- 3 days ago
GROHE Podcast - Ep 02
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Stefan, welcome back. It's always great to see you here with Inc. Arabia. Thank you for your time.
00:06Anas, thanks for having me back.
00:08Awesome. I wanted to go back to our earlier segment and just remind everyone what we talked about.
00:15One of the pillars was about design, and I wanted to share some soundbites of what we talked about,
00:22that design philosophy is simple at Grohe. Form and function need to work together.
00:28The other one was design is not just about looks, it's about how you feel.
00:35And the last one was at the core of Grohe design is emotion.
00:41You want us to walk into our bathrooms, kitchen, feeling inspired, connected, and comfortable.
00:49You know, when I look at all of these things, it's so obvious it's Grohe.
00:53Even if I didn't hear the word Grohe, it truly reflects the spirit and the merit of Grohe.
00:59Having said that, today's topic is slightly different, but as important, sustainability.
01:06When you hear the word sustainability, what does it mean to you, Stefan?
01:10And what does it mean to Grohe?
01:15So, as you said, a very broad topic.
01:19And to keep it somehow in a simple way, I think sustainability has different viewpoints.
01:26And there is basically a triangle we have always to balance out,
01:31the triangle of social sustainability, working conditions, diversity and inclusion.
01:38Then there's the whole topic of economic sustainability.
01:42It's always resource allocation, ultimately also the whole profit orientation of a company.
01:47And then comes really the environmental sustainability.
01:50So, there's always this triangle where you have to balance.
01:53And within this triangle is these choices, these conscious choices, decisions that you have to take.
02:00And ultimately, they have to be long-term.
02:03And I think these are a bit, let's say, these are the building stones that then make Grohe
02:11to take the decision and the active choice to design the products in terms of water saving, energy saving,
02:18and then, of course, creating this, as you described so nicely, the experience that is there with the product.
02:24Would you call it a cultural thing at Grohe today?
02:29It is clearly ingrained in our DNA, in our culture.
02:32As I said, if we look at how we sell, it's also how we produce, how we deliver our services.
02:39So, all that has a clear, sustainable viewpoint there.
02:45Stefan, sustainability is at the core of Grohe's grand pillars.
02:49How do you see this shaping the long-term growth in the IMEA region?
02:54It's not just shaping in the private area, it's also in the governmental area.
02:58I think we know that there's the SOW Division 2030.
03:01There are also in the UAE a lot of governmental initiatives to save water, to be sustainable.
03:06And there we see our part in it, as Grohe Elixir, to shape this future and these ideas.
03:15We see, for example, in Saudi, there are these big projects that are now happening,
03:22especially in the residential part.
03:24Just imagine, it's just an example.
03:26With our products, for example, we have the EcoJoy product.
03:29In one household, per year, you sell 20,000 liters of water.
03:33Now, imagine if you build a complex with 100,000 units, and that's a smaller complex in Saudi.
03:40If you multiply that with the 20,000 liters of water, I think that's like 2 billion liters of water.
03:48If my calculations are right, that's a lot of Olympic swimming pools to fill.
03:54And I think that is important to understand.
03:56We sell millions of pieces every year across the region.
04:01And with these millions of pieces, we contribute to energy and water saving.
04:05And not just in the kitchen, in the bathroom, but actually in the toilet as well.
04:11So also their flushing volumes came clearly around.
04:14They were once at 9 liters, 6 liters.
04:17Now we can even go below 4 liters flushing.
04:19So there are huge savings in there in terms of water.
04:23Stefan, many believe sustainability comes at a price of compromise.
04:30What type of products does Grohe ensure that compromise is not there,
04:36that sustainability is a win and compromise is not there?
04:40The thermostats that we have that are actually really helping in terms of water.
04:45So if you do your renovation, I think here in the region, we see increasingly renovation trends.
04:50We have the right products to do also a quick and time-efficient and sustainable renovation.
04:55You mentioned the number of liters or gallons in the swimming pool.
04:59How does data help Grohe basically create the roadmap of their products and their research?
05:07As I said, I think sustainability,
05:08when we think about the triangle I mentioned on social, economic, and environmental sustainability,
05:17it's exactly this data-based decision-making,
05:20having the right data to make the right choices.
05:24And there we really listen to our customer.
05:26And customer is not just often people think,
05:28oh, it's the end user.
05:29No, for us, it's often the professional decision-maker,
05:32the architect, the interior designer, the MEP, the planner,
05:36so the showroom person.
05:38So every touch point.
05:39Every touch point where we really try to educate the people who are daily in contact with our product
05:49so they can transfer that knowledge to the end user.
05:53So in your lifetime, you maybe ran away to bathroom three times.
05:56So how are you supposed to know the latest trends?
05:59How are you supposed to know all about water saving, energy saving?
06:02Awesome.
06:02If I want to go back to our region, you know, sustainability,
06:06most of the time in the western part of the world focuses more on energy.
06:11In our region, it's more about energy and water.
06:14Both are very, you know, in demand.
06:17How does Grohe contribute solutions that impact both on an environmental level,
06:23but also on a local level?
06:25There, I think it's important to understand we have the water saving technology available.
06:30It is there.
06:30It's often the right application that we shape the understanding of that there are solutions in the market
06:41that we provide as Grohe to help save water.
06:44It's, I think it's less the availability of the right product.
06:47It's more about education and an understanding in the market that these products are basically available.
06:54And I can imagine there's this relationship with the partners in terms of hotels,
07:00the governments in terms of addressing that component.
07:03There is a lot of governmental housing initiatives, and there the understanding and the, let's say,
07:12sensitivity towards environmental topics is considerable.
07:16And there, Grohe Elixir plays a big part in helping to consult and educate these governmental decision makers
07:24on what products are available to save water.
07:29As said, in Saudi, for example, there are the big governmental housing where we can see that we have a big impact
07:38as a market leader with our installed base.
07:42But I think that goes beyond sustainability.
07:44It's also about durability.
07:46So it's clear when you install a Grohe product, there is a lifetime there.
07:52And even now comes actually the nice part, I think service.
07:56We often forget service is a big part of sustainability.
08:01We have hundreds of service people as well as in the Middle East who help to extend the durability
08:08and the lifespan of the product.
08:12And I think also interesting is here that we have to make our products.
08:17And to your questions also, how do we design the sustainability,
08:20that we design them, that they're easy to fix, easy to replace in case there is something.
08:27So we are very strong with our concealed products, the concealed cistern, for example,
08:32that goes behind the wall or the concealed shower.
08:34So if you have that in the wall, you want to leave it forever.
08:37But then if you want to have a design change with the push plate
08:40or if you want to have a design change with the handle or the shower rail, that is then a difference.
08:46Sustainability in a new meaning or a new definition in terms of, like you said,
08:50repair and longevity of the product.
08:54Heart of your bathroom, H-O-Y-B.
08:57I love the acronym.
08:59I would love to learn more about it from the source.
09:03We thought a long time, how can we communicate, especially to the end user,
09:09what is Grow Elixir stand for?
09:12And we thought heart of your bathroom is signifying it well because the heart is really the pumping organ that keeps things running
09:20because you're not happy if your shower doesn't work, if your flushing doesn't work, if you want to brush your teeth,
09:24there's no water, so nobody's happy about it.
09:26So it's really essential.
09:27And we wanted also to say it's somewhere hidden.
09:31So it's not really visible.
09:34So I think this heart of your bathroom campaign brings that out very well in our end user to understand better.
09:43And as mentioned before, our products are often concealed, so you don't really see them.
09:48You feel them when you use them.
09:50You feel them when you turn the handle.
09:52And as another example, here in the region, in Europe, for example, is calcification is a big issue in the water.
10:00Here, the water is often treated, so it's very soft water.
10:02But often in certain parts of the region, there is sand in there, obviously.
10:08We're living here with sand.
10:09So how does the cartridge or also the flushing system still function well when there is somehow sand in the water, for example?
10:18And I think the credit goes to the German precision at Grohe in that sense.
10:23And, you know, the tagline unseen but felt is spot on, right?
10:28I mean, you don't need to see it, but you expect it.
10:31And that's what it delivers.
10:34What does renovation play or how does renovation play in advancing sustainability and sustainable living
10:42and helping making sure that upgrades are available?
10:46You don't need to buy always new product.
10:51No, you don't need to buy always new product.
10:53But we think what we see currently is, especially in the UAE, where the housing stock gets a bit older,
11:01we see a big trend towards renovation.
11:04Also, we see a lot of upgrades that are happening.
11:08That has to do with the rental market.
11:10That also has to do with, let's say, buying and selling of apartments.
11:15Because, let's say, the apartment types are way more comparable than in other parts of the world
11:21because they're often standard built.
11:24So you can really compare an A type, B type in certain parts of Dubai.
11:29You know exactly the pricing, so the market is very transparent.
11:32So upgrading, investing in an upgrade is very important.
11:36And there also for the investor or also for the owner, a short time span for a renovation is important.
11:43And also that after five or six years, I don't have to reinvent again durability.
11:47So you can see these drivers, they're actually, wherever, be it governmental projects, be it hotel projects,
11:55be it residential properties, it nicely moves through all these different segments of the market.
12:03One last thing, the GIFT program.
12:05Would you share more about the GIFT program?
12:07So the GIFT program is something we're very proud of because we really educate and train young plumbers in the region
12:17on how to best install, how to sustainably install.
12:25And that's one part.
12:26We will also give them a future.
12:28We also educate to become trades craftsmen.
12:31So the GIFT schools we have across the region, so we have one in Saudi, we have one in Egypt,
12:36we have one in Morocco, as well as Ghana and Nigeria.
12:41You know, one term that caught my attention that is being used, conscious luxury.
12:47How are users or consumers looking at sustainability in that sense?
12:54So conscious luxury is playing with the surfaces, the colors and the materials.
13:00So the sustainable knowledge is basically still always the same.
13:06It's in the wall, it's in the cartridge, it's in the flushing system.
13:10But we are actually able to then create around that a visible design difference.
13:16And I think this is where it comes.
13:19Luxury doesn't need to be opulence.
13:22Luxury can also be sustainable.
13:23So sustainability is not ugly.
13:26No, definitely not.
13:27Sustainable can be very design-oriented and very beautiful.
13:30Thank you, Stefan.
13:31It is always a pleasure seeing you and having this conversation.
13:35Anas, thanks for having me again.
Be the first to comment