Modular Kitchen: Cooking up a growth story!

With ever-increasing Indian population nesting themselves in modern houses, the need of modular kitchens is on the rise.

The modular kitchen market in India is growing at a rapid rate. The market is expanding as the demand is no longer restricted to the upper middle class alone. A latest report from RNCOS says, the growth in the per capita income of people, coupled with organised players offering services at affordable rates, are some of the factors which are providing a boost to the modular kitchen demand in the country.

It’s amazing to observe that people of every class want to have a modular kitchen in their house. In lieu of the above trend, developers are deploying this technology as a tool to attract customers. Further, with the emergence of nuclear families, increasing number of housing projects, growth in organised retail and a changing view on home aesthetics, the modular kitchen market is anticipated to witness growth in the coming years also.

Commenting on the growth opportunity of modular kitchen industry, AK Goel, MD, Hettich India, said, “The modular kitchen business is a fragmented market with an estimated size of about Rs 2,500 crores. There are a few large players, however, the largest one will have a turnover well under 150 crores.”

Juergen Wolf, MD, Häfele India Pvt Ltd, said, “Imports account for 30 per cent of modular kitchen market (dominated by Italy-55 per cent; Germany-25 per cent). And retail sales dominate the modular kitchen market in India accounting for 73 per cent of the total market size, while project sales constitute the rest of the 27 per cent.”

Growth drivers

As per the BCG data, India ranked 15th in the world in having 1, 75,000 millionaire households, which clearly says the kind of growth prospect the modular kitchen industry has to offer in India. One of the main drivers is an increase in the number of residential projects, consequently, a rise in demand for customised kitchens.

However, the main challenge as per Gautam Macker, Proprietor, The Homemakers, is the high price range of branded modular kitchens because of which customers often opt for personalised designs offered by local carpenters, decreasing the market share of the organised segment.

Popular choice category

Pawan Malhotra, Proprietor, 21st Century Kitchens, said, “L-shaped’ kitchens have a large island with a sink on one wall, range on the other, and a preparation sink in the island, thereby making a huge counter space possible. This type is ideal when one is faced with a space crunch.”
Vinod Gupta, Proprietor, Maggpie Kitchens, said, “Rs2.5 lakh is the most common price point for kitchen investments, with some users willing to spend as much as Rs15 lakh.”

A major shift has been observed in the kitchen fittings industry. Consumer has started appreciating the importance of fittings due to the following advantages:

A.Efficient use of space
B.Look of the design
C.Functionality of the fittings
D.Ergonomics, a science of comfort

Satya Prabhakar, CEO, Sulekha, shared, “Over the last one year, Sulekha’s user analysis has indicated that ‘kitchens’ have become an area of increasing interest and investments in urban households in the top eight cities, leading us to launch kitchen.sulekha.com, a dedicated online marketplace for kitchen needs. The site has received tremendous response and is growing 100 per cent every quarter. Our users have spent nearly Rs 50 crore in kitchen improvements last year.”

Innovate to excite

Keeping pace with the changing requirement, the modular kitchen segment keeps changing its product portfolio bringing in innovative products and fitting requirements. For example, Hettich came out with Sliding System to give an ergonomically efficient option to replace lift ups in the kitchen, especially the top cabinetry, to avoid backache problem. Goel shared, “We also have introduced ‘Modular Concept’ in wire product for the first time. It gives the designer/ user an opportunity to customise the kitchen unit as per client’s requirement/ usage based on likes and dislikes, in a cost-effective and elegant manner.”

Going by the growth trends, India, with its burgeoning middle-class population and higher disposable incomes, is going to see a more matured modular kitchen market in the years to come.