Where the heart is Poggenpohl

WHERE THE HEART IS

The world’s best-known kitchen brand is nearly 120 years old, but is as committed to keeping ahead of industry trends as ever. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the managing director, Lars Voelkel, to see how Poggenpohl is winning awards and expanding its portfolio.

Established in 1892, Poggenpohl Möbelwerke GmbH was the first German kitchen brand and remains the world’s best known in its field. Famous for its highquality, design-led kitchen designs, Poggenpohl continues to be a byword for stylish kitchens. In 2010, the company achieved a turnover of €111 million, and grew faster than the German kitchen industry in 2010. It is also continuing its steady, strategic global expansion, with a 1000m2 studio opened in Mumbai in September 2011.

Managing director Lars Voelkel appreciates how the Poggenpohl brand is increasing its global presence. He said, “The Mumbai studio has 11 display kitchens and is one if the biggest and most prestigious studios worldwide. We are especially proud of how it is able to clearly convey our latest kitchen designs alongside our best-selling ranges to the everincreasing Indian market, which looks set to be an important addition to our activities. We are active in more than 70 countries worldwide and we are continually expanding.”

Expanding portfolio

The product portfolio of kitchen designs from Poggenpohl is also expanding, with 2011 characterised by the launch of its innovative +Artesio range, which is now on display in more than 100 high-end studios across the world and which gained the coveted “reddot: Best of the best 2011” award. Described as a completely new concept, the +Artesio has been designed in collaboration with Hamburgbased star architect and designer Hadi Teherani. Unlike other fitted kitchens available in the industry, the +Artesio is an all-embracing solution that fuses furniture design, wall, floor and ceiling.

Having recently joined Poggenpohl, Lars Voelkel is keen to highlight his aims for the coming years, in order to build on the company’s strong reputation for quality, design-led kitchens. He explained, “I am still very much learning from our customers and employees, and I intend to continue to do so for many years to come. Our key business objective is to improve our profitability sustainably through stable, organic growth and continuous improvements in our productivity. By focusing on these ideas, I believe we can harness the incredible history, experience and future potential of Poggenpohl.”

Poggenpohl is dedicated to staying ahead of industry and domestic kitchen design trends in order to meet the changing demands of its customers, yet it is also committed to maintaining the high quality standards it is famous for establishing across its product range. Mr Voelkel told Industry Europe how the latest trend is for living and cooking to be in combination in the home, with kitchens becoming more of a communal area for families, couples and friends to share time together while preparing food.

What people want

He said, “Kitchen furniture has lost its traditional, functional look as people want their kitchens to be a place that feels welcoming. Open cooking, dining and living areas can merge into one to create an area where people can sit and cook together, make a cappuccino and enjoy it in the same space. We are seeing more of a demand for modern designs such as handle-less drawers and cabinets, as well as sophisticated lacquered finishes. These styles not only make the kitchen look ‘presentable’ but can also be something of a ‘business card’ to be proudly presented to family and friends. Poggenpohl has played an integral role in developing and serving this trend, which we see continuing for some time.”

The company’s award-winning +Segmento and +Integration ranges are perfectly suited to this trend, as well as the +Artesio brand, thanks to their support of establishing the kitchen as the ‘centre of communication’ of the home. Under the motto ‘we develop complete concepts, not just kitchens’ the Poggenpohl Plusmodo design line has also played a part in transforming the architecture of the kitchen with its new interior system and new pull-out design that is made of lightweight yet sturdy aluminium, echoing the modern, sleek trend.

With all Poggenpohl’s kitchens produced to the highest quality standards at its plant in Herford, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,

the company is active worldwide. Beside Germany the most important markets are the UK, the USA and the increasingly active eastern European countries, Russia, China and India. Mr Voelkel added, “The fact that Poggenpohl’s revenue stream is not dependent on any one or two countries alone gives us a great stability, which is particularly important in light of today’s unstable global economic climate.”

Poggenpohl’s future success is expected to come from stable, organic growth with a continued improvement of its revenue margin. Having launched a new concept product range every two years, its reputation for groundbreaking design will maintain its position as an extremely strong kitchen brand, present worldwide. Mr Voelkel concluded, “We have a great future ahead of us. With our diversified revenue stream, our strong brand, great kitchen concepts and a continuous improvement focus, not to mention our excellent global team of highly committed and talented colleagues, we have all the ingredients for a sustainable market share growth. Added to that the fact that the luxury market has continued to perform well through the economic crisis, we are certain that Poggenpohl will continue to be a strong design partner to the kitchen industry.” n