Wonderchef, India’s fastest growing kitchen appliances and Cookware Company founded by Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and leading hospitality business expert, Mr. Ravi Saxena.
Mr. Saxena is known for building successful brands in the country like Sodexo, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, and hospitality division of Dubai based Landmark group, MISB Bocconi Management College, Funcity Gaming Zone, and many more. While talking to Estrade, Mr. Saxena threw insights about their products, market presence and future plans of offline shopping for Wonderchef products
- Team Estrade: Tell us the story behind Wonderchef, how did it happen?
Ravi Saxena: Wonderchef is India’s fastest growing kitchen appliances and Cookware Company is established by me and Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. I have been associated with brands in the country like Sodexo, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, hospitality division of Dubai based Landmark group, MISB Bocconi Management College, Funcity Gaming Zone, and many more.
Me and Chef Sanjeev Kapoor joined hands in 2006 and took his restaurant brands like Yellow Chilli, Khazana, Signature Global, etc to the next level. A long association, strong relationship and passion towards the F&B industry brought us more close to launch Wonderchef with the mission of bringing quality cookware and appliances to every Indian home.
As a brand, Wonderchef aspires to enable Indian homemakers to cook tastier and healthier food more conveniently. It empowers the Indian woman by enabling her to create a business of her own, boosting her pride and household income. All our products are focused on healthy cooking, and are guaranteed for years of performance.
- Team Estrade: What are the challenges that you have faced in building your brand?
Ravi Saxena: Wonderchef has always believed in quality and bringing reliable, warrantied products to India. Such products are invariably more expensive and it took time for us to scale up the business.
- Team Estrade: How do you ensure that your competitive strategy aligns with the market?
Ravi Saxena: Wonderchef is India’s fastest growing kitchen appliances and Cookware Company. All products are focused on healthy cooking, and are guaranteed for years of performance by Wonderchef. The products are world-class and are developed across Italy, Korea, UK, Germany, China, Canada and USA. They are sold to Indian customers across 2,000 towns and cities through Retail, Television Marketing, Internet, and via a dynamic channel of over 35,000 self-employed, motivated & trained women. Today Wonderchef stands for top quality, reliability & service as a benchmark in India.
The challenge is to match the pace of internet business which is extremely dynamic and the market place model allows even unrelated parties to put up one or two pieces of a brand at a discount.
“Wonderchef has always believed in quality and bringing reliable, warrantied products to India”
- Team Estrade: Can you tell us about your reach through Omni-channel retailing & what’s the current count of retail presence in Country?
Ravi Saxena: Adding a fifth dimension to its Omni-Channel retailing which was so far focused on Retail (sales contribution for which is 30%), Direct Marketing (sales contribution for which is 25%), Online (sales contribution for which was 25%) and TV (sales contribution for which is 20%), the innovative kitchen appliances and cookware company now plans to open four exclusive brick and mortar outlets of 1,000 square feet each in the key metro cities of the country.
Wonderchef stands for top quality, reliability and service as a benchmark in India. We are present in approximately 800 towns and cities in the country.
- Team Estrade: What is your key approach on digital and social media platforms?
Ravi Saxena: Wonderchef stands by innovation and best technology across all its products. Every Wonderchef product is built to the highest standards of technology. The brand has been the leader in the market for health boosting appliances – be it PFOA free Non-Stick, Cold Press Juicer (Slow Juicer), SKT (Tandoor Grill) or Caesar Fry Pans, Wonderchef has been the pioneer in introducing new technology to the Indian market. The brand also leverages technology extensively for managing their business via customized distribution softwares.
Wonderchef has always been ahead of the curve when it concerns introducing innovative and futuristic appliances in the country enabling experimental cooking amongst our customers. Products like G.O.T, Air Fryer, Health Grill (SKT), Nutriblend, Cold Press Juicer and Silicone Bakeware has enabled millions of our customers to utilize new appliances that opened up vistas of experimental cooking. This is only the beginning. More and more Indians including men now line up to learn novel cuisines like Mexican, Italian, Continental, Thai and Vietnamese.
- Team Estrade: Can you give me an example of a corporate social responsibility initiative you championed?
Ravi Saxena: Tumpa Kumari, a 16 year old blind girl from Ranchi, who’s singing talent has been recognized by Wonderchef and has been adopted by the company. She is being brought to Mumbai from Orissa villages. Her accommodation, living and education is being organized by Wonderchef and Shri Hariharan will be training her. Wonderchef will ensure she gets all the care and guidance she needs to realise her dream of becoming a successful playback singer.
- Team Estrade: Any new Flagship products you planning to launch soon?
Ravi Saxena: Wonderchef recently launched some great looking products like the Blueberry Set which comes in a stunning metallic colour with soft touch handles bringing in the freshness of blueberries to the dining table. The Mystique Set which is one of the stylish and glamorous cookware products that is sure to add beauty to one’s kitchen. The Oxford Set on the other hand is one of the trendy looking cookware products which has some stunning bright colours that bring sophistication to the kitchen. Tangerine Set is a designer pan with healthy and eco-friendly ceramic coating which is flak and scratch resistant and is considered to be one of the chic and stylish cookware products to entertain younger guests with élan. Another exciting addition to Wonderchef’s bag is the Regalia Range which boasts of three wonderful products, Regalia Coffee Maker for those who love the taste of freshly brewed coffee, Regalia Toaster for crispy bread toast lovers and Regalia Kettle for those who enjoy sipping piping hot tea.
- Team Estrade: What has been your growth rate in the last two years? / What’s your expansion plan?
Ravi Saxena: Having achieved a milestone of Rs. 150 crore revenue mark in the first five years, Wonderchef has now set a target of Rs. 500 crore in the next 4 to 5 years. The innovative kitchen appliances and cookware company now plans to open four exclusive brick and mortar outlets of 1,000 square feet each in the key metro cities of the country.
Organized cookware market in India is estimated at Rs. 4,000 crore while electrical appliances in kitchen are estimated to hold a market size of Rs. 10,000 crore. Wonderchef aims at being among top 5 players in this market.
Wonderchef: Fastest growing cookware brand
