President of GROHE Middle East, Africa & East Mediterranean Renu Misra tells Hotel & Catering News Middle East all about the giant’s strategy behind offering premium bathroom and kitchen solutions.
Briefly tell our readers about your company.
GROHE is a global brand for complete bathroom solutions and kitchen fittings. In the last ten years alone, it has received over 300 design and innovation awards as well as several top rankings as one of “Germany’s most sustainable major brands”.
GROHE recently received the Red Dot: Brand of the Year award and was also featured in Fortune magazine’s ranking of Top 50 companies that are “Changing the World”. Numerous high-profile projects around the globe are fitted with GROHE products, testifying to architects’, designers’ and developers’ preference for the brand.
How long have your products been available in the UAe for and who are your main clients?
GROHE has been in the UAE since the late 1960s and our products cater to architects, interior designers and end consumers searching for unrivalled, Madein-Germany water enjoyment.
What would you say is your most popular product and why?
GROHE is shaping the future of water, in terms of design and innovation, through giving our customers the building blocks they need to harness the power and the beauty of this resource – as a tailored experience wherever they enjoy it.
All our products are always based on our four brand values which are quality, technology, design and sustainability. Our unique products include the GROHE SmartControl technology, which allows for
a sustainable water experience, combining intuitive handling with precise control. Today’s trend is towards a multiple shower experience.
SmartControl enables users to control up to three showers at the touch of a button. A water volume, temperature and spray type of head or hand shower can be selected using an easy-to-understand push and turn control unit. This “Push and Turn” operation has also found its way into the kitchen with the new SmartControl kitchen faucets.
What are some of the most important projects you’re working on?
We consider social responsibility to be an important element of our sustainability strategy, one of GROHE’s main brand values. Therefore, we’re currently maintaining an open and constructive dialogue with the public concerned, and promoting activities which contribute to environmental protection and water resource conservation.
For example, as part of our WaterCare campaign, GROHE has launched ‘Turn Water into Food’ in the MENA region in 2012. Through this project, we focus on sustainability and community development by providing mixers and faucets with the highest quality to schools and mosques. The amount of money saved for every 10 litres of water conserved will be converted into food packages and distributed to underprivileged families.
GROHE one of Germany’s top three most sustainable big companies
At the German Sustainability Award ceremony in Düsseldorf, GROHE secured a spot among the top three companies in the category “Germany’s Most Sustainable Big Companies 2020” for its 360-degree sustainability approach and, above all, its progress in saving resources.
“We’re proud that our holistic sustainability approach, which we integrate into all of GROHE’s areas of activity, has enabled us to achieve a top ranking at the German Sustainability Award,” says Thomas Fuhr, CEO of Grohe AG.
The jury particularly praised GROHE’s commitment to saving resources. A successful example is the recycling rate of above 96 percent. Moreover, GROHE is also the first sanitary brand to offer the possibility of manufacturing material saving fittings with the aid of innovative solutions, such as the manufacture of products with a 3D metal printer, which allows for weight savings of up to 55 percent.
