Anne Kaarlela, marketing communications and customer service manager, Europe and Russia, Insinkerator
Q: How’s business compared with last year?
A: For the KBB industry, the past couple of years have been unprecedented. However, for us at Insinkerator, we have maintained strong sales volumes for both our food waste disposers and specialist kitchen taps. We have continued to educate consumers on the benefits of our offering, to increase potential footfall for our valued trade partners.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent UK lockdowns, consumers’ homes became their safe haven as well as their office, classroom and restaurant. This has led to consumers re-evaluating their homes to ensure they meet a wider range of needs, including enhancing the kitchen to support the increase in home cooking and being more hygienic.
With the heightened need for hygiene in the kitchen, we expect to see an increase in demand for added-value products at kbb 2022, such as specialist kitchen taps, that retailers can add to their portfolio for future kitchen projects.
Furthermore, following the Government announcement in May 2021 that from 2023, every UK household will receive separate weekly food waste collections, we predict a rise in interest of our range of food waste disposers as they are a discreet and hygienic alternative to a food waste caddy.
Insinkerator food waste disposers provide a great opportunity to retailers and are an easy add-on sale, generating valuable additional turnover. One of the most common mistakes when specifying a food waste disposer is not specifying one at all – not encouraging or promoting sales is both an opportunity and margin missed.
Irrespective of the kitchen style or type, consumers are demanding exceptional quality of appliances, as well as products that make life easy and benefit from cutting-edge technology. Kitchen products that offer convenience and flexibility, coupled with energy saving capabilities while reducing the impact on the environment are likely to be at the top of the consumer’s wish list.
Q: What are the main challenges facing your sector and how are you tackling them?
A: There is still a bit of uncertainty for the year ahead. However, we adapted our ways of working in 2020, offering enhanced online services for our retailers and therefore, we want to reassure our customers that for Insinkerator, it is very much business as usual.
We will continue to design safe and stylish appliances for modern living and busy lifestyles that offer sustainable and resource saving benefits. We will continually strive towards making the world a better place.
We are providing a strong after-sales service to ensure a smooth transition for our retail partners. We listen to our retailers and equip them with the necessary point of sale materials to promote sales success. Our retailers are integral to our success, so it is imperative to ensure that these materials fulfil our retailers’ needs.