Italy's DeLonghi Group, owner of the Kenwood, DeLonghi and Brown household appliance brands, plans to increase sales of its small household appliances in Asean to €60 million (2.34 billion baht) by 2019, with Thailand and Indonesia the key markets.
The amount is far higher than the €20 million the group fetched in the region in 2015.
Vincent Cheng, the group's regional manager for Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific, said yesterday during a visit to Bangkok that as part of the plan, DeLonghi will introduce Brown, a small-appliance brand, to the Thai and Indonesian markets next year.
The group's three appliance brands are sold in several countries in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.
The Kenwood and DeLonghi brands are available in Thailand. The Brown brand is set to debut in Thailand in 2018, and within two years the company will market the brand in all Southeast Asian countries, Mr Cheng said.
Charles Ittitanavatana, managing director of Thiptanaporn Co, the distributor of Kenwood and DeLonghi in Thailand, said the launch of Brown will mean the Italian maker has products covering all target groups and demand.
The Brown brand is for premium mass products such as blenders and irons. Coffee makers are the most popular item under the DeLonghi brand, while Kenwood's bread makers, kettles and hand mixers sell well in the Thai market.
Mr Charles said irons have huge potential in Thailand because few brands are available in the market -- Philips and Tefal are the best known -- and the market size is quite huge.
"Thailand is a very important market for our group," said Laetitia Albert, DeLonghi's regional manager for marketing and special projects in Southeast Asia. "It is one of the best-performing countries in Southeast Asia, and we are keen to maintain this momentum."
Mr Cheng said sales of the Kenwood brand in Southeast Asia in the first nine months of 2017 grew at a double-digit rate, on a par with earlier expectations.
The growth was driven by food processors and blenders, he said.
"Business in Thailand went extremely well because people are concerned about food safety and they think about making their own healthy food," Mr Cheng said. "Plus, the growing middle class will bring Kenwood to the next level."
Sales of Kenwood in Southeast Asia contributed about 3% of Kenwood's 2016 global sales, which surpassed €500 million.
"The business of Kenwood in Southeast Asia is small so far, but it has big potential in the future," Mr Cheng said.
