Clean kitchens

Can a humble kitchen gadget aspire to be a snob-value object? It can, according to Vipul Balkrishna Raval, managing director of Mumbai-based SRM Home Solutions. It is just a matter of creating a need for it.

For the past five months, Raval has been selling a niche product to make life easier in the kitchen. He has been marketing a waste disposer, called an In-sink-erator, that grinds food leftovers into pulp to avoid garbage piling up in the cooking zone.

In the developed countries, products like the In-sink-erator sell more than washing machines. The In-sink-erator brand belongs to the US-based home appliance company Emerson.

With the intention of operating in the niche home appliance segment, Raval, also the sole distributor of Siemens home appliances in India, plans to introduce dish washers, dish washing detergents, water softening gadgets and energy-saving home appliances like exhaust fan timers into the country.

"I want to get into the energy saving device segment because energy consumption is a big concern here," says Raval who was a senior executive with Siemens Ltd earlier.

As far as the In-sink-erator is concerned, Raval thinks there's enough demand in the metro markets to keep him busy. He is targeting Delhi and Mumbai's upcoming apartment highrises. "We're expecting a turnover of Rs 5 crore in the first year and currently creating awareness among architects and interior designers. We have already spoken to 10 top builders in the country," he says.

The company has installed roughly 150 food waste disposers in Mumbai homes, including the Taj Service Apartments and some Raheja properties in Malad.

SRM will initially target high-income customers. "We're looking at customers who can spend Rs 20 lakh on their kitchen," says Raval.