Whirlpool forays into Commercial appliances segment

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 makerswith state-of-the-art technology.

Whirlpool is currently eyeinga 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, Sunil D’Souza, Managing Director, Whirlpool of Indiasaid, “Withthe number of restaurants, hotels, institutes, hospitals and food service businesses growing in the country, we seehuge opportunity for commercial appliances in India.Currently, the B2B market size of Kitchen equipment in India is INR 1900Cr &Laundry equipment is INR 5000Crwith 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 foodservice 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, KolkataandPune and slowly expanded to other cities in a phased manner. Theseappliancesare expected to be installed in hotels, institutes, restaurants, bars and hospitals.