Areas / Kitchen

Kitchen

The kitchen is the epicentre for the cluster and its partners. In addition to representing an important part of turnover, it is the area of highest concentration of knowledge, and one of the main focuses for exploration. Different projects and actions have been developed in the strategic, commercial, technical and social fields. The activity is focused above all on the cooking area (market-product-technologies) but research is also carried out in the area of washing.

Strategic co-design

As part of the LABE initiative, ACEDE has deployed the SZukaldatzen Lab open innovation platform, from which several digital cooking developments have emerged that are now seeing the light of day in the market.

Strategic codesign

LABE was created as a strategic project for the promotion of Digital Gastronomy in Gipuzkoa with initiative from the Department of Strategic Projects of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa. Since 2018, ACEDE has been part of its strategic committee, together with BCC Innovation and the Association of Hotel Businessmen of Gipuzkoa (AEHG).

In Gipuzkoa there is an unusual concentration of manufacturers of solutions for domestic and professional cooking, exporting their solutions all over the world. Of the approximate 2,000 million homes in the world, more than 500 million are equipped with components from ACEDE member companies based in Gipuzkoa.

The Gipuzkoa Provincial Council’s Department of Economic Promotion has promoted the development of different actions. Among them, new digital products for the two kitchen sectors: domestic and professional.

Within the LABE initiative, from ACEDE we have deployed the open innovation platform SZukaldatzen Lab, from which several digital cooking developments have emerged and made impact on the market.

New products

Co-designing new proposals: open innovation

In 2018 we deployed the SZukaldatzen Lab, a platform for innovation in domestic cooking, exploration and development of new digital solutions in collaboration with different companies in the cluster.This was launched under the auspices of the LABE Strategy for the development of Digital Gastronomy initiative promoted by the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council. Different solutions have emerged such as the Accessible Connected Kitchen and the Accessible Connected Oven which are a hob and oven solutions that allow visually impaired to cook safely and independently.

There are other developments that are not yet publishable because they are undergoing intellectual protection, but are gradually contrasted with the commercial departments of companies in our innovation garage. Here we gradually adapt them to the market and stimulate fresh ideas for possible further advances. In some cases, we have also taken the concept of testing to the clients’ own facilities.

In 2019, SutanTEKwas started, a collaboration to detect unmet needs within the hospitality sector together with AEHG and Labe Digital Gastronomy Lab. Starting from this base, more sessions and comparative testing have been carried out, often leading to functional prototypes, evaluated and developed by all involved parties. The objective was to create new solutions based on demand. In view of the good results and the synergies achieved today, this initiative is still ongoing.

Market analysis

Exploring markets, products and technology: collective intelligence

Our manufacturing industry values in-depth technological, industrial and market knowledge. A collective market intelligence platform was created in 2017 combining the different participating companies and ACEDE, which has retained the the name WHIGO CIR (White Goods Collective Intelligence Radar). The purpose of this platform is to provide complementary knowledge to the participants in a way that allows them to improve the overall picture of the market and its trends. This enables anticipation of decisions within a fast-changing market. This Radar is complemented by the vision of those emerging futures captured from the H-Enea antenna, CIR Futures. This same method is developed for the cleaning sector companies

This subsector is also an important area in the turnover of companies in the cluster. Based on the industrial and market experience of each company, and in collaboration with others, a dynamic of exchanging experiences and strategic knowledge has been initiated. Initiatives that arise from this collaboration open opportunities for market positioning. To this end, the Whigo LAV initiative is being revitalised.

In parallel, the historical performance of the ‘productive poles’ of washing products is being researched. The aim is to enrich market knowledge and company positioning, helping members with commercial approaches to different brands and OEMs.