THE KBBREVIEW INTERVIEW | Ralf Marohn, Poggenpohl


its global profi le. Already successful in bathrooms, acquiring an iconic, well-established, luxury kitchen furniture brand like Poggenpohl gives it a good foot in the door of the global kitchen market.


Q: What would you say to those people


in the industry who


question whether a Chinese fi rm can market a prestigious, luxury German kitchen brand like Poggenpohl in the way it needs? Is the origin of the owner even that relevant? A: Certainly, at the very beginning, it was clear that some people had feelings about the fact that Poggenpohl – this very strong, German brand – was being taken over by a Chinese investor. However, we made it our mission with our marketing strategy to be very open about the fact that, although


Jomoo, the investor, is


Chinese, Poggenpohl is still very much a German brand. The pro - duction facilities are still here in Germany, the furniture is made in Germany by German people, and it is run by German management. Who cares who the shareholders are? Again, I must reiterate the positive of


side this story – both for


Poggenpohl and the wider industry – Jomoo saved this iconic brand.


Q: It’s been a few months since Jomoo offi cially took over, so can you bring us up to speed on what the brand dynamic looks like now and how it’s performing globally? A: We are fully funded by the Jomoo Group, so we are in a very strong position fi nancially. We now have three Poggenpohl companies under the Jomoo Group umbrella – the manufacturing side of the business falls under the Poggenpohl Holdings


name. Then we have Poggenpohl trading as the head company for the German studios. And, for the inter- national market we have Poggenpohl International Ltd. In terms of performance, we have


forecast to hit £100 million turnover in our 2020/21 fi nancial year. The US and UK remain the brand’s strongest markets but, so far this year, we have seen our turnover grow in the Netherlands and Germany. I’m very happy with the current situation but, of course, we have to focus on a lot of areas of the business to ensure this growth continues.


Q: What does all this mean to Poggenpohl retailers in the UK? Are you planning on expanding your dealer network here? A: The UK is a key market for us – despite


Brexit. It’s our second


strongest market behind the US. We have forecast good results in the UK for next year and plan to continue to strengthen our position there. We want the brand to retain its


prominence in the market and our retailers are extremely important to achieving that goal. Over time, the plan is to expand the network – in fact we are already looking at key locations – but it’s about working with the right partners. We feel strongly that the retailers we work with must truly understand the DNA of the brand.


Q: What are the most immediate things you need to address now you are heading up the brand? A: As a luxury brand, there is an expectation that you should bring new ideas to market every year and, most recently, Poggenpohl had failed on this. The design hadn’t moved on as much as it should have, in my opinion, and it’s a key reason


FACT FILE: Poggenpohl


• Established in Germany in 1892, it claims to be the world’s oldest kitchen brand


• Founder Friedemir Poggenpohl, set out to ‘improve the kitchen’ and over the past 128 years the company has earnt itself a reputation for being a pioneer of


modern fi tted kitchen design


• Poggenpohl exports to more than 70 countries around the world


• The brand owns and operates 30 of its own studios and works with more than 400 retailers worldwide


Q: Bearing in mind the challenges that the global coronavirus pan - demic has thrown up, what is your view of the global kitchen market as it stands today? How do you see things playing out over the next 12 to 24 months? A: It has been a challenging year for everyone. But the signs are looking positive for the kitchen furniture industry because, globally, the pandemic has created a huge spike in demand for home improvements. People have spent much more time in their homes this year and they’ve realised that there are projects that need starting and that they now have the time and money to start them.


I am optimistic for the industry


and the brand over the next 12 to 24 months, despite coronavirus.


28 · December 2020


Innovation and design is what Poggenpohl is known for and we need to be that brand again


why I feel the brand had been heading downwards, but it hasn’t gone down so far that we can’t bring it back up again.


As a business, we obviously want


to increase turnover and grow and one of the key drivers of this will be product development. Also, in the short-term, we have to invest in marketing to set out much clearer branding. We want to work with family-owned retail studios that really understand the essence of the brand and that are in line with its luxury status. We will look at each point of sale and gauge whether it is a good


representation of the brand. So, tightening


up how and where Poggenpohl is sold is a key objective.


Q: Poggenpohl was arguably the pioneer of the contemporary kitchen style that’s become very widespread. Can you reveal any specifi c details about your plans to breathe new life into this brand globally? A: We know what we want to change and what we have to change so that we [Poggenpohl] can gain trust from the market again. We [the team in Herford] will work with the team of designers from Jomoo to look at the design of Poggenpohl products to increase our innovation power. Innovation and design is what Poggenpohl is known for and we need to be that brand again.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60