It is with great pride that I introduce this monograph dedicated to Homa’s first twenty years, an important milestone by all means, but also a new starting point for our company and a spur to keep breaking new ground in the world of cooling, shaping the future of our industry. In all these years, the quest for innovation was the driving force behind the way we conceive and industrialise products, and our very own approach to business, focused on the building and nurturing of strong, long-lasting relationships with our partners and clients.
Yes, we’ve come a long way since our beginnings, in 2002, when we were only a small factory in the Guangdong province, but with big ambitions, a strong mind and a clear vision. Today, walking into a store anywhere in the world, and realising one in five of the refrigerators on display came out of our production lines, fills me with emotion. Under the guidance of founder Shier Cai, we have evolved from simply manufacturing on a large scale at reduced prices to being listed on Shenzhen’s Stock Exchange, producing original design, global market-star appliances. And we have certainly no intention of stopping there, as we have now successfully taken the next step into being even more authentic, premium yet highly competitive, with a more innovative and flexible yet global-scale production approach, and supporting our clients with specific marketing and communication tools, from Point of Purchase to leaflets and brochures, to online dedicated content.
Homa turns 20 in the year its 100 millionth product rolls out of the factory! An incredible feat that certainly deserves to be celebrated. We’d like to do it with all those who have made it possible, our founders, our associates and colleagues, and most of all, you, our partners, clients and suppliers, because, since the beginning, we’ve always been on your team, and felt you’ve always been on ours, too. This monograph was compiled with the input of both Homa and external contributors. It retraces our extraordinary adventure, with different takes and perspectives on what Homa has achieved in its first 20 years, and is as much about how we see the world as how the world sees us! One thing is for sure, without you, there would be a lot less to write about.
Yet it wasn’t all a bed of roses, as Homa faced numerous challenges throughout its history, not least the recent global pandemics. Praise needs to be given to the women and men who kept the dream alive. As Shier Cai said: “In calm waters, everybody is a good captain, but it takes a storm to tell a good sailor. To us, the achievements we are evoking today are a lot more than simple numbers, they are the measure of our resolve, our engagement and of the extraordinary talent of the Homa people in sailing beyond the storm, following our vision and living up to our dream. I could not be prouder of these sailors, for what they have accomplished and for never stopping to believe in their own potential.”
As human beings, we tend to remember experiences and emotions more than numbers, commercial figures and dates, and this reflects in the style and content of this publication. After all, the products we manufacture have a strong connection to people’s emotions, witnessing the unfolding of their everyday lives as they sit at the centre of their domestic universe. Emotions run high in the interviews that make up part of the content of this monograph, offering a unique insight into the feelings, the memories and the motivations of those whom we may have considered so far as simple business acquaintances. They have opened up their hearts and made the entire exercise come to life, turning a formal corporate release into a poignant testimony of passion, talent and humanity.
Also, this being the celebration of the continued success of our business, some figures have indeed found their way into our account of the past 20 years. The most important milestones in Homa’s history are featuring in it, with key data about sales and production volumes, manufacturing footprint and workforce. They have been contextualised in the greater picture of the world’s own course of history, for we have always strongly felt part of the world, producing for the world, and also to give the reader a taste of the air du temps as we recall the events that marked our journey in this chapter entitled “the way of the dragon”.
The three pillars of Homa’s philosophy, Design, Care and Food Preservation also find good place in this book, in the form of their respective manifestos. While Design is the most obvious, supported here by a fascinating interview to one of our top designers, Care is possibly a little less self-evident but a distinctive trait of Homa’s way, and one of the secrets to our success. We take great care in conceiving and designing our products, in the sense that we listen to our counterparts with an open mind and the utmost attention, and try to understand the needs and aspirations of our clients and their end-consumers: the same care goes into every production phase, with great attention being paid to the smallest details. Again, care is key to our maintaining long lasting, true and strong relationships, based on trust and mutual respect. The third pillar, Food Preservation, is a step beyond the concept of cooling, that of the “simple white box”: it is much more articulate, as it entails the understanding of the what, why and how about the food consumers around the world put in their refrigerators, and the deployment of the science and the technology that will satisfy those needs, with a good dose of intuition, often helped by strategic insight into global consumer trends in the field. This approach is what leads us to bring on significant, meaningful innovation and introduce the right technology at the right time, shaping the industry’s evolution.
In its 20 years history, Homa has had to rapidly adapt to the constantly changing conditions of the business, the world economy and evolving global trends. We have changed incessantly, with the sole objective of not changing: 20 years on, we’re still ourselves, only bigger, and better, and as CEO of Homa Appliances, I am thrilled and profoundly honoured of leading the celebrations of our 20th anniversary. This monograph tells our tale, and if you read carefully, every line of it is telling yours, too. Thank you for being such an important part of our story.
Michael Yao
CEO & President,
Homa Appliances Co., Ltd.
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