Modular Kitchens and The Real Estate Market

Although the former is dependent on the latter modular kitchens in Bangalore and other Indian markets is poised to grow; on the back of the previous real estate boom.

The modular kitchen industry has tremendous growth potential in India. It is primarily dependant on and driven by the residential real estate/construction market. The biggest challenge so far for the industry has been that the cost of quality products is often too high. Part of the reason being that said products are primarily imported. So far, the industry has not domestically produced products that meet global standards. With this, the challenge of delivering quality products at reasonable prices remains unaddressed.

Considering the above, it is fair to ask the question- why is there such a high interest in the modular kitchens industry in India. The answer is simple. The reason production and supply issues are being addressed is because of the evident demand in the Indian market. The market has been growing by over 40% YOY and projections suggest that this only meant to rise over the next half a decade as indicated by this report summary.

Even amidst economic turbulences over the last decade the real estate market in Bangalore has been pretty stable. Even if growth has slowed down the aspiration of property owners to invest in their homes; especially modern kitchens is a growing one. Hence, modular kitchens; in Bangalore and other metropolitan areas has seen a steady rise.

Real estate market may not have seen the returns in 2015 to same extent as in 2014. This may be because of various factors- those with enough disposable income to invest in residential real estate have already done so, and the current generation does not possess enough disposable income to make such investments. There could also be the issue of trust at play.

However, what we have to note specifically is that the modular kitchens market can ride on the real estate boom seen few years back in places like Bangalore, as people who have invested in homes look to modernise it. Kitchen interiors are a big part of this process.  It is safe to say that modular kitchens is on the radar of new/potential home buyers as well as those who have invested in residential real estate over the last  5-10 years.

Even when the home sales data, at the beginning of 2015, showed that residential real estate market had continued to slow down, modular kitchens in Bangalore; and other metropolitan areas in the country, were clearly seen as one of the pull factors for potential home buyers as reported in the Economic Times article.

In fact, the modular kitchens industry is uniquely poised, to sustain its rise on the back of the last real estate boom in metropolitan areas and expand to new markets too. Home owners outside urban areas too are showing great in modern kitchens. This leaves the current players in the industry a wide consumer base to cater to.

This brings us back to the initial question of this point of the article. Many big players have entered the market and diversified from modular kitchens to home solutions. It remains to be seen how this plays out in the longer run. What is for sure is that the market is ripe for a player to focus on modular kitchens; and modern wardrobes for bedrooms to cater to the aspirations of the people- products of global standards at Indian prices.

This is the direction the industry must take, and entrepreneurs entering the market seem to agree. Pankaj Bhatia, COO, Würfel Küche, had this to say, “While most consumers are quality conscious, the only segment catering to them is the expensive range of imported kitchens. Würfel aims to bridge this gap between aspiration for good quality and affordability.” Bridging this gap between consumer aspirations and production would mean that Indian modular kitchens must live up to global standards. It is the only way the industry can tap the market potential.

Wurfel