Waterford Stanley parent Aga Foodservice, the maker of upmarket cast-iron kitchen ranges, has declared plans to bring its sales in Ireland to €100 million by the end of 2010.
Aga's chief executive, William McGrath, said that the firm was already on track to sell 10,000 oven units this year in Ireland, between its Aga, Rangemaster and Waterford Stanley brands.
This will be enough to increase the value of its overall Irish sales by 10 per cent to €60 million in what is Aga's second-largest market for cast-iron cookers.
Sales in Ireland also include the Fired Earth tiling business and high-spec refrigeration products.
Mr McGrath said that Aga works to a pretax profit margin in Ireland of around 10 per cent, implying profits of €6 million in the current period.
The company's growth strategy in Ireland is in line with Mr McGrath's plans for Aga internationally. He aims to double sales globally to more than £1 billion (€1.47 billion) by 2011.
Famous for classic designs favoured by celebrity chefs such as Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, the company has turned the traditional kitchen range into a fashion item for well-heeled consumers. It now plans to upgrade this most old-fashioned of kitchen equipment with "green" electronic timing devices to help reduce energy loss. Stating that a dedicated Aga store in Dún Laoghaire and openings this year in Cork, Galway and Belfast gave the company enough retail reach for the first time, Mr McGrath made light of suggestions that any economic downturn here would undermine the company's ability to meet its growth targets.
In addition, he said that Aga now had "enough new product impetus" to continue to develop the business in the future.
"I think domestic refrigeration is going to come of age," he said.
Aga will today introduce a new addition to its portfolio today with its "Stanley Supreme" brand.
Such cookers retain the look and feel of a cast-iron range, but are the first Stanley product to allow direct fitting in kitchens.
"I think that's going to add a new to the Stanley business," said Mr McGrath ahead of the product launch.
Aga acquired Waterford Stanley in June 2005, from managing director Michael Laffan and US venture capitalists Pricoa Capital in a €13.8 million deal.
The company has invested €8 million in new manufacturing plant in Waterford, which employs about 160 people.
This enabled it to leave a factory so old that Mr McGrath described it as akin to "industrial archeology".
