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Onset of summer ups freezer sales
With rapid urbanisation and change in lifestyle, the refrigerator has become a must in urban society.Dealers are having a field day as the demand for refrigerators and dip freezers have started jumping with the onset of the summer season. Distributors of leading refrigerator brands say sales have surged and they are buoyant about this season. The April-June period contributes the biggest sales for them.
Purushottam Bhandari, national sales manager at CG Electronics, said that they have witnessed a growth of 20-22 percent in sales this year, compared to the same period of last year. CG Electronics, the authorised distributor of LG in Nepal, offers LG refrigerators with capacity ranging from 51 litres to 600 litres.
CG has introduced seven new models of LG refrigerator for this season. The recently launched LG refrigerator, according to Bhandari, comes with ever cool technology. “It can keep the food items cool till seven hours after power cut,” he said.
CG EOL, authorised distributor of Godrej refrigerators in Nepal claimed Edge Pro refrigerator was the best selling among its recent launches. They have Stay Cool Technology which promises up to 24 hours cooling retention despite power cuts. “Moreover, refrigerator features like maximum energy efficient, maximum space and maximum cooling, advanced freshness among others,” said Lalit Mishra, manager at the company. These refrigerators are available with the capacity of 190 litres, 200 litres, 210 litres and 240 litres. Their prices range from Rs 24,000 to Rs 28,000. “Godrej has 10 percent market share in Nepal, but we aim to grow the market share to 15 percent this year,” said Mishra. “Edge Pro refrigerators bring relevant innovation for its costumes.” The refrigerators other features include unique door crispers, largest shelf space, 2.25 litre Aqua space in the door, dry store, clear glossy interiors among others. They have SIF technology which ensures freshness for long.
Nabin Distributors, which is selling products from Whirlpool and Hisense, offers single door, double door and triple door refrigerators. Ashish Tibrewala, director of the company, said that these refrigerators from Whirlpool feature low electricity consumption and advanced compressor, among others. “The demand of power saving products is high these days,” he said, revealing their target to sell 20,000 units of Whirlpool refrigerators this year. “We sold 15,000 units last year, but we expect the sales to rise by around 50 percent,” he said.
The refrigerators are available in 180 litres to 530 litres. Likewise, Tibrewala said the sales of dip freezers have also increased in recent days. “There is increasing demand from grocery shops, dairies and cold stores among others,” he said.
Sona Tuladhar, staff at Syakar Trading, an authorised distributor of Daewoo dip freezers in Nepal, attributes the increasing demand for such products to the significant rise in the number of cold stores and grocery shops in the Kathmandu valley. The company offers four models of dip freezers with 210, 280, 370 and 550 litre capacity. Their prices range from Rs 31,890 to Rs 61, 790. “The period of April to June is the peak season during which 70 percent of our total sales takes place,” she added.
Domestic brand CG offers single and double door refrigerators in the domestic market. “We assemble the products importing raw materials from international market. But we are more focused on bulky design and long cooling facilities,” said KN Jha, general manager at CG Electronics. The refrigerators from CG are available at the prices ranging from Rs 12,294 to Rs 28,984.
“The season of dip freezers and refrigerators started with the demand up from many sectors,” said Shailendra Jha, deputy sales manager at CG EOL, authorised distributor of Kelvinator dip freezers in Nepal. The company has been selling various refrigerators in double and single door category which are available in 30-230 litre sizes. Their prices range from Rs 13,890 to 33,590. The company recently launched a wide range of dip freezers in the market, with features including gas free, longer cooling facility and energy efficient. The dip freezers are available in 110 litre, 160 litre, 220 litre, 230 litre, 270 litre, 300 litre and 460 litre options.