Supor: The kingdom of cookware created by non-stick pans
2005-3-11
In 2004, although Supor Group was seriously disturbed by the Teflon incident , but still marching forward without stopping. During the Chinese New Year, the cookware company's sales reached more than one billion yuan, a record high. The sales volume of pressure cookers has topped the Chinese market for five consecutive years, with a market share of about 50%. The annual export volume of non-stick cookware exceeds 300 million yuan. The cookware company also successfully listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and raised a batch of funds to carry out technological transformation and strengthen core competitiveness. In September last year, at the "China Famous Brand Products" awarding ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Supor Cookware Co., Ltd., which had just celebrated its tenth birthday, launched two series of "Supor" brand pressure cookers and "Supor" brand non-stick cookware. The product is on the list and won the title of "China Famous Brand Product". All this marks that Supor's career is entering a new stage.
From OEM to independent business
In the early 1980s, Su Zengfu, the founder of Supor, became a salesman at an agricultural machinery factory in Yuhuan County. For Su Zengfu back then, this was just a job to make ends meet, and he had no idea what he would be like in the future.
In 1989, 45-year-old Su Zengfu used 3 million yuan of capital accumulated in the factory over the years to renovate a pressure cooker production line. The agricultural machinery factory that originally only made accessories for the Shenyang "Double Happiness" pressure cooker factory was transformed into a professional manufacturer of pressure cookers of its own. At that time, all aluminum products were made by state-owned enterprises, and the agricultural machinery factory used the "Double Happiness" brand in exchange for a trademark use fee of 3 million yuan a year.
The agricultural machinery factory's output in 1990 was 170,000 units, and in 1994 it could produce 2.3 million units. The factory's capital accumulation also increased from 3 million yuan to 60 million yuan in 5 years. A full 20 times improvement. The agricultural machinery factory has become the enterprise with the largest output in the national pressure cooker industry in the fast trot, with an annual output value of 180 million yuan, and its output is twice that of "Double Happiness".
The prosperity of the agricultural machinery factory deeply stimulated "Double Happiness". Su Zengfu had a premonition that "Double Happiness" would take action, so he established his own company - Supor in early 1994. At the end of 1994, "Double Happiness" officially stopped Su Zengfu's OEM business.
In the years when he was making wedding dresses for others, Su Zengfu focused on accumulating technology and capital, which would play an important role in the production of his own brand in the future. In the first month after the "Supor" brand was launched, only 30,000 products were sold, and only 300,000 were sold by the end of the year. But by the end of 1996, Supor made a wonderful turnaround, with sales doubling to 4 million. At that time, the total national market was only more than 10 million, and Supor accounted for 40%. "Supor" quickly became the number one pressure cooker brand in China, and this process only took two years.
Su Zengfu admitted that the dispute over the new standard for pressure cookers in 1995 played an important role in establishing Supor’s leading position.
In order to obtain support from relevant departments, Su Zengfu went to the State Bureau of Technical Supervision, the Ministry of Internal Trade and the National Light Industry Federation to ask for a definite answer. At that time, relevant national departments were worrying about the failure of many companies to implement new technology standards. Supor's petition undoubtedly played a role in promoting this. In June 1995, the three departments issued three documents in succession, requiring that the production of old-fashioned pressure cookers be stopped starting from July 1 of that year, and sales in shopping malls would be stopped after December 31. As a result, many pressure cooker companies have been affected. And just before the new mandatory national standards were introduced, Supor had already implemented them in accordance with the new mandatory standards. This is a powerful step for Supor to seize the pressure cooker market and begin to establish its leading position in the domestic cookware industry.
Several major advantages create a kingdom of cookware
Advantage of scale. At present, Supor Company has established four production bases in Yuhuan, Zhejiang, Wuhan, Hubei, Dongguan, Guangdong, and Hangzhou, Zhejiang. It has formed a production base pattern with reasonable layout that can not only radiate across the country but also be close to foreign trade ports; it is capable of manufacturing various cookware products. With strong capabilities and perfect process technology, the matching supply chain system is very complete. Based on the current situation of the domestic cookware market, it provides cookware products made of aluminum alloy, stainless steel, iron, new composite sheets and other materials. With the launch of high-end products in 2004, it has become the only domestic cookware company with independent research and development and production capabilities for high, medium and low-grade products, forming an obvious comprehensive production advantage.
Brand advantage. In our country, the concept of cookware brand started with Supor. Supor has independently developed more than 450 specifications of products in six categories, including pressure cookers, stainless steel cookware, aluminum products, and electric cookware. The variety and quantity are among the best in the industry. The leading product - "Supor" series pressure cookers and some other products are the first in the industry to pass ISO9002 quality management system certification, American UL safety certification, German GS certification, Japanese SG certification and China's national compulsory product 3C certification; Supor is also one of the first in the domestic industry The first and so far the only company to have passed three management system certifications: quality management system certification, environmental management system certification, and occupational health and safety management system certification. By 2004, the "Supor" brand pressure cooker market share had ranked first for five consecutive years.
Marketing network advantages. Domestically, it has built a huge marketing network in 31 provinces and cities across the country, established more than 160 sales outlets in major and medium-sized cities, and maintained good cooperative relationships with major international stores, regional supermarkets, and shopping mall terminals across the country. A relatively sound marketing network has been formed in rural markets and high-end product markets. Internationally, Supor has actively entered the international cookware market through its own brand exports and OEM cooperation with world-renowned cookware companies; at the same time, it has offices or dispatched business personnel in many countries and regions such as the United States and Canada, and has hired local Our staff develops markets, and our products are exported to North America, the European Union, Japan, Southeast Asia and other countries and regions. In 2004, Supor's foreign exchange earnings from exports grew better and better.
The "Teflon" incident tests corporate public relations
In July last year, a massive "Teflon" questioning storm was undoubtedly the "Waterloo" of the non-stick pan industry. Regarding this "Teflon" incident, Supor Marshal Su Xianze summed it up in a light and humorous but meaningful sentence: The test is a fortune to me.
“I have never experienced so many mixed feelings of joy and sorrow in such a short period of time. It is joy to be listed on the market, worry if it falls below the issuance price, joy when the stock price rebounds; rising aluminum prices are worry, Making a small fortune through futures is another joy; the Teflon incident is a worry, and finally proving that Teflon is harmless is another joy." Su Xianze described his year of many twists and turns.
The "non-stick pan incident" is no longer an "unspeakable pain" for Supor, which is the leader in China's non-stick pan industry. "Young Supor needs this kind of training." said the young president.
At the end of last year, the Second National Public Relations Conference selected the "non-stick pan incident" as one of China's top ten crisis public relations incidents in 2004. Some experts said: From the moment the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine announced that non-stick pans can be used with confidence, the three-month non-stick pan incident finally came to a successful end. During this period, Supor's performance demonstrated its extraordinary skills in crisis public relations. .