As coffee and tea specialist Bodum approaches its 80th anniversary in 2024, the business is looking to re-energise its presence in the UK market where it has a history of strong sales success and a high brand profile.
Gareth Till, who has joined as country manager UK from simplehuman where he was retail sales director EMEA, will spearhead the move along with third generation Bodum family member, Peter Bodum. Gareth’s brief is to regain category advantage in coffee and tea and “put Bodum back in its rightful place as the go-to innovator in the category,” he said.
“I’m thrilled to have joined such a well-known and prestigious brand as Bodum, being given this opportunity to lead and contribute to the growth and success of a business committed to quality, sustainability and design excellence!”
Commenting on Gareth’s appointment and the direction of the business in the UK, Peter Bodum said: “We are very excited to welcome Gareth to Bodum and get started on reshaping a market that has been incredible for us over many years. We see that there are many opportunities in the UK that we need to work on and we believe with Gareth leading our new team it will bring back some strong relationships.”
Bodum was established in 1944 in Copenhagen, Denmark by Peter Bodum senior. Jorgen Bodum, son of founder Peter, took over the business in the 1970s then moving to Switzerland later in that decade, placing the business at the heart of Europe. Bodum remains a 100 per cent family-owned company. It established itself on the international stage with the launch of the Santos vacuum coffee maker in 1958 but it was its first French press coffee maker, the Bistro, launched by Jorgen when he took over the business in 1974, which was arguably the product that made a real impact especially in the UK.
“Today our core is still coffee and the accessories that go with it, but we offer a wide range of other categories too including electrics, kitchen accessories and our famous double wall glasses”, continued Peter. Bodum was the original double wall glass maker and today has a large range of other designs in this category.
The UK business has its headquarters in Telford complete with an outlet, café, roasting and both B2B and B2C warehousing. Gareth is currently in the process of bringing on the sales team. “I’m delighted we already have Andrew Gregory, who many retailers will know, signed up for our independent business,” said Gareth. “It’s a really exciting phase in the history of this incredible brand.”
Contact Gareth Till on uk.sales@bodum.com
