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This year celebrating its 160th anniversary, Fissler is recognised around the world for cookware of the very highest quality. Initially established by Carl Phillip Fissler back in 1845, the organisation has stayed true to its core philosophies of quality and innovation and today remains an independent family company with operations in 60 countries across the globe.
Recognising that design is a matter of personal taste, the company has developed a range of product families to ensure there is a Fissler cookware product to suit every requirement. Products on offer within these various ranges include pots, pressure cookers, pans, roasters, woks, baking tins, knives and an array of kitchen accessories. Across all the Fissler product areas there is one common theme - perfection.
With its superior product ideas, Fissler has been number one in the cookware market for decades. The company repeatedly sets standards and launches new cooking trends with its innovations. Many Fissler innovations have revolutionised the world of cooking and dining, for example, the first ever pressure cooker with a variable speed cooking valve in the year 1953, the elegantly shaped edge of the magic line pot series for dripless pouring, the Genovis multi-cook inset for aroma cooking, the trendy combination of cast aluminium, glass, and stainless steel in the black edition, and the Saft-O-Matic for automatic basting in the roaster.
Stephan Lückenkötter is the organisation’s director of International Business Development and he outlines what differentiates Fissler from its competitors: “Fissler is one of the biggest cookware manufacturers in Europe in terms of turnover. We have a very dedicated approach to cookware.
At Fissler you will find our engineers developing new products together with renowned chefs, food scientists demonstrating new pressure cooker recipes to Asian customers, former chefs explaining and selling our products to shop owners, cooking contests among staff members, and product teams discussing how to set future design trends.
“Our products are developed by enthusiasts for people with a passion for cooking. But essentially we have a very simple philosophy, quality and innovation that’s it. You will find that compared to competing brands we take the pioneering approach. Like in the car industry where you can buy a cheap vehicle or a high value German car, perfection does not come for free.
Clearly, value and price of our products match on a different level than the models of competing brands. Actually, whether you buy Fissler products or not does not so much depend on what competing products you compare ours with. It is more important how much you regard food as part of your lifestyle and cooking as an expression of your creativity. Limitations in the quality and features of your cookware, of course, also limit your possibilities when cooking.”
Six hundred of Fissler’s global workforce of 900 operate from the organisation’s headquarters and sole manufacturing location in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. “In terms of market presence, our strongholds are definitely Europe and Asia,” adds Stephan. “We have always had and will continue to have all our production based in Germany.
At first sight, this may appear absurd given our manual quality checks after each production step for every product while at the same time Germany is the country with the highest labour costs worldwide. But could you imagine a better location or production process if quality and innovation is the key to your success?
“In China you find the largest low cost mass producers worldwide selling their products locally at the most aggressive prices. We are producing at the most expensive production site possible, shipping our products halfway around the globe in order to compete against those manufacturers in their home markets. Of course we are not competing on price with them. We outperform them on quality, innovation and design. We are opening new Fissler shops every month,” Stephan comments.
In a highly price aggressive market environment with competitors running just one pan for weeks on one machine Fissler on the other hand applies a unique strategy.
“We have a production system that enables us to change production several times per day on each machine. Doing so, we can produce a very large assortment on only a few production lines and achieve profitability. This company strategy of outstanding products, a wide product range and flexible production is highly complex, extremely difficult to manage and requires enormous know-how. That is why our claim to perfection applies also to our internal processes and management.”
Fissler is now further enhancing its reputation as an innovator with the launch of an entirely new range of products. Unveiled at the Ambiente Trade Fair in February, the range is set to revolutionise the cookware market place, as Stephan explains: “With Intensa we are sure that we have launched the most innovative cookware series in the world – new design, new functionalities, absolute high quality. There are a number of unique features. We are the first company that has developed a cylindrical pot design.
Our design means you can stack several pots into one another, which means these pots can be stored in a smaller space. The range will again have a very high quality pressure welded sandwich base, fully encapsulated, and very unique lids, which will boast an array of benefits to the user. The most important feature is its temperature indicator in the lid telling the user when the contents are about to boil. We have a worldwide patent on this way of measuring the temperature inside the cooking pot.”
Franz Opitz, Fissler UK’s managing director, is similarly excited about the range. “I have been in the cookware business for many years and I have never seen anything close to this, it’s a quantum leap. We put so much effort into perfect quality and innovation and this is what comes out. Even people who don’t cook will want to get their hands on this range.”
The domestic German market remains Fissler’s area of true strength with the organisation boasting a market share of around 20 per cent and a brand recognition of 96 per cent. In addition to its operations in Germany, Fissler also has five foreign subsidiary businesses – based in Austria, the Netherlands, the UK, South Korea and China. To support its market leading position in Germany, Fissler is also the recognised number one in high quality cookware in Korea and one of the top two brands in this field in both Austria and China.
Having operated in the UK market since the late 1980s and been a recognised subsidiary, Fissler UK, since 1991, the company has established a significant market share of the premium sector in this country. “Similarly to the organisation as a whole, we would never target the chain discounters, our sector is the top-end of the market, with Harrods being our most important customer and us being their most important cookware supplier. We also supply Selfridges and a whole string of high-end independent cookshops and specialist retailers,” explains Franz.
He continues: “That is basically our market. We seek partners from within the premium sector of our trade as Fissler’s products need to be explained at the point of sale to show customers why these products cost more than a product that may look similar.
Stephan adds: “We are looking for the shops, which can demonstrate a passion for cooking. We are aiming for steady and secure organic growth in the UK to ensure Fissler products remain in the most suitable outlets. If you’re looking for higher volumes you will enter the price driven end of the market, which is something we definitely don’t want.”
On a recent trip to the UK Stephan met up with Franz to visit a number of Fissler’s key clients in this country. Both were extremely impressed by what they saw, as Stephan explains: “Some of the outlets we have visited in the UK have really been quite unique. Spillers of Chard was one of those and that is a really remarkable specialist. It is the number one Aga distributor in the world and they display a massive variety of products across more than 1000 square metres of floor space. In terms of quality that outlet is the best I have seen throughout my time at Fissler.
Franz concurs: “If you want a memorial to kitchens, then Spillers is the place. It is a real eye-opener.” The pair also highlight Abraxas at Wheedon for special praise. This is a huge cookshop, which stocks a wide range of cooking equipment, table top products and giftware. “The setting is unique, with shops within an old farm court yard, all tastefully refurbished and rounded off by coffee shops, a delicatessen outlet, some designer clothing and antiques. The ambience is delightful and the enormous car park is testimony to the popularity of the place,” adds Franz.
Looking to the future, Franz feels there is a wealth of opportunities for Fissler in the UK market place, which will allow the subsidiary to expand over the coming years. “We want to grow more in the UK. There are still a lot of cook shops where we are not placed at the moment.”
Internationally, the aim is very similar: “The growth potential for us is clearly international. Now that we have our own subsidiary in China we will be in a position to shape the market. Our target markets going forward are Asia and Russia and our ongoing aim is to provide individual international markets with the products that they require,” Stephan concludes. FC
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