The love that birthed an P8-million kitchen

Focus Global’s Loli and Steve Sy with Volker Betsch, managing director of SieMatic’s Far East Office

When local marketing company Focus Global Inc. decided 15 years ago to include premium kitchen cabinet brand SieMatic in its roster of products, the German company couldn’t have been happier since its previous partner had rarely been able to market and sell its products here in the Philippines.

“We were in the Philippines before 1998, and our sales were one or two kitchens a year,” recalls Volker Betsch, managing director of SieMatic’s Far East office. When he finally met Focus Global’s owners, husband and wife Steve and Loli Sy, he says the partnership was “100 percent worth the try.”

“The confidence they had in SieMatic, that’s what I liked. Basically, in that first meeting, we had already agreed on what we wanted to do, and we started really fast,” Betsch says. “In the first few months, we had our showcase on Pioneer, Mandaluyong, and then we said, ‘let’s start with a small target, sell eight or 10 kitchens a year.’ But quickly we realized, ‘oh, there will be more.’ From there on, until today, we’ve grown every year.”

The Sys describe their relationship with SieMatic as something akin to love at first sight.

The couple, who also distributes Sub-Zero Built-In Refrigeration and Wolf Cooking Equipment (among other high-end home furnishing brands such as Ethan Allen, Tempur and Miele), was then looking for cabinets for their refrigerator displays.

“We [were working with] a local cabinet supplier, [whom we asked] to supply for our display for free. In exchange, we would also place brochures of the cabinet, and if someone asks about [their product] we’d just say, ‘oh, go see them,’” says Steve Sy, Focus Global’s founder and president. “We did that for six months, but that got us thinking, hey, it’s like we opened a burger place where we sell the patty but with no buns. It wasn’t logical. So we started researching about the best [cabinets] we could get.”

Their research led them to the San Francisco Design Center, where they found SieMatic.

“We were so impressed with the features. Steve said he had never seen a kitchen this beautiful, amazing. That’s why we were so enthusiastic about it,” says Loli Sy, Focus Global executive vice president.

Some of her favorite features, she adds, include SieMatic’s dust seal, which ensures that doors can be closed without a sound and protects the inside of the cabinet elements from dust, dirt and vapors from cooking; its MultiMatic system, which has patented 16 mm-wide multifunction tracks, as well as accessory holders, allowing homeowners to customize their cabinets; and the grip deck, rubber grips modeled after the appearance and functionality of a sailboat’s wood plank deck, which prevents drawer containers from slipping and sliding around.

“These kitchens are really built to last,” says Loli. “When we saw a friend in Germany, and we mentioned we were there to go to SieMatic, he said, ‘Oh, SieMatic, we have that, and our house is 20 years old.’ It looked like a one-year-old kitchen. It wasn’t brand new, but it looked so good for a 20-year-old kitchen.”

And no less should be expected of SieMatic’s quality, as these kitchens don’t come cheap—their prices usually range from P600,000 to P5 million, depending on the materials used and the size. Steve says they’ve even sold an P8-million kitchen—“and that’s excluding appliances.”

The Philippines, in fact, is SieMatic’s top retail market. Focus Global, in recent years, has also been tapped to provide kitchens for high-end developments such as Discovery Primea, Ayala Land’s Two Roxas Triangle and Shangri-La’s Horizon Homes.

The company’s strength, and therefore the strength of SieMatic here in the country, say the Sys, is derived from four factors: the products’ excellent quality, the support of the principals, impeccable customer service, and the high premium it places in training its staff.

“It’s very important to us to have happy customers,” says Steve. “We have a hotline (0917-1200111, also reachable through Viber and WhatsApp) that you can contact anytime. If the problem needs immediate attention, someone will come. We have several service vehicles in the warehouse equipped with tools and parts, and a service crew can be at your door within an hour.”

Focus Global’s sales designers are also all architects or interior designers who received their training in Germany. Select service crew are also sent abroad, says Loli, while those who aren’t still receive adequate support from SieMatic through Betsch, who regularly visits the country.

“The other part of SieMatic’s success is how Focus Global built up our image in a very good way. SieMatic wasn’t really very well-known then, but now it’s a very strong brand, a leading brand for high-end kitchens here in the Philippines,” says Betsch.

“Look at their name: Focus Global. When they do something, they are focused on every detail. I’ve worked with them for a long time now, and every product they take in becomes more successful. That shows that if you have the right focus, you become successful.”