Thermador’s 2011 forecast: steamy, with a (high) chance of success.

Happy belated New Year, everyone! And wow, what a year it should be. As we officially close the books on 2010, I couldn’t be more excited to hit the ground running on what is shaping up to be a landmark season.

I can sum up this year for you in one word: Steam. As you’ll recall, late last year we introduced the revolutionary Thermador Steam & Convection Oven, which garnered a 2011 CES Innovations Award last month and was the talk of the appliance town. Launched in October, it’s the industry’s first pre-programmed oven to combine three distinct cooking options: steam, convection and a combination of both.

Well, we’re carrying that full head of steam into this year, with plans to launch a major new product — an industry game-changer — this summer. I can’t reveal much yet, but expect nothing short of awesome.

I’m also excited this year for another reason: Our friends at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) predict home remodeling in 2011 will see an 18 percent increase over 2010, as homeowners decide to remain in place rather than move. This is great news for us. Home remodels more often than not start with the kitchen, and, frankly, we own the kitchen.

2011 is going to be tremendous. In addition to our grand new appliance we’re unveiling, as well as updates to plenty of others, we’re launching numerous initiatives that I’m extremely eager to embark upon. I can’t talk about everything yet, but I can say that we’re ramping up our food-blogger partnerships with another summer event in Scottsdale, and we’re aiming to build our relationship with this wonderful community. On the trade side, we’re building upon our NAHB affiliation with its 20 Clubs Program, as well as continuing our exclusive sponsorship of THE PRO EXPO Presented by Pella.

In addition, as a direct result of 2010 we’re more social-media savvy now than ever. With Facebook, Twitter and now our blog running at full speed, we’ll be sure to deliver our latest news any chance we get.

Until then, here’s to a prosperous 2011.

Cheers,

Zach Elkin

Director for Thermador brand