Philips 2011 Annual Report Download - page 19

3 Our strategy in action 3 - 3
Annual Report 2011 19
Global leadership through local
relevance
With four regional product creation hubs leveraging the 2011 acquisitions of Preethi
(India) and Povos (China), we are accelerating delivery of innovations that tap into the
specific eating habits of different cultures around the world.
It’s said that the two features that set a culture apart are
the language its people speak and the food they eat. From
soy milk makers in China to hand blenders with a cube
cutter in Russia and mixer-grinders in India, we are
building global leadership by delivering products that meet
the needs of local populations.
The Kitchen Appliances market is big and growing, driven
by demand in growth geographies, especially Asia. At the
start of 2011 we moved the leadership of our Kitchen
Appliances business to Shanghai. This way we are better
positioned to pick up on local consumer insights and
match our competitors’ time to market.
In record time
In China, sales of soy milk makers are booming due to
consumers’ healthy lifestyles and an increasing desire to
create soy milk at home from the bean, rather than buying
the pre-made alternative. We acted upon this opportunity
by accelerating our innovation process and delivering the
first Philips soy milk maker to retailers in November.
We didn’t just deliver a product to participate in this large
market – we also delivered meaningful innovation for
consumers. New patents were filed for the easy filtering
and anti-splash caps, and the product is the first on the
market to use 100% food-grade lubricant in its motor.
Initial consumer feedback has shown that consumers
prefer Philips’ soy milk maker thanks to its design, its ease
of cleaning and the smooth soy milk it makes thanks to its
cutting and grinding performance.