By Claire Reilly

While stainless steel is still popular for small appliances, there’s a growing trend towards colour in the kitchen according to the team at Breville, who have just finalised the details of their Mother’s Day collection for 2012.

Speaking about the new focus on finish, Breville’s beverage business manager David Gubbin said more and more consumers are seeking to brighten up their kitchen with a splash of colour, rather than the more conventional silver look.

“What we’re seeing right now in terms of premium bench top appliances, such as kettles and toasters, is as much as 45 per cent of that market is based on colour,” said Gubbin. “Colour has become the first consideration for a large number of consumers, and it’s happened very very quickly – over the last 12 months or so.

“So we’ve been working very hard to bring our own colour range to the market," he said.

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Part of this new plan for smalls is the focus on a core range of colours, as well as a selection of seasonal colours that will come in to accent the traditional range.

“Our strategy is to commit long term to three colours: Cranberry Red, Black Sesame and Sherbet White,” added Gubbin. “We’ve invested in high quality, high cost finishes that look fantastic. And when we say we’ve got a long term commitment, we’re going to release those ranges and products in those colours every single year.”

Gubbin admitted that while there was difficulty in ensuring the colours were perfectly matched at a manufacturing level (with perfect consistency required between factories), it was worth the effort for the continuity at a retail level.

“The retailer and consumer in particular can commit to red, knowing that they’re going to have the red version of whatever it might be next year. They’re not getting pink then red then blue or whatever the year after. They’re going to be able to run with ranges – so it’s perfect for bridal registries and things like that.”

“We will also release one seasonal colour per year, so we’ll have the discussion as to what that seasonal colour will be, and then come next Christmas, we’ll have a new colour. That’s the one that will come in and come out, and it’ll be the hottest colour for next year.”

Breville's BKE820 kettle in Cranberry Red.

Breville's BTA840 toaster in Black Sesame.