“Issimo”: Italian superlative meaning “even more”. Obviously, the Beauceron company Fondussimo, which has reinvented fondue, lives up to its name. In 2024 it wants to establish itself internationally with an offer that goes far beyond the great Quebec classic.
Since 2019, the company that makes fondue pans has experienced meteoric growth, including by replacing the eternal forks with patented steel baskets.
Fondussimo was created with the idea of replacing the fondue fork with baskets that ensure that nothing gets lost in the broth. Free photo
But Fondussimo founder Dany Bernard doesn’t want to focus on that at the end of 2023.
Instead, he wants his company to make a name for itself in the American market as a manufacturer of revolutionary kitchen appliances.
Wider
“Coming out of Quebec, we want to emphasize the fact that our products can be used to prepare a variety of recipes,” he notes. Yes, basically the idea came to me to solve a problem related to fondue, but we are moving further.”
“Against” is, for example, an agreement according to which the brand will be sold on Amazon in Canada and the USA from 2024.
Mr. Bernard has been systematically planning this attack on Uncle Sam for years. With this expansion in mind, Fondussimo’s management team tripled in size from four to twelve members in just a few months.
“We have reached this point in our order volume and development. Instead of completing four tasks at a time and each participating in each phase, we can specialize in a specific area and master it.”
Production is subcontracted elsewhere in the world to “enable long-term profitability.”
(Educate yourself)
Once the company’s products are made available to Americans, Dany Bernard and his team want to analyze what their new customers will do with them.
“We know that fondue is not a tradition like it is here, so there is a lot of educational work going on. We will also learn how this new market perceives our products and can refine our strategy,” continued the man, who has also become the father of a little boy and his own company.
Fondussimo President and Founder Dany Bernard has his sights set on the US and Europe, two markets he and his team will take by storm in 2024 and 2025. Photo Stevens LeBlanc
He wants to seduce the United States and, from 2025, Europe with “impeccably designed machines,” and he has no intention of deviating from this course.
“We’re not going to start making utensils. You also won’t find us doing something of lower quality to offer a lower price. When people think of Fondussimo, we want them to think of an affordable, quality product that will last.”
Range of possibilities
In practice, reliability comes at a price: it is difficult to instill a habit in customers and the market can be saturated.
Several recurring products “that can be consumed daily” are in the pipeline of the Beauce-based company to counteract this phenomenon.
Fondussimo recently launched its Evolution range, an improved version of its first fondue pan model. The new version is released just in time for the end-of-year holidays, an important time for fondue in Quebec.
Fondussimo’s new Evolution range has been available for several weeks on the company’s website and at all kitchen appliance retailers. Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Further projects will be created with the stated aim of exploring the range of possibilities.
Dany Bernard admits that he and his team are currently working on an outdoor kitchen component, with products always centered around gatherings with family or friends.
“It’s not barbecues, we’re not there yet… Maybe one day, who knows?” he blurted out.
Much
- Who inspires you? Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. They’ve done some crazy things in their lives. Richard Branson [le fondateur de Virgin], also for his pace of life. He runs his business but also leads a busy life.
- Entrepreneurship is…? Do you have an idea to solve a problem? It’s also about always thinking about the next step and having the courage to put your projects into action.
- If you could change one thing in the world, would it be…? I want to democratize access to technological advances in the medical field. Health is the basis. Without it we can’t do anything.
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