British oven and stove maker says changing lifestyles among Chinese and greater interest in baking open window of opportunity

Before AGA Rangemaster Group recently introduced its AGA cooker to Chinese markets, its executives grappled with a difficult question: Why would Chinese people need a British oven if China had successfully developed for thousands of years without one?

Why now?

Top: William McGrath (left), AGA's chief executive officer, shows AGA's Redfyre to customers. Above: James McIntosh, an award-winning cookery writer from Britain, attributed his success in cooking to the use of the AGA cooker. Photos provided to China Daily

William McGrath, AGA's chief executive officer, says the answer is simple: Chinese people have been looking for fashionable new kitchen layouts as lifestyles in recent years have changed.

There was also another simple reason: More Chinese households are baking, says Daniel Wong, director of AGA Rangemaster Group Asia's business department.

"If you go to cities like Shanghai, you can see that lifestyles have a lot in common with cities like Chicago, Paris and London. Baking internationally is a booming area," McGrath says.

The AGA cooker combines two large hotplates and two ovens into one unit. It is made from a heavy cast iron frame that can absorb heat from a continuously burning energy source. It can roast, bake, simmer and warm most foods.

The oldest AGA product in Britain, produced in 1932, is still running to this day.

In 1922, Gustaf Dalen, a Swedish Nobel laureate and industrialist, invented the AGA oven before blinding himself in a laboratory accident. The product has since been popular with the British royal family and government officials, such as Prime Minister David Cameron.

On March 27, AGA launched its products at China World Hotel in Beijing to celebrate its entry into the Chinese market through its cooperation deal with Beijing Hi-Seasons Trading Co Ltd, a Chinese household appliances importer based in Beijing and which has 2,000 sales outlets around China. The cooperation deal was signed last year.

AGA offers two products: the AGATC, which sells for a whopping 230,000 yuan ($37,100; 34,200 euros), and the Redfyre, which is modified specifically according to Chinese cooking habits and goes for 50,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan.

Consumers can choose from different colors for the AGA range cookers to match their home decor.

The Chinese version of the Redfyre cooker burns a lot hotter than the UK version because the cooking of Chinese cuisine requires higher temperatures. In the UK, stove and oven temperatures are held to a certain limit for domestic safety reasons.

The first Redfyre cooker was manufactured in 1830. Three weeks ago, the company launched a party to celebrate the one-millionth Redfyre cooker to be manufactured.

James McIntosh, an award-winning cookery writer from Britain who made several dishes at the launch ceremony, contributed his success in cooking to the use of the AGA cooker, claiming it "the best oven in the world".

AGA's major markets are Britain, Northern Ireland, North America, Australia, New Zealand, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. Last year, global revenue reached 260 million pounds ($388 million; 527 million euros), a 2014 growth of 5 percent from the previous year.

McGrath says AGA provides an opportunity to make the kitchen the heart of a home and the heart of family life.

"In Britain, we found in our market research that our product is not for every family, but for people who want the kitchen to be where their children remember growing up," he says.

"China is a different country. Multi-generational factors are important. People with children want to spend more time at home to look after children. You want everybody to be together."

Wong says AGA is looking to tap into China's market because in recent years, more and more Chinese are keenly aware of food safety risks and are looking to eat healthier. Many want to spend more time cooking at home instead of dining out.

For Chinese residents, who are bound by law to a 50- to 70-year ownership of a place of residence, people can move their AGA range cooker to new homes if necessary since it is not a built-in product.

For AGA's development in China, McGrath says the company does not have a target or goal.

"We first came to Beijing, and then Shanghai. In the next six months, we will be sold at 30 of Hi-Seasons' sales outlets across China," Wong says.

McGrath has a far more modest outlook.

"Maybe the market will be all right, or exciting, or it just takes off," McGrath says. "China is fascinating. It is an exciting adventure for us because it is way out of the comfort zone of our product. It forces us to go back to the first principle: What is the reason that I want to buy this?"

yangyangs@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 04/10/2015 page22)