Cutting edge

Star Paper Corp. is the exclusive Philippine distributor of Zwilling J.A. Henckels, which celebrates this year its 271st anniversary as a member of the Solingen Cutler’s Guild and its 33rd anniversary as a member of the Wehrhahn Group, the tenth largest conglomerate in Germany.

It’s a common misconception that Winston Chua, senior product manager for diversified products of Star Paper Corp., immediately corrects.

"Solingen is a place trademark like Champagne. What we sell are cutlery and flatware made by Zwilling J.A. Henckels, which has its factory in Solingen, Germany," he said.

Star Paper is the exclusive Philippine distributor of Zwilling, which celebrates this year its 271st anniversary as a member of the Solingen Cutler’s Guild and its 33rd anniversary as a member of the Wehrhahn Group, the tenth largest conglomerate in Germany.

"In 1995, we were approached by the regional manager for Parker pens who had recently moved to Zwilling. They needed a Philippine distributor and we were on the look out for new products that were not paper or pen related," said Chua.

Separate network

Star Paper learned the hard way that it could not showcase Zwilling’s core business, kitchen knives, in traditional paper outlets such as bookstores. Neither could it use the household section in department stores.

"In bookstores, we could only display Zwilling scissors, manicure sets and pocket knives," said Chua. "In department stores, we couldn’t properly explain to our potential customers why they should buy an expensive branded knife when there are cheaper alternatives nearby."

Star Paper decided to put up stand-alone Zwilling stores in Metro Manila malls catering to the high-end market such as the Rockwell Center and Alabang Town Center. To date, there are six stores, which generated a 35% increase in sales last year from the previous year despite the weaker economy. About 20% of total sales was generated during the Christmas season.

With display assistance from Zwilling, each store has self-service units which allow the prospective customer to see the variety of available merchandise, both individual pieces and gift sets of three to five pieces, at a glance. Smaller items such as scissors are displayed in turntables placed on sales counters.

"Our sales people are trained not to crowd the customer. They are, however, alert to a customer who needs assistance," said Chua. "Customers are encouraged to hold the cutlery and flatware. They are caught once they feel the difference in terms of balance and of weight between Zwilling products and their competitors."

Here and elsewhere in the world, Zwilling’s best seller is the standard eight-inch chef knife.

Amateur cooks

Most of Zwilling buyers are individuals who like to cook and tinker around the kitchen. Institutional sales to cooking schools and restaurants account for a single-digit percent of total sales.

"People buy Zwilling knives because it gives them personal satisfaction. Unlike jewelry, a customer cannot brag about or show off his Zwilling. His Zwilling purchases stay at home, where they rightfully belong," Chua said.

Another difficulty Star Paper faces in selling Zwilling is the durability of the products. "We don’t get replacement sales because our knives have a lifetime guaranty," Chua said. "Instead, we encourage our customers to add to their collection of Zwilling products."

The stand-alone stores carry 90% of the products in the Zwilling catalogue. That translates to 13 models, each model carrying between 8 and 20 styles.

Not included in the order list are items such as mincing knives which Filipinos are not familiar with. Other products such as manicure sets which carry European staples such as curved nail scissors to trim fingernails and pliers-like nail nippers to trim toenails instead of the nail clippers favored by the Philippine markets are ordered in smaller quantities.

In the last three years, Star Paper has been favoring Zwilling’s cheaper models, which carry half of the company’s red twin logo. "Our strategy is to maintain the flagship brand while concentrating on the more affordable models," said Chua.

To drive sales, Star Paper has kept its prices steady, increasing them only once since 1998. Short-term promotions tied to occasions such as Valentine’s Day also perk up sales.

As part of its customer support program, Star Paper replace, no questions asked, a Zwilling product with a broken handle. Blades are also sharpened for free, even if all Zwilling blades undergo a special steel finishing under extremely high heat at supersonic speed that ensures these will remain sharp and rust-free during their lifetime.

In 100% of the blades that needed re-sharpening, the problem was traced to improper handling such as using the blade on the kitchen counter instead of on a cutting board.

"We’re very proud of our Zwilling distributorship. It’s one of the few products sold locally that has an ISO 9001 or a total quality management system," said Chua.