 60 percent of their time in the kitchen doing activities at the water place, such as drinking, preparing food and cleaning, to name just the most important ones. We want our high-quality system solutions, the BLANCO UNITs, to make this time one of outstanding convenience, practicality and enjoyment,” says Gfrörer.
Trade Partners Benefit from Focus on End Customers and Digitalization
BLANCO has always relied on a strong collaboration with its trade partners. This is now coupled with an increased focus on consumers, with the aim of inspiring them to add real value right from the initial ideas phase of kitchen planning, by opting for an ingeniously designed water place. For this reason, the company is accelerating communication in its digital end customer channels and further developing its online shop for spare parts and accessories to improve service quality and user friendliness. “By adopting this hybrid approach, we want to increase customer traffic to our trade partners and stimulate demand for high-quality system solutions,” explains Gfrörer. “At the same time, we are supporting our trade partners to concentrate on their core business.”
BLANCO International: Investing in Reliability and Stability
Besides increasing customer contact and loyalty, over the last financial year BLANCO invested around €13 million in strengthening its international production and logistics network. At a time of increased demand, expanding BLANCO’s production capacities and making further improvements to processes ensured that order management remained largely stable. “Our investments have also created the conditions for faster innovation cycles and technological developments,” says COO Andreas Ostermann von Roth. BLANCO has made changes to its international sales network. Beginning May 2022, the company is now represented in the Australian market with its own subsidiary, which reinforces its APAC sales region. At the same time, the company announced it will withdraw from the Russian market.
Stepping Up Active Market Development: Focus on Convenience at the Water Place and Efficient Use of Space
BLANCO is setting a clear course for the current financial year by increasing its focus on positioning the BLANCO UNIT as a premium solution for the kitchen water place. “We have laid a solid foundation for our teams and our trade partners. This provides us with a firm footing to promote the BLANCO UNIT concept,” says Frank Gfrörer. Showcasing the importance of the kitchen water place is vital, stresses the CEO. The nesting trend persists, with more and more people looking for smart solutions in the kitchen including diverse portfolio of sinks and faucets, clever sink accessories and sink cabinet organization. “We’re filling a gap in the market with the BLANCO UNIT,” says Gfrörer. It also meets the desire for greater convenience in everyday life: “By ensuring functionally and ergonomically optimized interaction between all components, we enable a seamless workflow from the faucet to the sink and the waste separation system. That’s the key promise of our BLANCO UNITs.”
