Preethi Kitchen Appliances Pvt Ltd, part of the global major Philips, has entered the commercial segment with the launch of its professional range of mixer grinders – Preethi Xpro.

The kitchen appliances major has plans to expand its presence in this segment further as “there is a lot of room for growth there”, said Vijay Srinivasan, Managing Director of Preethi. According to him, the company is currently exploring possibilities of making equipment for application in the “cutting, slicing and chopping space”.

Launching Preethi Xpro at the Culinary Competition and Exhibition 2012 organised here on Thursday, Srinivasan said the company’s research activity reveals plenty of consumer insights and their buying behaviour, which has helped the company to fine-tune its offerings. He said, the new range, with a 1300 W powerful motor, would cater to the institutional segment covering medium-sized restaurants, hotels and canteens.

Later talking to a group of media persons, he said demand from the residential segment is growing at a healthy pace. To a specific question on whether the Tamil Nadu Government’s free mixer-grinder distribution scheme is impacting the company’s sales, he replied in the negative. He said, the replacement cycle time has come down to four years now. And, also these appliances have become an impulse buy. “Hence, the first-time user of the mixer grinder would certainly want to upgrade and would come to the market place. This will only grow the market for us,” he said.

Preethi, with over 25 per cent share, leads the six-million-unit mixer grinder market in the country.

> ravikumar.ramanujam@thehindu.co.in

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