German Direct Selling Vorwerk Closed 2014 With 2.8 Billion Euros

Reiner Strecker Vorwerk

 

Vorwerk is looking back on an extremely successful fiscal year 2014. In the 131st year of the company’s history, the Vorwerk Group closed with a consolidated sales volume of 2.8 billion euros, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.8 percent – a new best result for the Wuppertal-based, family-owned company. The current year also got off to a promising start with sales at the end of the first three months of 2015 already up 19 percent on the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Vorwerk Group also generated a clear increase in its business volume, which also takes new akf group business into account, of 6.8 percent to 3.3 billion euros.

“2014 was an entirely successful year,” as Managing Partners Reiner Strecker and Frank van Oers announced today at the financial press conference. “In all of our segments, we are right where we belong with our high-ticket products: in people’s homes.”

With revenues totaling 2.3 billion euros, the Group’s core business – direct sales of premium products – once again proved to be a growth driver. Sales were up 5.9 percent in this segment. For the first time in the history of the company, the Thermomix Division was the highest-earning, direct-selling division with sales volume totaling 920 million euros, placing it ahead of Kobold (898 million euros), JAFRA Cosmetics (427 million euros) and Lux Asia Pacific (28 million euros). From Vorwerk’s point of view, the highlights of the year included the successful launch of the Thermomix TM5, the Kobold VG100 window cleaner and the Kobold VR200 robot vacuum cleaner.

As a family company, the Vorwerk Group pursues a long-term strategy focused clearly on sustainable and profitable growth.

“Our ten-year comparison illus-trates the consistent success of this strategy in recent years: We were able to increase our sales volume by a clear 75 percent between 2004 and 2014 – from 1.6 billion to 2.8 billion euros,” the Managing Partners explained.

In the fiscal year 2014, the Group’s investments were focused on further developing its business model, opening up additional sales markets, and developing and manufacturing new products. Investments in the company’s own production facilities took priority. The Executive Board also plans to continue developing its various divisions in the future. “The strong growth of the Thermomix and Kobold Divisions directly leads to a clear increase in invest-ments,” the Managing Partners explained at the financial press conference. 

Vorwerk has already earmarked investments to the tune of 128 million euros for major infrastructural measures, the expansion of production capacities and the design of innovative new products. The favorable trend also resulted in the creation of new jobs in the production plants of Vorwerk Engineering; nearly 100 new employees were recruited at the Wuppertal facility alone, the Vorwerk Group’s largest production plant.

 

ABOUT VORWERK

Vorwerk & Co. KG is a family-owned company that was established in 1883. The Holding Company is headquartered in Wuppertal, Germany. The Group is headed by Managing Partners Reiner Strecker and Frank van Oers. Vorwerk’s core business is the worldwide direct selling of premium household products (Kobold vacuum cleaners, the Thermomix kitchen appliance, Lux Asia Pacific products) and cosmetics (JAFRA Cosmetics).

The other members of the Vorwerk family are the akf group, Vorwerk flooring and the Vorwerk Group’s sister company, the HECTAS Group. More than 603,000 people around the world work for Vorwerk, some 591,000 as independent sales partners. Vorwerk generates consolidated revenues of 2.8 billion euros (2014) and operates in over 70 countries.

 

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