Taking design inspiration from German technology, GRAFDOER, is a new wave of premium category bath fittings, kitchen sinks and sanitary ware brand in India launched under the parent company VMS Bathware Pvt Ltd., a leading manufacturer for close to two decades. Sachin Jain, Director (Sales) of the company speaks to ‘Chef Bharath.com’ on the way hygiene factors becoming a reputation to kitchen which in turns increase investments in washing solutions. Edited excerpts.
What are the key challenges a chef face inside a kitchen and how your products address in the cleaning segment?
Every Chef is an expert at culinary or baking food, but the challenges they face are somewhat related to the pre cooking processes such as washing vegetables, raw material and problems faced post cooking are washing of cooking bowls, mixing bowls, appliances, utensils and other equipment. Everyone might think that – What is so difficult about washing? – It is
difficult because of ‘n’ number of particles like raw material, cereals, grains, and other minor particles that get stuck on bowls, utensils, tools etc that need to be washed or cleaned properly as it is a matter of hygiene for others. It requires a lot of space, ability to bear their weight, rugged handling (say mishandling) to finish cleaning quickly and with convenience.
Our range of Sinks are specially produced for these purposes keeping the challenges faced by Chef’s in mind. They are specifically made of 1.2 mm Grade 304 SS with R10 corners, coming with an option of drainage tray to keep wet material or utensils and that too in various sizes for commercial usage.These are specially made by a unique manufacturing process that doesn’t allow them to lose its shape and at the same time are crack free. In fact, Grafdoer offers an option of customization of the product to any size or thickness as per the need of the customer.. They come with high grade, heavy duty coupling for easy flow drainage and having option to hold or flow water.
Also, our range of faucets have uniqueness with every model as we solve problems faced by Chef’s suiting their need and purpose. Just tell us your problem related to faucets and we have a solution for it. If a Chef wants to move around the water flow of faucet inside every corner of sink, we have it, wants to operate the water flow by using elbow we have it, wants to have RO water option for drinking purpose we have it, and so on.
On the Hand Faucet, front, we have about 15 models with 1.5 meters (customizable) length connecting SS pipe with control of water flow under one thumb. Point out the faucet to any location on the slab, counter or sink to use it for cleaning purposes. No need to use wipers to clean dirty or used slabs or counters.
Today food safety and cleanliness have become a key concern and how you see the awareness coming up in kitchens?
It is a very necessary and important aspect of life when it comes to the hygiene factor. People need to understand what they are doing and how harmful it can be. We need to create an awareness among each and every person of the food industry be it Hotels, Restaurant, Canteen, Catering Organizations, Corporate/Government Food Court, and large institutions like IRCTC,
Airports, etc. Talking about the factors from 20 back, there has been a massive development as people are becoming more and more health conscious and hygienic. With the advent of technology and the move towards the digital world, people are more worried about their reputation in front of the audience. They are completely aware about the factor that one mistake
could lead their brands to shutting down. So they always keep themselves and their kitchens clean and upto the mark. Being it utensils, dishwashers, appliances, equipment, faucets, sinks, customers are using good or the best quality of stuff. Some are also keeping the sustainable factors in their mind while using the products.
How many SKUs do you have and what is your roadmap for the hotel industry?
We have more than 30 SKUs for both Hospitality and Food Industry and its prospects. Being it a number, these units mean everything to us. Our philosophy is to cater 30 times the requirements of SKUs, and that is our roadmap too.
What are the key plans for expansion?
In order to expand our manufacturing capacity, we have shifted our manufacturing unit from New Delhi to Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, expanding our capacity by 4 times. We plan to expand our production space by 10 folds in future. The same principle applies to expansion of unique product range for Kitchen (as our R & D team is constantly prototyping and evolving), geographies and lastly but most importantly is our focus towards customized applications. For example, developing an innovative product which can tell us at what degree of temperature that one can wash cabbage or noodles or carrots; providing a product to make the customer’s wish fulfilled. Metaphor us with Alladdin’s Jinn for Kitchen.
How you ensure availability and post-sale support for the products you had sold?
We have a very satisfying warranty period for all our dealers and customers, as we are very confident about our products and we are proud of the fact that our products are defect-free. Still, if in case there is any issue, we are open to replacing a manufacturing defective product. To provide a top of class service experience, we have a toll free number and a Mobile App to log a complaint (remote chance of getting one) and our technicians are available across India, Bhutan and Nepal to resolve any minutest of the issue even if derived by the quality of water at that place.
What are the key restaurants you are serving and what are the products you had sold already?
Ours is not a B2B selling model. Our trade channel is through Distributors to Dealers. We keep getting rave reviews from various distributors about selling our products. Our distributors have been supplying AIIMS kitchen, CRPF campus, Government Cafeterias and even brands like Omax, Hyatt Nepal to name a few across Hospitality, Kitchen, Catering Industry pan India as well as Nepal and Bhutan.