Selected Archives
Selected stories 2011-2021
Tafelstern and WMF .... the finest in German quality and style for your tabletop.....and your buffet.
Tafelstern. WMF. Few Rules.....Many Rewards.
See the entire collection of cool tabletop products from Tafelstern by going here:
http://www.tafelstern.de/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=136&Itemid=169&lang=english German Quality Coming Together - Bauscher USA President Jeffrey Heaney Answers The Questions7/30/2012
Back in late April, the announcement came: "BAUSCHER, HEPP, TAFELSTERN and WMF: A collaboration that brings together four illustrious names in the field of quality tabletop. Bauscher USA, Inc. and WMF Americas, Inc. have agreed to a sales and marketing cooperation for the USA, starting May 1, 2012. The alliance will focus on hotel, casino, restaurant, private club, and healthcare clients. During the remainder of 2012, all aspects of sales, marketing, and customer service will be harmonized to ensure a high level customer experience. Programs with key accounts and dealers will be streamlined." Well, we’re now 3 months down the road since the original announcement and TabletopJournal caught up with Bauscher USA President Jeffrey Heaney recently to ask him how things have gone.
TJ: Shortly after the initial announcement, you had the NRA Show in Chicago. Was customer reaction at the show and since? How has the combining of the two existing organizations gone and is it completed yet? JH: Overall, the market has responded favorably. In fact, the overall reaction has been that this is an obvious marriage between four great German brands known as the specialist in their respective categories. Partnerships between these brands are common globally, so this is not that unusual. What is unusual is that all four brands are coming together rather than just one porcelain brand and one cutlery brand. The integration is progressing well and should be completed by years end. TJ: What are the benefits that customers are seeing now that the Bauscher, Tafelstern, WMF, and Hepp brands are being marketed under a single umbrella? JH: At Bauscher USA, our top priority is to make doing business with us easier for our clients. As we go through the transition, we are taking the same approach as we develop the new programs and product selection. One example of that is applying our “freight included program” for our select authorized dealers. All orders – no minimums.
TJ: Do you view the consolidation of these four brands as a logical step in the continuing evolution of the tabletop category? How do you view the tabletop category and where do you see it going from the supplier side? JH: Consolidation will likely continue out of necessity. The complexities and cost of serving markets such as the USA require significant sales volume and the right people to manage the business. My perception is that there is a polarization in the tabletop marketplace. The large companies that can serve all segments are getting larger and stronger. While there may be just as many brands as before, many brands are in name only lacking real sales power into the market. It will be very difficult to remain a small or medium sized tabletop company in this market. The challenge for us is to remain a specialist rather than being a generalist. We accept that challenge! TJ: Another subject that you have pioneered - Deep Plate….an innovative program encouraging chefs to use their creative skills while using Bauscher and Tafelstern products. Tell us about the success of this interesting program and where we might see it going from here. JH: Deep Plate was a personal project of mine that I actively managed for the first two years. We are now in our fourth year. We are very proud of Deep Plate and view it as a way to give back to our industry. Many of our participants are students or chefs rising in the culinary ranks. I personally have enjoyed following the Deep Plate participants whose plate presentations have visibly improved month after month. It is also exciting to see that the blog has followers from around the world. We have followers from 176 countries. Ten years ago, this type of communication and reach was not possible. Deep Plate’s success has been difficult to quantify. Has it increased our brand awareness at a relatively low cost? Most definitely. It has resulted in sales. However, we took a position from day one that we would not solicit business from Deep Plate as we felt it might alienate participants. If they contact us to buy, we are happy to serve them. TJ: And, finally, since we know you’re not “all work and no play” …. what music is on your iPod right now and what have you been listening to lately?
JH: I love older country music - 70’s, 80’s, & early 90’s. Classic rock is often in the mix as well. I get enough of the Katy Perry and Rihanna when I am around my children, so when I can select the music, I prefer Merle Haggard, Willie, Waylon or the like. For some reason, I have also really been enjoying 80’s pop music – something that I didn’t particularly listen to in the 80’s. TabletopJournal really likes Bauscher USA's innovative Deep Plate program for tapping into chefs' creativity. Bauscher allows chefs to use some of their favorite Bauscher and Tafelstern pieces to create some incredibly interesting dishes. The chefs then photograph them and Bauscher posts them on their blog - Deep Plate.
Progams like Deep Plate that engage, inspire, and excite are the types of relatively simple and low-cost...but well-thought out programs - that help to differentiate Bauscher from many others who might be perceived as similar. And, after all, isn't differentiation what it's all about? We can't wait to see the future of Deep Plate with the addition of the WMF/Hepp brands. Well Done. Still. You can see the entire collection from Bauscher USA by going here: http://www.bauscherinc.com/ In a move that TabletopJournal thinks makes great sense for all involved, it was announced today that a sales & marketing cooperation for the U.S. market among these premier German brands Bauscher, Tafelstern, WMF, and Hepp is to get into effect as of May 1st.
According to the press release: "Bauscher USA, Inc. and WMF Americas, Inc. have agreed to a sales and marketing cooperation for the USA, starting May 1, 2012. The alliance will focus on hotel, casino, restaurant, private club, and healthcare clients. During the remainder of 2012, all aspects of sales, marketing, and customer service will be harmonized to ensure a high level customer experience. Programs with key accounts and dealers will be streamlined. The four brands are an ideal match through their category expertise and German roots. They have a long history of cooperation in the global market. This natural union will allow a comprehensive tabletop solution to be promoted by a joined sales force." More to come......stay tuned. Reuters is reporting that Swiss buyout group Capvis has started a sale of its majority stake in WMF (WMFG.F), the chief executive of the German table and kitchenware supplier said, confirming what people close to the process previously told Reuters.
"We will cooperate in the sales process now under way for the good of the company," Thorsten Klapproth said in a statement on Wednesday. He said Capvis's options included a placement of shares on the stock exchange or a sale of its 52 percent stake to one or more investors. Macquarie, Commerzbank and Lilja have been picked to organize the stake sale, a source close to the transaction said. Reuters first reported the divestment plans in early March. WMF, a household name in high-end cutlery and cooking pots in Germany, has a market capitalisation of 509 million euros ($678 million). Capvis bought its stake for 92 million euros in 2006. Rivals and private equity groups are expected to express interest. WMF peers Fackelmann and investor Benko - which has shown interest in buying Metro (MEOG.DE) unit Kaufhof as well - have looked at WMF, industry sources have said. Other WMF rivals include Villeroy & Boch (VIBG_p.DE), Itala, Pott and Robbe & Berking. Austrian investor Fiba, holds 37 percent of WMF, while 11 percent of the company is traded at the Frankfurt stock exchange. "Fiba has said that it does not want to sell," a person close to the transaction said. "But that will ultimately depend on the price. If it is right, he will sell." Fiba and Capvis were not available to comment. WMF expects to post sales of more than 1 billion euros this year after 980 million last year. The group will announce earnings figures in late April. In the first nine months of 2011, WMF posted sales of 671 million and saw its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rise by 85 percent to 43 million euros. For the Reuters story, go here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/us-capvis-wmf-idUSBRE82R0SY20120328 Not long ago, guest columnist James Schulze wrote about using decanters when serving better quality wines and how that can help to elevate the overall guest experience. Well, WMF has a decanter we like....simple, easy to use we suspect, and one that would look great on any table.
Check it out by going here: http://bar-wine-coffee.wmfamericas.com/Decanter-with-cradle-plu0947672000.html WMF has got lots of cool tabletop accessories. You can see the entire lineup of WMF products for the hospitality trade by going here: http://www.wmf.com/wmf-for-hotelcatering_114.html WMF Americas Group Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of the leading German cookware manufacturer WMF Group, defied long-running unease in the larger economic climate and posted record business growth in 2011 thanks to operational enhancements and strong demand from its customers. Founded in 1853 and dedicated to unmatched quality and sophistication in its extensive line of kitchen and dining products, the German-based company saw sales last year top 2010’s figure by 32 percent, with the cookware category posting an increase of 145 percent. Cookware is now the number one product category for WMF Americas Group. “WMF has not truly experienced negative ramifications from global economic downturns,” said Markus Glueck, CEO and president for WMF Americas Group Inc. “We have continued to post double-digit growth.”WMF strengthened its return on investment in turbulent times thanks to “spending the past two years thinking that ‘less is more,’ and that has meant streamlined business operations. We have 25 percent fewer distribution accounts, and our product assortment has been optimized to suit the U.S. market.” WMF’s 2011 cookware sales were nothing short of remarkable. In one year, the pressure cooker and stovetop steamer sales have more than tripled, contributing to the 145 percent overall cookware growth.
Deborah Corrado, senior vice president of sales and marketing, said there is no reason to think this year will be any different, pointing to WMF’s ability to create products geared toward consumers’ desire for healthy food preparation practices. “All of the WMF cookware has the common goal to contribute to energy efficient cooking that retains optimum flavor and nutrition,” Corrado said. Furthermore, “as strong as 2011 proved to be, our expectations for growth in 2012 are even higher.” About WMF Group: Founded in 1853 and based in Geislingen, Germany, WMF is a retail and institutional culinary product designer and supplier, with roughly 6,000 employees in 12 countries on three continents. WMF, with about $1.2 billion USD global business annually, has built its reputation on quality and sophistication in products that are relied on in the kitchens and dining rooms of consumers, hotel operators and caterers. Its brands include WMF, Alfi, Auerhahn, Boehringer Gastro Profi, Hepp, Kaiser, Petra Electric, Princess, Schaerer and Silit. I just got my copy of the latest WMF Hotel catalog - not a brochure, but the full-blown, 286 page, Complete Range collection catalog - and it is stunning......just like the products that fill its pages. This leads me to make a statement on how many "world class" companies in the hotel & restaurant tabletop industry remain "under-appreciated" in America.
WMF Hotel and its sister company Hepp have been making great tabletop products for generations. Yet, here in America, they are often unknown, except to perhaps hotel F&B experts who have experienced the quality of WMF in Europe, Asia, or the Far East. The same is true of other great brands such as Guy Degrenne, Revol, Stolzle, Frette, and more. To say that these brands are totally unknown would not be accurate, but they hardly enjoy the awareness in the U.S. that they may have in other parts of the world. No doubt that the U.S. is a truly competitive market and that any brand of such a quality level is eventually available here. So, the competition is great. And, of course, there are always low cost competitors. However, it seems to me that these brands all deserve a bigger place in a marketplace as diverse as this. But, if you are seeking true quality for your restaurant - quality that's made to last - you can do no better than to consider WMF Hotel products. You can review the entire WMF Hotel line of products by going here and downloading their catalog in PDF format: http://www.wmf-hotel.de/index.php?lid=en&source=startseite |
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