With a centenary experience in the Horeca channel, the Cimbali group opens a new season of contamination and launches an offensive on the home segment, putting on the track a range of products designed exclusively for the retail public. The first step in this strategic choice, which promises to have a significant impact on the mix of turnover of the Binasco group, is Faemina, a coffee machine for the premium segment.
«The goal – explains the new general manager of the group, Enrico Bracesco – is to be able to bring the home share, which is absent today, to 20% of our turnover».
Expected revenues: 40 million a year
Considering an annual turnover of approximately 200 million, the operation would result in a generation of revenues of approximately 40 million. When fully operational, the company plans to sell around 15,000 new coffee machines for the home. The operation was developed before the advent of Covid, with its impact on the world of consumption inside and outside the home, and required the group to define a targeted investment plan, “not so much on production lines – explains Bracesco – , but in molds and product development. Compared to the traditional product, it was a question of removing rather than adding. Other expenditure items – continues the CEO – concerned marketing and communication. For this first phase we have already invested 5 million euros, but we are only at the beginning, because the project foresees the entry into the segment with all our brands, and we will have two or three ranges for three brands ».
The debut at the Salone del mobile
At an operational level, the campaign officially debuted at the last Salone del Mobile. “We start from Italy and Europe and then we will move to the markets of North America and Asia” explains Bracesco. On the commercial level, the company will rely on the choices of architects in the construction of the new turnkey prestigious buildings, and at the same time will exploit the new e-commerce platform. «In the professional sector – explains Bracesco – we currently hold a market share of about thirty percent. In the home segment we aim to reach a threshold of ten percent, considering that the product we are placing on the market has premium characteristics compared to the majority of current competitors “.
The impact of lock downs
The group, unbalanced in the professional segment, has suffered in the last year from the difficulties of catering linked to lockdowns. «The impact was heavy – acknowledges Bracesco -, with a drop in turnover of the order of 15 percent. Fortunately, in recent months we are witnessing a recovery and the forecasts are for a return at the end of the year to the same levels as in 2019, without considering the contribution of the new strategy in the home, which will fully unfold its effects only next year “.
Constant recovery since April
Since April of this year, however, «the recovery has been constant – reaffirms Bracesco -. Cimbali, in particular, can take advantage of a diversified mix of revenues which includes, in addition to the normal supplies for bars and commercial establishments, also the supply and spare parts of automatic machines in highly frequented places, such as service stations.