As sous-vide cooking gains more traction.

Electrolux has formally acquired Anova – the San-Francisco-based manufacturer of the innovative and connected Precision Cooker for sous-vide cooking that is designed to deliver professional results for the domestic consumer.

To explain the importance of the acquisition, Electrolux head of small appliances and home care – Ola Nilsson (pictured left) and newly-appointed local general manager of small appliances – Julian Huitfeldt (pictured right), sat down with Appliance Retailer in Sydney last week to discuss the acquisition and why he believes it presents a significant opportunity for profitable growth in this emerging product category.

“We’re very excited to now begin our journey of creating best-in-class consumer experiences together with the Anova team,” Nilsson said. “In the weeks since announcing the acquisition, we have become even more convinced that it will unlock great value for Electrolux as well as for consumers around the world.

“In small domestic appliances, we are excited about precision cookers that deliver sous vide and this is why we have acquired the Anova business,” said Nilsson.

Both the small and major appliance manufacturers have embraced sous-vide technology over the last two years which involves cooking vacuum sealed food in a temperature precise water bath to achieve perfect and consistent results.

“I was a fan of the Anova business a few months before I took on this new global role managing small domestic appliances (SDA). As soon as I got in the chair I started phone calls to San Francisco and we quickly hit it off. From our perspective it is a bullseye for us in terms of delivering great tasting food for consumers. It is a unique product that can help consumers use the sous-vide method and help them cook like a professional.

“What the Anova system does is democratise this amazing control of cooking at a precise temperature and that fits perfectly with the overall direction for our SDA business.

“In the long term, we will have a very concentrated approach on four to five categories in the kitchen – focusing on enhancing the cooking experiences that we already deliver in Major Appliances.

“On top of that, Anova are a great business that really sell experiences, and don’t see themselves as just selling appliances. When we traditionally enter a market – we see how many precision cookers are sold in this country and what sort of market share could we take. They don’t do that, they see that the most commonly shared and captured object on Instagram is food – with 300 million photos are updated constantly. They see this as passion, as involvement and a community of interest and that is the market they are interested in. So if you are relevant and participating in that – to then sell something later for $US150 is the easy part as they already have a very strong relationship with the end consumers.”