7 minute read
Interview: Noritake
Color Kraft Essence
Changing Times
In a tumultuous year for business, consumer tastes and shopping habits have changed. Jay Fingert, senior vice president of Noritake’s US operations discusses how they have faced those challenges and are exceeding expectations with their evolving collections.
How is the U.S. tableware market after the disruption of Covid-19?
Sales of tableware have been unbelievably good. When retailers brick and mortar locations rst shut down in March of 2020, similar to most nonessential goods, sales of tableware all but stopped. But within a few weeks, online sales started to take o . By late May, online retailers and traditional retailers with developed websites were seeing large year-over-year increases. When physical stores began to reopen, they experienced similar sales increases. Noritake’s sales, which have been strong from the start, haven’t slowed down. Sales versus 2019 (LLY) are up at several of our partners. Our only constraints are replenishing our inventory fast enough and keeping up with the orders in our distribution center.
What is trending right now?
Almost everything is trending right now. With so many people sharing meals and entertaining family and friends at home, Americans have a growing appreciation for design and craftsmanship. They see their tableware as a re ection of themselves. Color, shape, and texture are trending exceptionally well. While white is always important, bolder, visually interesting designs stand out online and allow people to express their taste.
We’re incredibly pleased to be bene ting from American’s renewed appreciation for ne dinnerware. Unsurprisingly, when sales began to take o , it was casual dinnerware that led the way. As the pandemic continued, sales of ne tableware became stronger and stronger. While casual dinnerware continues to have signi cant increases and a larger market share, we are seeing more considerable increases in ne tableware in some of our major retailers for the rst time in years. Two of the key factors to this renaissance are Charlotta Gold, our microwavesafe embossed gold pattern and the adoption of new con gurations based on what we have learned from our casual collections.
How is Noritake striving to di erentiate itself, especially in an increasingly online marketplace?
Di erentiating product is part of the equation but communication is the key. Retailers rely on vendors to provide what they need for their websites. Communicating the features and bene ts of patterns and collections is paramount. In an online marketplace, you don’t have the interaction between a consumer and a sales associate. We have to supply retailers cut and paste information about everything - descriptions that explain and romanticize products, information on materials and functionality, and item and lifestyle images - are only the start. To compete in the online world, retailers need more product content from brands, with the demand for styled images and video increasing exponentially.
We continue to evolve our lifestyle photography as the need for images grows. You handicap your products if you only provide a standard silhouette image. Online selling requires multiple item and lifestyle images for practically everything. Your imagery has to be aspirational to give customers an idea of how the items can t into the
Jay Fingert Senior Vice President Noritake
lifestyle they are striving for.
In the crowded online world of endless choices, consumer reviews are becoming increasingly important. We have partnered with a provider of ratings and reviews software, which some of our retail partners also utilize, allowing us to syndicate reviews collected on our site to theirs, providing the most robust o ering of review content to any potential customer. We have also partnered with the provider and with retail providers directly to solicit these reviews.
Is there a typical Noritake consumer?
There really isn’t a “typical” Noritake customer. Our customers, similar to the U.S. overall, are more diverse than ever. One thing our customers have in common is a desire for quality. For generations, Noritake has been successful as a wedding registry brand. When couples were getting married, they would register for two dinnerware patterns - one ne and one casual. In many cases at least one, if not both were Noritake. While we still pride ourselves on being a leader in this category, wedding registry is not the majority share of the better tableware business like it once was. Consumers purchasing better tableware for their own use have become a larger and larger share of our business.
We are seeing strong increases in newer patterns and collections and ones with long histories, both ne and casual patterns and collections.
In casual, our iconic Colorwave Collection (introduced in 1998) with 14 color and 4 shape options is proving especially popular with today’s customer. Sales of single color/ shape sets and as open stock for easy mixing and matching are both strong. Our most recent color collection, the modular Colortex Stone, has proven especially popular with younger consumers.
Similarly, Crestwood Platinum, our top selling ne pattern with its 20plus year history and Haku, a recent introduction, are both exceeding our most optimistic projections.
In your opinion, what makes a Noritake dinnerware set special?
Noritake has a 117-year history combining exquisite design and functionality. The brand has built an enviable reputation for manufacturing quality and innovation and is renowned globally for its bone china, porcelain and stoneware expertise. The company is also a leader in printing decals, including embossed gold, which now include microwavesafe options. When you buy Noritake, you know you are buying something special. It is quality tableware that looks beautiful and will continue to perform for years.
What new collections are planned for 2021?
We are proud that Noritake has become known for color and shape in casual dinnerware, something we want to continue. We are excited to be introducing new collections that leverage both. Colorkraft Essence combines a reactive surface decoration with a matte glaze. We will also be introducing two new designs on our successful Stax shape. Conifere White, introduced in 2020, will become a collection with the addition of Ash, Teal and Taupe.
In ne dinnerware, we are expanding on recent successes. We will be o ering two new designs that highlight Noritake’s expertise in decorated ne porcelain. Poppy Place combines pink poppies and elegant greenery with a delicate microwavesafe gold edge on Noritake’s renowned porcelain. Perfect for both everyday use and a more formal dining experience. The salad plate with its striking orals and parakeet in a blue shade with touches of sa ron and ruby complement the other item’s bold orals within a repeating ogee border give Lodi’s Morning an elevated feel.
In casual we will be introducing three new collections. Colorkraft Essence, available in Azurite, Onyx, Jade, Citrine and Garnet, combines a rotating design on each piece, spiraling out from the center, anchored by the sheen of a solid pewter nish. The other collections are both on our modern, modular Stax shape. Stax Ombre and Stax Stripe will each have four colors that coordinate between the collections giving customers more ways to express their individuality.
What changes do you see on the horizon for tableware?
The pace of change is accelerating. Brands need to be nimble to keep up with changing lifestyles, fashions and shopping habits. From microwavesafe metals that enhance functionality to new con gurations designed for the way Americans eat and entertain today, through to software changes that will improve order processing and analytics.
What is planned for the rest of 2021 and beyond?
Most importantly, we will continue to challenge ourselves to evolve and change with consumers. If 2020 proved one thing it is that change is inevitable. People’s wants and needs don’t move in a straight line. We will learn from what is working and not working. We will continue to expand our selections of ne and casual designs. We will also be leveraging successful con gurations we launched with new patterns that have been popular with consumers.
Color Tex Collection
