Across Europe and Australia.

As the pioneer of downdraft air extraction, Bora founder Willi Bruckbauer (pictured) is continuing to benefit from the global boom in sales of the technology both in Europe and Australia.

Speaking with Appliance Retailer on one of the busiest stands per square metre at EuroCucina 2018, Bruckbauer said he was both happy and disappointed with the competition he now faces in the category with almost every major company now releasing a downdraft product of some description at the exhibition.

“We have a principle in our company that it is easier to extract air downwards rather than upwards. We have many followers now which we are not happy about, but on the other side our competitors have shown that Bora’s principle is the right principle. These major manufacturers clearly agree with us and it shows that what we have been doing for a long time is the right technology. As a result, more kitchen companies are coming to see us and we show them the difference and we are profiting from this as a result.”

Bruckbauer claims that he has market leadership in some European countries, but more importantly he claims leadership elsewhere.

“We want to be market leader in terms of innovation and market leader at the premium end of the market – that is our goal.”

Bruckbauer said brand awareness has recently doubled in Europe, especially in countries such as Germany and Belgium as a result of promotional projects including the sponsorship of the Revolution Tour glass cube kitchen elevated 30 metres into the air by a crane, sponsorship of the Bora cycling team featuring current world champion Peter Sagan as well as more than 8000 television advertising executions.

“We are working very hard on our brand awareness. Over the last two years since the last EuroCucina, our brand has become more well-known and as a result we have a lot more traffic on our stand this year.”

Bora will continue to follow its traditional product development strategy of releasing one new line each calendar year.

“Last year we had Bora Professional, and this year in September we will launch the new Bora Classic at the Area 30 kitchen fair on the A30 in Germany. It is our goal to continue to develop new products for our end customer.”

Bora continues to sell its products directly to consumers in Australia and its Sydney showroom on Victoria Road in Drummoyne is adjacent to the Miele Specialist Showroom by Bing Lee.

“My sales team is going a great job in Australia, but it is a completely different market and we had to learn this in the first year. We are now growing strongly from our showroom that is next door to Miele – and this is a win-win for everybody. End customers are going to the Miele showroom in Drummoyne for ovens and fridges and then coming to Bora for our products – I think this is a great combination.”