Hafele sets up hospitality division, eyes 35% growth

Hafele India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Euro 650 million Hafele Gmbh "" a global supplier of furniture fittings and architectural door hardware "" has set up a hospitality division to cater to the growing demands from the hotel industry in India.

The company, which has a distribution alliance with Blum, a German manufacturer and supplier of kitchen fittings, in the Indian market, is targetting a 35 per cent growth in the present year. Set up in 2001 Hafele India reported a turnover of Rs 220 crore, its managing director Jurgen Wolf said.

"India is a growing market with immense potential for kitchen fittings. We want to grow our business by reaching out to a large number of consumers," he said.

He said that the company generates 45 per cent of its revenues from the hospitality sector and 35 per cent from kitchen hardware fittings business in India and to grow the business further, it has carved out a new division to cater to the demands of the industry.

The company, which completed 43 hotel projects including the renovation of some of the Taj Group of hotels, Hotel Leela in Mumbai and Bangalore last year, presently has orders from 30 new hotels in the country.

"Hospitality and kitchen hardware are priority business for us in India. Our aim is to become a one-stop solution for all kitchen hardware, furniture and door hardware in the Indian market. Our staff are trained in India and Germany to cater to the demands of Indian customers who are increasingly demanding world class solutions," he said.

Wolf, who was here to participate in the just-concluded Indiawood 2006 exhibition, told Business Standard that Hafele will further expand its business in India by setting up four new design centres and branch offices in the next two years at Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata at an investment of Rs 4 crore. During the present year, it plans to open a design centre in Pune, while the remaining three centres will be opened in 2007. Presently, it has design centres in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

To supply the kitchen fittings and furniture early to the customers, Hafele also plans to set up a dedicated manufacturing facility in India. It plans to have its manufacturing facility in Delhi.

"We are in the process of setting up our own manufacturing unit here and are looking for partners in India. To begin with, we want to tie up with existing manufacturers of kitchen hardware and furniture. We will supply them our the entire blue print to manufacture our products and conduct quality check periodically," Wolf said.

Hafele's products include architectural hardware fitting, furniture fitting, handles, glass fittings, kitchen fitting, sliding fittings. With over 40,000 articles for architectural hardware items alone, Hafele is the largest supplier in this category worldwide.