MILAN, June 9 (Class Editori) — "Last year we achieved very important results throughout Southeast Asia while China, at the start, did not represent a significant market. However, this year the subsidiary that has been operating since the end of last year is performing much better than expected". Paolo Bertazzoni is the CEO of the company of the same name, which has been producing high-end home appliances since 1882 in Guastalla, in the heart of the Reggio Emilia lowlands.
The company ended last year with a record increase in sales (51%, or 127 million euros), with 90% of exports particularly to North America. "North America is a market where we are very successful, for which we have a dedicated range with measurements in inches. Our brand is highly appreciated over there, but we also have very dynamic markets in Europe such as England, which has grown a lot, and Italy," the entrepreneur continued in an interview with Askanews at the ongoing Salone del Mobile in Milan.
Bertazzoni is the oldest family-owned high-end home appliance company in the world. In the early days, it produced precision scales for dairies in Emilia-Romagna, then the wood-burning stoves that used to heat trains arriving from Germany inspired the construction of the first economical wood-burning cookers. From there, the beginning of a journey that led them to unhoped-for results in 2021. "It was an excellent year because of a double effect: on the one hand, the rebound from the pandemic crisis from which the whole home sector benefited because it led people, who stayed at home, to think about how to live better in their home environment and to make major investments financed with the liquidity that was around; on the other hand, the effect of the investments made last year and included in the business plan. This double effect led us to a 51% growth that we would not have believed could happen before. We were very cautious initially because we had to see how the issues of logistics and component availability were going to be fixed, but our team was able to solve them".
For Bertazzoni, 2022 has started with a growth as well, although the current international situation casts a shadow of uncertainty over the second half of the year: "The outlook for the first half of the year foresees a further 30% growth globally again due to investments made on products. This growth is due to an inertia effect: our kind of product is linked to projects such as home renovation started a long time before. Therefore, we do not lose what is underway, but we are much more worried about the second half of the year because this inertia effect will eventually decrease and we will start to be affected by inflation. I do not think we will be able to confirm this 30% because of this uncertainty. However, the result is higher than what was budgeted and there was still a very strong growth in 2021,” he explained.
The loss of the Russian market is not impacting as much as rising prices of raw materials and logistics issues. "Our processing absorbs a lot of energy whose costs have increased a lot. We can find raw materials and components, but we have difficulties due to delivery times and skyrocketing prices: steel has doubled, some raw materials tripled, and components, which account for a big part of our product’s cost, are affected by the high energy price. In addition, our products have a big electronic component and we are working hand-to-mouth because of the microchip crisis, which is a very big problem for us".
As for logistics: "What happens is that we book containers, places on ships for delivery by sea and then we see them refused for weeks at the last minute. What is peculiar is that ships used to make point-to-point routes, now they make intermediate stops to be filled to capacity but in this way the schedule is delayed".
(Source:Class Editori)
Notice: No person, organization and/or company shall disseminate or broadcast the above article on Xinhua Silk Road website without prior permission by Xinhua Silk Road.
A single purchase
