Carl Branigan, country head, UK and Ireland at Wusthof, discusses the year so far and his expectations for the remainder of 2024.
How has 2024 been so far for your company and the industry as a whole?
Carl: “WUSTHOF UK had a very strong Q4 last year and that momentum carried on into early 2024. Ongoing political and economic challenges continue to make retail in general tough and our sector is no different, but WUSTHOF is well placed to have a strong remainder of 2024 as we embark on our second year of directly handling the UK market.”
What has been your highlight of 2024 so far?
Carl: “My last trip to WUSTHOF HQ in Solingen to see all the exciting new product lines for 2024 and beyond. Being solely focused on kitchen knives means our product design team can give 100% of their time to innovation for this category.”
What have the biggest challenges and opportunities been so far?
Carl: “As a lot of our customers will know, we had some legacy issues to work on resolving since we started directly in the UK market in April 2023. I’m pleased to say we’ve made excellent progress in evolving the UK business and the primary opportunity is to work better and more closely with our key retail partners that share our vision for premium retail.”
What are your hopes and expectations for the remainder of 2024?
Carl: “Our expectation is the overall macro picture will remain challenging in the UK, and consequently customers and retailers will gravitate towards brands they know, brands they trust and products they know are value for money.”
