Key category player claims.
Australian retailers have been described as the world champions of selling premium coffee machines, according to one major industry player.
Swiss-based fully automatic coffee machine specialist Jura has described Australian retailers as ‘world champions’ when it comes to selling premium products, but the company also believes there is another opportunity within the mid-market segment of the category.
These comments were contained in a speech by Jura Australia head of sales George Liakatos, who addressed retailers at a recent launch event in Melbourne to report on the performance of the company.
“I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on 2016, which for some of you was an exceptional year and perhaps for others slightly more challenging. I have had an opportunity to have a one-on-one discussion with our CEO Emanuel Probst to talk about results and performances of Jura in Australia and globally. Emanuel was able to share with me the results for the group and they were quite impressive – it was our best year ever with over 320,000 machines sold globally.
Jura Australia head of sales George Liakatos and Jura global CEO Emanuel Probst
“In Australia, we probably had one of the most successful launches with our flagship Z6 model. Part of its success was due some really incredibly innovative technologies we have not seen in coffee machines before. Advancements in milk preparation and cleaning; the introduction of RFID with the Intelligent Water System; enhanced usability with the new interface; the Jura coffee app and probably most significantly in terms of coffee quality was the world first P.E.P. (Pulse Extraction Process).
“All of these amazing new innovations were bundled up into one machine, and Australians definitely loved it and we sold over 1500 units of this amazing premium machine in 2016. As I went around the country and spoke with you and our other partners, you all said the same thing – ‘we love this machine, but we want to see this technology across the entire product range’. So I am able to come good on the promises that I made and launch new products with all of the wonderful innovations and technologies.
“When we look at the Jura family worldwide, Emanuel keeps saying that Australia are the ‘world champions in selling premium machines’ and what he means by that is that our share of premium products or machines that retail over $2000 is the highest compared with anywhere else in the world. At the moment that sits at around 46 per cent of total unit sales and this is particularly significant.
“In delving into the figures, he said the Z6 wasn’t the main reason why we had such a successful year worldwide. Really the backbone of the success was due to the mid segment – the E6 and the E8. These two products made up a third of our total unit sales globally. The demand for these products was huge. He even told me that one or two containers or about 900 machines fresh off the production line disappeared and to this day a criminal investigation is going on, so you know when they are stolen – they are hot!
“We really want to replicate the success of the E-Line products here in Australia. We know we can sell premium machines, now we need to prove to them that we can sell the mid-segment really well. I’m pretty confident with your support that we can not only increase Jura’s share in Australia but also increase the total market with these products. They are jam-packed full of those amazing technologies that made the Z6 so successful.”