Attention outdoor kitchens

Modular system offers consumer choice

STEEL is known in the kitchen industry for its high-quality luxury stoves and built-in ovens. At the EuroCucina in Milan (I), the supplier showed a second and completely new outdoor kitchen concept. Modular, allowing the consumer to decide on the layout and size. STEEL here hopes to move the kitchen industry with its GEA outdoor collection to also offer outdoor kitchens for their showroom visitors.

STEEL also had a booth at the supplier market during DER KREIS' annual meeting. That interest in outdoor at the kitchen retailer is growing certainly seemed to be the case during this event, as general manager Christian Borsboom and his team had many conversations with interested parties.

Modular system

Christian: "The advantage of the GEA outdoor kitchen is that it is a modular system. The consumer can make choices and decide what will or will not be added to the outdoor kitchen. With many other outdoor kitchens, you buy a complete system. With STEEL, you build it yourself, ranging from 45, 60, 70 and 90 centimeters wide and 40, 60 and 80 centimeters high." And the prices? Those are also definitely manageable. A seriously modular version is about 8,000 euros. STEEL does this with distinctive quality of materials, such as using marine grade 316 steel, which adds to the durability. Whatever we have come to expect from them with their stoves and built-in ovens. Christian: "STEEL is a family business where the fourth generation is already working. Like no other, we know how to produce."

Weatherproof worktops

In terms of worktops STEEL works together with Dekker Zevenhuizen. They have specially put together a very attractive outdoor-core range from the Lapitec series. These worktops have a surface with Bio-care. This breaks down organic atmospheric particles, which are deposited on the worktop. This has a bactericidal effect and makes these worktops very suitable for outdoor applications. With the GEA outdoor kitchen from STEEL, one can choose from the Lapitec worktops Steel, Lavagna and Querica.

Busy period

For Christian, the past period has been very busy. The death of Frans-Anno Tweebeeke last fall hit home. "You just miss your sparring partner and Frans-Anno's work had to be taken over. So we recently expanded our sales team. We are working hard. Retailers know what they have to gain from us. We offer a distinctive assortment and a healthy margin for our dealers. We make every effort to produce the best stove at all times. In this, price is secondary. After all, we want to ensure the best quality and combine this with functionality." STEEL stoves therefore deserve the best pans. Christian loves collaborations and so he entered into a partnership with Fissler. This renowned pan manufacturer, is known for its high-quality pans and contacted STEEL some time ago. Christian embraced this partnership: "For example, consumers will receive a Fissler Phi Collection pan as a gift with the purchase of a STEEL Mistral stove. This patented series is specially designed for cooktop extraction and the perfect pans for cooking on induction." After all, induction coils achieve higher efficiency when combined with quality pans. In addition, Fissler offers the opportunity for every STEEL dealer to now also become a Fissler dealer.

The induction stoves in the Enfasi series are doing well in the market. In addition to stainless steel and Anthracite, there is also an All Black version, completely matte black with a soft-touch finish. It is also possible to combine black with stainless steel. Christian: "In Milan, we had a very successful fair. In addition to GEA-outdoor, we showed that our Ascot and Genesi series are available in all RAL colors. In both high gloss and the matte version."

With this latest addition, we see more and more the direction STEEL is going with its product lines. They want to give consumers more choices for themselves, and whether this is a modular GEA outdoor kitchen or the RAL colors of the Ascot and Genesi series. One thing remains true. Functionality and materials always remain high quality. This makes STEEL more than worthy of the term "Made in Italy. You could almost say that there is love in STEEL products. Christian: "Every STEEL product is built from A to Z by one employee. It is linked to a number and that number belongs to the respective employee. Our colleagues really work with passion on 'their' STEEL.