The Bertazzoni family joined local general manager, George Alikakos to officially open the first company showroom in South Melbourne.
The Bertazzoni team was joined by architects, commercial developers and members of the media for the launch.
“I thank you all for coming, a lot of hard work for people here in Australia and also in Italy,” Alikakos said in his speech to the attendees.
“Bertazzoni is a company that has been established for a very long time and we are very fortunate to have the sixth generation of the family here: Nicola Bertazzoni, vice president of sales and Valentina Bertazzoni, director of style and communication. The space, which is perfectly located on Clarendon Street, has taken 10 months to develop from creation to implementation.
“Following the success of subsidiaries around the world, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, France and Scandinavia, the Bertazzoni family believes that having direct control and input into the execution of products in a marketplace delivers results.
“After providing that guidance indirectly over 17 years in conjunction with a number of different entities, the new subsidiary now permits the brand to have a consistent and uniform message and aligns the Australian business alongside the other successful countries around the world,” Alikakos said.
George Alikakos, Danni Mosley, Nicola Bertazzoni, Valentina Bertazzoni and Graziano Soliani.
Bertazzoni director of style and communication, Valentina Bertazzoni told Appliance Retailer why Australia was chosen to be a fully-owned subsidiary with a dedicated showroom. At the opening of the Bertazzoni showroom in South Melbourne, she was asked: Why Australia?
“We believe the Australian people are the perfect fit and resonate with the values of our brand. Australians are open minded and sophisticated consumers who are also interested in healthy eating with fresh ingredients and spending time cooking in the home for their loved ones and these things combined make Australian people the perfect match for the Bertazzoni brand and its values.
“We are proud that our logo was one of the first registered in Italy and among all categories we are number 462. Embedded within the logo are the three values that have guided the company for many years,” she said.
“The first value is family, this means long lasting tradition in excellence, we are good at what we do and we also promise to deliver a long term commitment to both our customers and the market. As we are a family business, it is never about quick wins or short-term gains. We are building for the next generation. We have taken from the last generation and make sure that we can hand it over in a stronger position to the next generation.
“Second value is engineering, represented by the ‘winged wheel’. In the 1920s when it was designed it represented progress, speed, velocity and industrialisation and has a double meaning of functionality and style, our products work well and they look beautiful.
“The third value is Italia. This represents our land and our region where we are based in Emilia-Romagna, there is a strong engineering culture and tradition with luxury sports cars, industrial packaging, agricultural machinery, food processing and also the food culture and the combination of the two is perfect for the type of products that we do,” she said.