Oberderdingen, 10 April 2025 - The BLANCO Group reported sales of approximately €383 million for the 2024 financial year, representing a 7.2 percent decline compared to the previous year. However, the rate of decline slowed relative to the prior year. Notably, the company achieved sales growth in key product areas such as drink systems, the online after-sales business and international partner markets.
BLANCO CEO Frank Gfrörer continues to assess the market environment in the industry as difficult: "We are still observing a very cautious consumer behaviour in our segment, both in Germany and in our international markets. Coupled with a subdued construction industry, this leads to a business dynamic that we were able to shape positively in the past financial year, but we would still like to see more movement in the market overall.
With this in mind, BLANCO has focused on the topics of increasing competitiveness, added value for the kitchen water place, strengthening the brand and expanding organisational expertise.
INVESTMENTS IN SITES AND SYSTEMS – COMPETITIVENESS EXPANDED
Despite the difficult business situation, BLANCO invested more than €12 million in the further optimisation of locations and systems in the past financial year. One focal point was the office space at the company headquarters in Oberderdingen, where extensive construction projects have now been completed. The new Brand Experience Centre has been in operation since the beginning of April this year and will present the brand to both trade visitors and interested consumers in future. The new Innovation and drink.systems Lab was also completed, which will enable BLANCO to expand its expertise in water systems and handle market launches more efficiently in future. In addition, the company invested in further automation measures, the modernisation of casting stands and tools for production at various locations.
In the past financial year, BLANCO also set a new course for its global sink production network and is now integrating its entire production and process expertise for stainless steel and Silgranit processing at the Sinsheim, Sulzfeld, Most and Toronto sites under one roof and centralised management. With simpler coordination channels, faster transfer of expertise and common standards, the aim is to make production more resilient and competitive overall. In addition, the Sinsheim site has been strengthened through the expansion of space and additional vertical integration through on-site customisation.
From an operations perspective, BLANCO COO Holger Stephan takes a positive view of the past financial year despite the mixed economic performance: "We have improved our competitiveness through ongoing investment activity. We have also been able to further improve key performance indicators in the operations area, such as delivery capability, quality costs, order processing and customer satisfaction."
ADDED VALUE FOR THE KITCHEN WATER PLACE INCREASED – PRESTIGIOUS DESIGN AWARDS WON
In 2024, BLANCO successfully developed its product range internationally with the BLANCO UNIT, focusing specifically on fulfilling country-specific requirements. By continuously adapting to regional requirements and needs, BLANCO ensures that the BLANCO UNIT fulfils the highest demands in all important markets. The international partner business also expanded, with the EMEA and APAC regions in particular recording significant increases in sales. As a result, BLANCO's brand presence in APAC, for example, has increased significantly. BLANCO is now represented there with more than 100 mono-brand showrooms and in more than 1,800 multi-brand showrooms.
In addition, new key products such as the multifunctional CHOICE drinks system was made successfully made available to lots of markets following the launch at the end of 2023 and contributed a relevant share of total sales. The initial focus was on the German-speaking markets and the United Kingdom. This year will see the roll-out in other international markets such as China and Australia. With the launch of the INTEOS BLANCO UNIT in the United States and Canada at the beginning of this year, another new key product was launched that positions the BLANCO brand as a system provider for the kitchen water place.
In the 2024 financial year, BLANCO was once again able to emphasise its material and design expertise with prestigious awards. In addition to the BLANCO ADIRA sink range, BLANCO CHOICE with the BLANCO ICONA mixer tap was honoured with the Red Dot Design Award. There was an additional Red Dot in the "Material" category for the extraordinary stainless steel sink material Dark Steel.
A lot also happened in the online business in the past financial year, and the BLANCO After Sales web shop is increasingly establishing itself as the place to go for consumers to buy accessories and consumables such as filters or cartridges. BLANCO recorded a significant increase in sales in this area compared to the previous year.
BLANCO CEO Frank Gfrörer sees the consistent reorganisation of the company from a component manufacturer to a comprehensive system provider for the kitchen water place as the key to future market success: "We have made it our mission to create added value for the kitchen water place with more convenience, more attractive design and the highest quality. We will continue to pursue this path consistently, starting with our products and brand positioning through to communication with retail customers and consumers."
BRAND RECHARGED – SUCCESSFUL CHOICE CAMPAIGN
The transformation from component manufacturer to system provider for the kitchen water place is also reflected in the new brand identity, which the company is now rolling out. The central elements are recognisable, characteristic colour schemes, expressive fonts and modern and purist imagery, which place the kitchen water zone in the foreground. The characteristic BLANCO logo has been retained.
With its new brand identity, BLANCO sees itself as a pioneer in the industry: "We have set out with the aim of staging the kitchen sink as the central place in the kitchen. We want to emphasise what is special about our solutions for consumers in this specific area. To achieve this, we had to break away from the barely distinguishable presentation of kitchen worlds that prevails in the industry. That takes courage, but that's what the BLANCO brand stands for," says Daniela Römgens, Vice President, Head of Global Brand Marketing, who was responsible for developing the new brand identity, describing the approach.
With the launch campaign of the BLANCO UNIT with the CHOICE system "You've got the CHOICE ..." in the UK and the German-speaking markets, the new brand identity was introduced and showcased for the first time with great publicity. The catalogue and national and international trade fair appearances have also already been given a new look. The websites are currently being gradually reorganised, the design renewed and the POS equipment adapted.
Frank Gfrörer sees the introduction of the new brand identity in the company's centenary year as confirmation of the successful evolution of the brand: "The new brand identity summarises how fundamentally we have developed in recent years and what we stand for today. This helps our retail partners even more in the future to communicate the value of a high-quality, durable and perfectly designed kitchen water place to their customers."
100 YEARS OF BLANCO – DIVERSE ANNIVERSARY ACTIVITIES FOR CUSTOMERS, PARTNERS AND EMPLOYEES
BLANCO is starting its centenary year with extensive activities. Attention-grabbing promotional campaigns under the motto "100 Reasons for a BLANCO UNIT ..." are intended to stimulate footfall in customer showrooms and show end consumers the many possibilities of the modular system for the kitchen water place. There are also plans to present anniversary innovations in the markets as part of trade fair appearances and customer events.
Various campaigns are being planned and implemented for customers and consumers to celebrate the 100 year milestone. In addition internally there will be celebrations for employees and their families and there will be various communication building on the milestone a bridge from the past to the future. CFO Rüdiger Böhle therefore sees the involvement of the workforce as an important step in keeping the special corporate culture at BLANCO alive: "Company founder Heinrich Blanc was a pioneer and promoted a culture of willingness to change and continuous development that has endured to this day. As a medium-sized company - in the face of global competition and at the same time a tendency for employees to identify less with their employers - this is a very valuable competitive advantage for us, which we absolutely want to maintain and take into the future."
Last year, BLANCO once again invested heavily in staff training and significantly expanded its digital learning environment. The company is focussing its activities in this area on strengthening seven defined "BLANCO Future Skills", i.e. the skills that will help both the company and its workforce to adapt to the challenges of the future. Accordingly, the almost 20,000 hours of training since the beginning of last year have focussed primarily on the topics of artificial intelligence, efficient working and upskilling where relevant to each individual role. "So much is currently changing so quickly that we as a company are particularly challenged to support our employees in using these changes positively for themselves and the company as a whole," emphasises CFO Rüdiger Böhle.
OUTLOOK FOR THE CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR
BLANCO is also preparing for a challenging financial year in 2025. However, CEO Frank Gfrörer believes that the company is in a very good position to revitalise the business at the kitchen water place "We have laid the foundations for the UNIT system at the kitchen water place. We have strong products that set standards in terms of technology, design and quality, and we have strengthened the BLANCO brand and made it more attractive. Now it's time for us to accelerate and scale our activities and focus on growth in the defined markets."
