Setting a course for growth

Oberderdingen (Germany) 03/05/2024 – Despite an exceptionally difficult international market, the BLANCO Group generated sales of around €413 million in the 2023 financial year. This equates to a decline of around 16% compared to the previous year. The very weak state of the international construction and new kitchen sector was the main factor in this downturn. Against this backdrop, over the past year the BLANCO management team set a direction for the company in terms of cost structure, organisation, product portfolio and brand orientation, thereby paving the way for future growth. CEO Frank Gfrörer believes that these efforts have now positioned the company to begin growing again. "We have consistently continued our strategic course despite the adverse circumstances," he says. "We are upgrading the water place for private kitchens with the BLANCO UNIT and positioning ourselves in the premium segment. Our new CHOICE water system and other product innovations, a new brand identity and developments at our locations will all help with this."

Further development of the product portfolio

In the autumn of last year, BLANCO presented the new multifunctional water system BLANCO CHOICE to retailers and the public. Besides normal tap water, the 6-in-1 water system offers filtered, boiling water and chilled water – still, medium sparkling and fully sparkling. With this premium system, BLANCO is focusing on an aesthetically appealing, convenient and technically impressive product experience, with particular appeal for pleasure-oriented, quality-conscious consumers. The BLANCO UNIT app, designed for controlling and supporting remote maintenance, now allows CHOICE consumables to be reordered with ease via the BLANCO online shop.

Frank Gfrörer sees the CHOICE as an important marker of BLANCO's shift towards growth: "We are very satisfied with how it has performed so far. In addition to the multiple functionalities for water, consumers particularly like the fact that it can be integrated effortlessly into a BLANCO UNIT, with a space-saving design. It takes the entire kitchen water place to the next level."

Other innovations, such as BLANCO Multi Frame variants that complement the range, new colours and surfaces for a consistent design language, and the expansion of the accessories portfolio also aim to embed the BLANCO UNIT system on the market.

Brand identity reworked

BLANCO is conducting a new campaign alongside the current market launch of BLANCO CHOICE in Germany and the United Kingdom. Under the slogan “You've got the CHOICE”, BLANCO focuses on the wide range of water preparation options and the versatility of the modular system that the BLANCO UNIT offers for the kitchen water place as a whole. The campaign offers retailers the opportunity to showcase the technical and design added value of CHOICE for BLANCO UNIT in a more targeted manner. The campaign appeals to consumers with a low-threshold emotional appeal that is intended to arouse curiosity and enthusiasm for high-quality kitchen water place fittings.     

The campaign for the CHOICE launch also provides a vision of the new BLANCO brand identity that will be gradually introduced over the next few months and rolled out across all touchpoints – from our own digital channels and Brand Experience Centres to the POS materials for retail support. Media campaigns on key online platforms and the standard channels are also intended to help anchor the new appearance in the minds of consumers and increase the number of visitors in retail. Frank Gfrörer sees this as an important step that highlights to the outside world the company’s transformation into a system provider for the kitchen water place: "The ability to change is one of BLANCO's great strengths – and has been for almost 100 years. We have undergone a major evolution in recent years and are now expressing this visibly to the outside world with our new campaign."

Locations strengthened and delivery reliability increased

With investments in the double-digit million range, BLANCO targeted improvements to its production and logistics locations in the 2023 financial year to prime them for future tasks.

The Sulzfeld site has been enhanced with additional expertise and is responsible for processing stainless steel, final assembly of the Multi Frame models and handling returns. With the successful introduction of the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) at the Toronto (CA) and Most (CZ) sites, the Global Production Centre Composite now enjoys excellent positioning worldwide. Following the rollout of a modern IT system for warehouse management in the USA and Canada, the company’s seven logistics sites are now also working on a common platform, generating significant efficiency advantages.

COO Holger Stephan has noticed the positive effects of the changes on delivery reliability and quality at BLANCO: "For us, OTIF, which stands for 'on time, in full', is an extremely important key figure. We have made significant improvements in this area thanks to the measures and are now at over 90%. This brings us closer to our self-set target – ensuring that our trading partners can rely on us."

Collaboration between management and workforce

Last year, the BLANCO management responded to the difficult market situation with an extensive package of measures. The use of short-time working in all areas of the company has taken the pressure off the cost side and maintained the necessary staff flexibility. At the same time, the BLANCO Execution Programme (BEP) was launched to make the company as a whole more agile and efficient, and thus increase its competitiveness and profitability. The measures were supplemented with extensive and intensive training and communication activities aimed at the workforce in order to drive forward the transformation of the company.

Last year, the number of employees in the BLANCO Group fell from 1,634 to 1,544. In all cases, this occurred due to natural staff turnover and individual agreements, rather than operational terminations. In this context, CFO Rüdiger Böhle emphasises the importance of close cooperation between the workforce and the management team in the current situation: "On behalf of the Management Board, I would like to expressly thank our employees, who have dealt with the past year with great flexibility and real commitment. In these challenging times, such close cooperation between staff and management is vitally important."

The environment remains difficult – but BLANCO has set a course for growth

BLANCO remains cautious with regard to the overall market development in its forecast for the 2024 financial year. In particular, the weakness of the construction sector in key markets and the noticeable ongoing consumer reticence in the kitchen sector are hampering development. At the same time, BLANCO believes that it is well positioned in all areas. CEO Frank Gfrörer sums up the situation: “With an attractive product portfolio, well-positioned locations and a clear strategic direction, we have everything we need to grow."

*) Please note that rounding may result in differences from the exact figures for percentages, absolute values and comparisons with the previous year.

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