Whirlpool Forays into Commercial Appliances Segment

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai : Whirlpool of India, a subsidiary of Whirlpool Corporation, announced its foray into the commercial appliance segment today by launching a new innovative range of products from its European product including dishwashers, ovens and ice makers with state-of-the-art technology.

Whirlpool is currently eyeing a five per cent market share in the commercial appliance industry. The launch of new product range is part of company’s aggressive growth plans in order to expand its presence in new adjacent product categories.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Sunil D’Souza, Managing Director, Whirlpool of India said, “With the number of restaurants, hotels, institutes, hospitals and food service businesses growing in the country, we see huge opportunity for commercial appliances in India.Currently, the B2B market size of Kitchen equipment in India is INR 1900 Cr &Laundry equipment is INR 5000 Cr with growth rate of 10-12 percent annually.We are foraying into the Kitchen equipment market of the commercial industry initially and eying a total of five percent market share.”

Whirlpool has already partnered with distributors and food service consultants in India and has started seeding in its appliances. Initially, Whirlpool’s commercial products will be available in larger cities like Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Pune and slowly expanded to other cities in a phased manner. These appliances are expected to be installed in hotels, institutes, restaurants, bars and hospitals.

ABOUT WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is the number one major appliance manufacturer in the world, with approximately $20 billion in annual sales, 100,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centres throughout the world in 2014. The company markets Whirlpool, Kitchen Aid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Ariston, Indesit and other major brand names in more than 170 countries.