Mumbai-based kitchen maker Ultrafresh wants to work with active business partners in the home furnishing and interior segment

Ultrafresh Modular Solutions Ltd, the winner of India Kitchen Congress Emerging Kitchen Brand (Jury’s Award) 2019, is keen to increase its count of exclusive showrooms and dealer partners. In an exclusive interaction with Sourcing Hardware, the company’s CEO Dhruv Trigunayat shared that by 2020 the company aims to have 200 exclusive showrooms across India. “We currently have 65 experience centres that market only Ultrafresh kitchens, wardrobes and appliances; in addition to 120 preferred dealers (multi-brand outlets). By 2020, we are aiming at 200 exclusive showrooms and 200 dealer partners.”

To achieve its target, the company has been focusing on tier II and tier III cities for the last two years. “Looking at the demand, specifically from the B2C and B2B segments, south and west will remain our focus. In the south, we have 18 franchises, and we will extend to 60 partners. We will focus more on the interior markets of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. We are gearing up to enter Gujarat in the coming quarter. While north and east have always been strong footholds for the Ultrafresh brand, we are nonetheless looking to scale up,” shared Trigunayat.

With the company having identified its focus markets, it is now looking for active business partners, with a preference for those in the home furnishing and interior segment. Explaining the choice of preferred partners, Trigunayat said, “They are closely tied to our industry; every customer that we sell our kitchen to requires other aspects of home improvement, and hence it’s a win-win for our partners.”

As for investment required to become business partner, Trigunayat informed that the company has different categories of investment, starting from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, depending upon the availability of retail space and market demand of the region. “These investments are for our exclusive partner model, while for our preferred partners, it is more a strategic partnership than an investment.” He added that business partners of Ultrafresh do not require to hold inventory, as the products are custom-manufactured and shipped straight to the buyer.

“We provide a consolidated solution to our partners, including human resources (training and recruitment), marketing, design centre, installation, and after-sales support. The business development manager assists our partners at every level of marketing and selling the products. We provide extensive marketing support both digital and offline; we even undertake complete operational responsibilities such as the studio execution and launch planning to customers kitchen planning, designing, and execution,” averred Trigunayat.

The company, he shared, has been focusing on direct marketing, since the product category requires personal experience and consultancy selling. “Digital marketing has helped us generate business; we focus on neighbourhood/hyperlocal marketing to create that awareness among our catchment areas. We pay additional attention to onsite execution, which gives us word of mouth referrals, which contribute to 35% of our sales,” informed Trigunayat.

Ultrafresh Modular Solutions advertises in print and participates in some prominent exhibitions for building brand awareness. “Our strength has been in durability and finishing, and hence, we find ourselves best suited in the affordable luxury segment. We also have special expertise in steel kitchens, something very few if any can boast of at this scale. Our competitive value pricing helps us stand up to global brands; while our focus on product innovation, quality, and service give us an edge over the local competition.”

Ultrafresh manufactures 300 modular kitchen units and 1,500 kitchen chimneys a month. “We intend to increase this to 1,000 kitchens and 5,000 kitchen chimneys by the end of this financial year. The current manufacturing set up has the capacity for this, and is being upgraded constantly to match the increasing volumes,” he informed. The company will be launching a new range of wardrobes in the coming quarter. “It will be completely modular as well. We have also launched a marble finish on steel kitchens, to match the global trend of ceramic finish on shutters.” Trigunayat is equally upbeat about revenue targets. “With our growing numbers of partners and dealers, we are positively looking at Rs 50 crore within this financial year.”