outdoor cooking and dining Tower explores the great outdoors with new
travel and outdoor living products New product development is key to keeping consumers interested, yet housewares and SDA brand Tower (owned by RKW Ltd), have taken this one step further and entered into a whole new sector. Here, RKW Housewares Sales Director, Simon Oliver talks about opportunities in outdoor living and leisure products.
T
rend-forecasting has always been a key driver of everything we do at RKW. From our design and buying teams through
to sales and marketing, all collaborating to create a portfolio of product that is on trend, exceptional value, meets consumers’ needs, and in many cases, introduces them to new trends. The usual ways of working to communicate
that to retail buyers has been turned on its head over the last year for everyone – with no real option of face-to-face buyer meetings for so long or key exhibition showcases like Spring Fair and Ambiente. Exclusively Housewares in August will be the first, and we’re all really keen to use that platform to introduce some busi- ness normality back into our lives. In the meantime, at RKW we changed our
ways of working to support retailers if they weren’t able to open their physical stores – our extensive warehousing allowed for easy drop- ship for instance – and consumers embraced all the opportunities to cook, bake, air fry or change the look of their kitchen with our best selling Cavaletto or Scandi collections. We continued to launch new product in our
core housewares offering, for example Free- dom and Precision cookware collections, as well as a new sophisticated tableware offering under the Barbary & Oak sub-brand. In SDA, we have expanded our range of air fryers and food preparation.
Another new area we have moved into is Outdoor Living. We already had a small range of outdoor grills in our product portfolio, but by utilising the skills and knowledge we have attracted into our business, we had the oppor- tunity to really expand into this growing sector. The result is Coast & Country (leisure products and dining) and STEALTH (BBQs and outdoor heating products). We’re extremely proud of both of these ranges. We’ve had an excellent re- sponse to the initial products we have launched across the whole offering – from retailers and consumers alike.
Whilst we all hope that some resemblance of normal life will resume this summer, there will be new consumer behaviours that present opportunities in the Outdoor Living & Leisure sectors. People are going to be spending more time in their own gardens, on patios and even balco- nies or using local parks and beauty spots if they don’t have access to that at home. ‘Stayca- tions’ too are going to be more prevalent, either travelling within the UK or even just staying at home and hosting friends and families for those
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long overdue reunions. There will be a demand for good quality, well-designed products – from durable picnic and patio dining like our Fresco range of reus- able serveware and bamboo fibre tableware, to the Heritage Picnic Collection of advanced PE- VA-insulated coolbags & wicker picnic baskets. Not to mention a range of BBQs and outdoor heating products to match every budget. From a retailer perspective, ensuring you hit all the price points and consumer needs is cru- cial and that is why we have taken the time to invest in a comprehensive offer, combining the same innovative design and excellent quality that the Tower brand has become renowned for. The only element that is out of our control is the British weather. But after this last year, we don’t think a bit of rain is going to stop us! Coast & Country by Tower is a premium collection of outdoor living and leisure products, designed to simplify the modern-day staycation and breathe new life into summer. There are three categories: Heritage Picnic Collection, Heritage Wicker Picnic Baskets and Fresco Outdoor Serveware. There is a rich seam of practicality running throughout the whole range. For example with the Heritage Picnic Collection, all bags are lined with an advanced PEVA-insulated interior to keep contents fresh and chilled for hours, while the filled picnic bags have ample storage space and include quality touches like cotton napkins and bottle openers. The family-sized foldable bag even features an
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EVA (rubber-like) moulded lid to transform the bag into a small table – solving the dilemma of where to put your food & drinks whilst out on the go. STEALTH BBQs, grills and outdoor heating Tower is the fastest-growing SDA brand and
we have taken our wealth of product knowledge and award-winning innovation to new heights with this state-of-the-art collection. Covering BBQ grills, smoker grills and gas BBQs, key points include excellent heat controllability, large cooking surface areas, portability and maneuverability.
In outdoor heating, there is a variety of con- temporary fire pits and chimeneas to add rustic charm to the garden. The 2-in-1 Fire Pit and BBQ completes the barbecue experience, taking care of both cooking and heating needs in a single practical design.
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twitter.com/Housewaresnews May/June 2021
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