By Martin Vedris
SYDNEY: St George today announced details of its first induction cooktop, priced at RRP $2,199, along with news that it will release a further three induction cooktops in the coming months.
Available to retailers now, the 5536300 model is a 60 cm three zone cooktop with nine heat settings and a booster function for rapid cooking. For safety it has a 99 minute timer on all cooking zones and an automatic safety shutdown. The cooktops come with a two year warranty.
“This is our introduction, it’s the first of an extended range of induction cooktops that we will have over the next couple of months,” said Woodland Home Products marketing manager, Darren Goble.
“We have another three models on the way and induction will enhance our ability for consumers to be at the cutting edge of technology right across the range of kitchen appliances.”
Although still only a small segment of the cooktop category, induction experienced rapid growth last year.
“There is a growing awareness among consumers of the obvious benefits from an efficiency, safety and speed point of view,” said Goble.
“We’re enthusiastic that we’re now able to cater for this segment of the market that is small at the moment but is growing — there is real upside for induction.”
The St George brand was resurrected by Peter Woodland of Woodland Home Products who hired an Australian designer, Andrew Crick, to re-create the brand, which aims to remains true to its heritage.
“St George is an Australian brand and it still being manufactured here in Chester Hill — I could throw a tennis ball from the office here and land it in the factory,” Goble said.