Announced in preview in March and officially presented with great effectiveness in Milan during the Design Week, the launch of the new line of ovens and induction hobs definitively marks Elica's entry into the world of cooking. A challenge that involves an investment of over 40 million euros in three years and which has led to a new positioning and a new brand identity. A courageous step that confirms the innovative and creative ability of the leading company in the production of extraction systems, now ready to compete in the cooking business. We talk about it with Marco Garbuglia, Chief Marketing Officer of Elica.
The definitive entry into the world of cooking is certainly an epochal change for Elica. When did the project start?
With the debut of NikolaTesla extractor hobs in 2016, Elica effectively entered the world of cooking. Starting as an innovative but niche product, in the space of about three years the extractor hob has become an important product category in the world of built-in in general, and for the Elica brand a segment that today represents 25% of turnover. In 2020 there was the presentation of Lhov, the first and only “All-in-One” appliance that integrates oven, hob and hood (which won the Compasso D’Oro in June 2024). Born from an intuition of Fabrizio Crisà, Design Director of Elica, Lhov has generated great enthusiasm for its strong innovative character and has accelerated a process of profound change already underway. Always being air specialists, we found ourselves necessarily competing in the more complex cooking business and today we do so with the strength of a new brand identity and a definitive expansion of the product categories in the catalog thanks to Virtus ovens, induction hobs and to the wine cellar. Our stand at the Salone, designed by the Calvi Brambilla and Partners studio, described with great clarity the path that the company has taken in recent years while the artistic installation at Palazzo Litta by the Japanese duo we+ reaffirmed the character of extraordinary nature that the brand wants to communicate.
Speaking of positioning, what is Elica's mission today?
Being a brand that is also recognizable by the public, able to transmit the great creativity and research of a company that has never stopped innovating. The pay-off “Extraordinary Cooking” tells of this challenge which required two years of work. The spark lit by the emotion for the debut of Lhov in 2020 made us understand that the company was ready for change and that the "new air" pay off was no longer able to represent us. At the same time we also wanted that people recognize the DNA of a company that, since its origins and its founder Ermanno Casoli, has been able to think outside the box.
