Mueller invests in cooktops to grow in difficult year

The manufacturer of appliances Mueller invested in reformulation of cooktops line to grow. The company bet that the category is still little used by Brazilians. If it works, the onslaught can also leverage sales of electric ovens.
The bet the manufacturer relies on consumer income gain in recent years, which has encouraged the exchange of home appliances and the migration to the new consumption categories.
"We have a low profile in the popular kitchens today, that come with room for the cooktop to the Cabinet ready, stimulating demand for the product," says the Director of sales and marketing unit of Mueller, Alexander stoves Light.
With the new line of cooktops, the manufacturer also expects to generate an increase in sales of ovens. "It is common for the consumer to buy an electric oven with cooktop and work better", says the Executive.
He explains that, although the cooktop line still have low representation in the total sales of Mueller, the company invests in the growth potential of the category.
According to data from Euromonitor, while sales of cooktops grew 594 percent over the last six years, sales of stoves have advanced 15.4% on the same comparison. "The participation of the stove homes reaches 98%, then ends up being a replacement market, without much of a novelty," says Luz.
Last year, the stoves manufacturer line, which includes the traditional line and cooktops, grew about 6 percent in volume, but for this year the prospect is still uncertain. In the first two months of the year orders recorded high, but the lodgement of retailers on the spin of the products also grew.
"Retailers have claimed that sales of products in the industry, in General, have taken more to happen," says Luz. But the expectation, says he, is at least equal the volume of sales with the previous year, although the scenery is still fear.
Capacity
Despite the difficult economic scenario Mueller hasn't changed his plan to expand the production. According to the Executive, the company will invest 50% more in comparison to 2014, with resources allocated to the development of products and expansion of the factory. "Our strategy for the brand as a whole is to broaden the mix of products and be able to meet a possible rise in demand," he says.
The Director of sales quotes that last year the production just wasn't greater, because the production capacity reached the limit, ending the year with inventories almost zeroed.
"This year we have prepared many releases to attract consumers, will be a key year not only for the category of stoves, but for other products too," believes Light. He recalls that the manufacturer always has good performance in years of crisis, when you invest more in competitiveness and new products.
According to the Executive, an example of this investment is the work done by the research team of product of Mueller, who reshaped the cooktop line to meet a market demand.
"We realized that there was a lot of resistance from the consumer in using the product, because of the way the Pan was set on the stove," he says.
The solution found was to develop internally a burner model for the product, with specific fitting to improve the adhesion of the Cookware on the cooktop.
"This strategy has enabled us to offer a product safer and reduced dependence on imported parts, generating considerable economy in our production costs," recalls Light.
Price
The initiative, however, was not enough to prevent the transfer of the high costs to the final price. The manufacturer applied average 4% readjustment in the table of marks in early January. This after some vendors banded in more than 10% the price of the raw material.
"We are working internally to gain efficiency and stay in line with the market in order not to lose sales, but if the economy does not improve we'll have to readjust prices again", says the Executive.