Business Development 2017

Januar 2018. Häcker Küchen GmbH & Co. KG, Rödinghau-sen, has grown by almost €150 million over the past three years – the balance sheet reflects a result that speaks for itself. Häcker Küchen's €553 million turnover is quite remarkable, especially in view of the decline in the German market and the subdued export growth in the industry, in 2017. This was a difficult year for the kitchen furniture industry.

With its sales growth of 8% (2016: €512 million) Häcker Küchen has developed better than the industry average. At over 6%, the growth of the German market (€332 million) is very encouraging. "Both our kitchen specialists and the furniture stores have contributed equally to this growth," says Markus Sander, Managing Director of Sales, Marketing and Controlling at Häcker Küchen.
With a 10% increase in exports, the Rödinghausen team once again succeeded in disproportionately increasing the export share – now 40%, which corresponds to a turnover of €221 million. "We had a strong year in Asia, but also all our core markets in Europe developed well," says Markus Sander. In 2017, for the first time in its history, Häcker Küchen produced more than 2 million cabinets in one year. The 6% growth in volume is lower than sales growth – thus Häcker continues the trend toward higher-quality kitchens.

PURemission as a further commitment to sustainability
As a fourth generation family business, Häcker sees sustainability as a leadership and management mission. "To achieve this goal, our activities must be in keeping with environmental concerns and those of society. We are firmly convinced that proper sustainability management is the prerequisite for being and remaining one of the world's leading kitchen manufacturers," Jochen Finkemeier, Managing Director,
Häcker Küchen. PURemission was introduced in September 2017, for this purpose: The company has reduced the formaldehyde content of all wood products it now uses. This has set a new standard which is extraordinary in the kitchen furniture industry. The company has been able to comply with the emission standards in accordance with CARB2 93120 and TSCA title 6, by carefully selecting its wood-based materials and its suppliers. They now comply with, or stay below, the maximum values provided by Emission Class E1 of the European Directives.

Employees – the most important factor
At the end of 2017, Häcker Küchen employed 1,551 people, approximately 9% more than at the end of 2016. "Finding good employees in IT and logistics, for example, is becoming increasingly more demanding. We, as a successful and growing company, offer all employees an excellent work environment in state-of-the-art surroundings. This is a convincing argument –
now and in the future," says Dirk Krupka, Managing Director of Technology. The second success factor is good products. The new
SlightLift was introduced at the in-house exhibition and is convincing in every respect. The new way of showing a wall unit
provided a mixture of surprise and enthusiasm. "The two-year cooperation in development with our partners from the supplier industry and Jochen Flacke, our external designer, shows the importance of a perfect supplier network for Häcker Küchen,"
explains Stefan Möller, Managing Director, Purchasing and Product Development.

Positive outlook for 2018
"We are starting the new year with a good order backlog,” says Markus Sander. "There was a large number of orders placed after the in-house exhibition and we have added more team members on all levels. The internationalization of our Blaupunkt kitchen appliances will provide a further boost." Customers will be able to get acquainted with them at the EuroCucina in April 2018. Spectacular previews of the novelties
for 2019 – and a novelty for 2018 – will be presented under the motto "120 Years of Inspiration".