The Bertazzoni family recently joined local general manager, George Alikakos to officially open the first company showroom in South Melbourne. The Bertazzoni team was joined by architects, commercial developers and members of the media for the launch. “I thank you all for coming this evening, a lot of hard work for people here in Australia and also in Italy,” Alikakos said in his speech to the attendees.

“Bertazzoni is a company that has been established for a very long time and we are very fortunate this evening to have the sixth generation of the family here this evening, Nicola Bertazzoni, vice president of sales and Valentina Bertazzoni, director of style and communication. The space, which is perfectly located on Clarendon Street, has taken 10 months to develop from creation to implementation.

“Following the success of subsidiaries around the world, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, France and Scandinavia, the Bertazzoni family believes that having direct control and input into the execution of products in a marketplace delivers results. After providing that guidance indirectly over 17 years in conjunction with a number of different entities, the new subsidiary now permits the brand to have a consistent and uniform message and aligns the Australian business alongside the other successful countries around the world,” Alikakos said.

L to R: George Alikakos, Danni Mosley, Nicola Bertazzoni, Valentina Bertazzoni and Graziano Soliani

Nicola Bertazzoni also addressed the audience during the event. “Thank you George, and thank you for being here, we are very happy to be in Australia for the official launch of Bertazzoni in this market. We have just opened our direct subsidiary, and there could not be any better place to hold this launch than at Casa Bertazzoni Melbourne.

“Bertazzoni is the oldest company in kitchen appliances in the world, still owned and run by the same family that originally founded it. The company was founded in 1882 by our ancestors who saw the first steam trains coming through Italy and they had an idea where they could take a concept to homes mainly using open fireplaces at this time where the majority of the heat escapes through the chimney.

“Taking this idea from the steam train, they decided to create wood burning stoves which are now straight forward products, but at the time it was such a revolutionary product because it made the life of people easier. You could cook on the surface or in the oven and heat the home without too much consumption of wood, hot water with heat gently released to the room, and ashes mixed with water to create detergent. Let’s say it was a very integrated product. Over the years we have evolved through several phases, wood burning, gas, induction, microwave and now integrated steam cooking.

“The design and manufacture of our kitchen appliances is with the customer in mind, that not only wants it for performance in terms of features to help achieve good results in food preparation, but also the design of the products. Appliances are not only functional products they are part of the home décor, so the value of engineering and function is just as important as the attention to style, that is what makes Bertazzoni different from other brands. We are sold and distributed in over 60 countries and globally our customers want to take care of their loved one and cook beautifully and this is something that is important to us.

“We have had a lot of other Casa Bertazzoni showrooms open around the world in the UK, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Rome, Milan and now Melbourne and a few more in the pipeline. They all follow the concept of the original based in our headquarters in Guastalla. What is important for a brand is the consistency in the execution of the message and when it comes to timing, it was not random. We wanted to execute these showrooms now because we finally have a new built in lineup. Previously, we were successful, but it was mainly a brand focusing on freestanding range cookers and since we have expanded and invested in a new factory with a wide lineup of built in products, now is the time to go direct to the market,” he said.