Your signature design of plancha

Dilemma  of plancha importers

Ever since Brandon entered into the French plancha market in the year of 2006, we notice that our customers are always faced with a dilemma.  France, considering its population of 63 Million people, does not have the same market size as North America which most Chinese factories expect.  When plancha importers plan to market a unique plancha design, but with an annual demand of no more than a few thousand units, they are faced with a dilemma:

With a small volume, it is unlikely for them to negotiate exclusivity of an existing plancha design with the manufacturer.

Can they ask a manufacturer to tailor make?   The first obstacle is the small volume, which may not justify the investment in tooling.  Even the tooling investment is settled, the next hurdle is the manufacturing cost.  Economies of scale cannot be built up when small batches are made.  As a result, the final product will normally be of a high cost.  Also, the new design will normally require a separate CE certification, which adds to the cost of development.  All such costs, when added up, are so high that it is not easy for a new plancha marketer to get the products into the market at a competitive cost.  

This is where Brandon comes in to help.

Brandon provides a signature design to various customers

Other than making plancha, Brandon's background is a manufacturer of commercial cooking equipment; that is, we supply equipment to hotels and restaurants.  Over the years, we have accumulated years of cooking technology which we can easily transfer into the plancha.  We are capable of easily changing the appearance too.  For example, instead of stamping the housing in one shot, we utilize our standard tooling to cut, punch, bend and sometimes weld the housing together.   This is what we term Flexi Manufacturing.   Mass production of large quantity is effectively achieved by stamping, but mass production of smaller batches is better served by flex manufacturing, which is more cost effective.

OPP Classic, 1 burner

For example, in the realm of our low cost plancha, the following Brandon collections have evolved, with a distinctive different design.  More are actually coming up . . . 

1.          OPP classic

• Very basic cooking plate

2.          OPP Silver

•  The rim of cooking plate is curved, with the edges expanding outward.



OPP Silver, 3 burner

•  The oil collector (crumb drawer) is located in the front.

3.          OPP Tempo

• The rim of cooking plate is straight.
• The oil collector (crumb drawer) is located in the right.

OPP Tempo 2 burner

As shown in the photos, the appearance of various collections are rather different, so it gives the plancha marketers an advantage of not having to go into price undercutting with each other due to same product specification

In France, some of the above collections are already sold on an exclusive basis to different customers.  However, if necessary, Brandon will not hesitate to come up with more collections to afford new plancha sellers with their own signature design.  Should the customer request so, color is added to the housing by means of epoxy coating. 

We share some of the CE certification cost:

Should CE certification cost arise, Brandon will also share some of the burden with the customer, thus clearing the path of the many obstacles to plancha marketing.

It is Brandon's ultimate goal that plancha importers all compete in a healthy market environment, and that consumers are free to choose the plancha image that they most identify with.  

Feel free to visit our website http://www.brandon.com.hk.   Incidentally, we have uploaded a lot of videos about plancha cooking in YouTube.   Have a look.  :-)

Canton Fair is the best time for gas plancha

Hello my dear customers,

Welcome to Guangzhou.  The second phase of Canton Fair is about to start.  Since Brandon is not exhibiting at the Spring Fair, may I cordially invite you to set aside a few hours and come visit our factory during your stay in Guangzhou?    Our factory is located only 30 km away from the Canton Fair venue.  It takes just a little more than 30 minutes to arrive at our factory. 

After a long day at the show, feel free to indulge yourself In our comfortable showroom.  Only when you can truly relax, sipping some hot aromatic expresso can you feel the relaxation and outdoor lifestyle that a Brandon plancha tries to bring up.   Our gas plancha are sitting leisurely on the trolley dedicated to them.  When you are ready for some serious design methodology, spend a few minutes at our engineering department to see how our engineers use computer 3D modeling to design plancha.  A plant tour will better your understanding how Brandon manufactures our products with superb and consistent quality.  If you are as picky about functionality as we are, you will not miss the opportunity to watch the show at our laboratory.   In a mere 7 minutes, a small power (2.4 kW) but energy efficient Brandon induction plancha will have its cooking plate temperature rise from room temperature to the desirable 340 deg C.  You may even see the previous classic models that Brandon has manufactured on behalf of various French DIY stores almost 7 years ago. 

I guarantee you will not find such tour package in any other travel agencies.   If you are interested in the plant tour, why not drop me an email at brianchan@brandon.com.hk  or WeChat me at brianchan-hk ?  After we work out the most convenient time for you, a driver will be dispatched to pick you up from the Canton Fair venue.  Now just buckle up, and relax.  The tour starts. 

Brian Chan

Guangzhou Brandon Equipment Manufacturing

http://www.brandon.com.hk

Brandon plancha reseller program

Hello. 

At the time of writing, containers of Brandon plancha are already on their way to France.  To establish ourselves firmly in the European market and create a strong brand awareness of our gas plancha, we start to actively communicate with consumers in the social media.   You are very welcome to visit us on our pages of Facebook and Twitter. 

Brandon currently has five plancha collections, which enable us to target different market segments.   There will always be a Brandon plancha that meets the expectation of different people, whether it is a price conscious customer, or one demanding functionality and elegance.  

Different Collections of Brandon plancha

1. OPP collection – for low price promotion
2. Economy Black collection
3. Silver Collection (Stainless steel)
4. Pro Collection
5. Induction Collection

With the exception of the OPP and Induction Collection, all plancha come with burner options from 1B to 4B, and an optional trolley.  

Support for our resellers:

1. The following forthcoming support will make it a lot easier to sell a Brandon plancha to a prospective buyer.  
2. Anything about a Brandon plancha, such as how to choosing the right model, its installation, usage and maintenance, prospective buyer will find information available at Youtube, blogger, Q & A at website etc.  . 
3. Recipe for cooking.
4. A French hotline for after sales service.
5. Spare parts available at our French warehouse.
6. Exclusivity in France on specific model for customers buying in volume.  
7. Global stocking point outside France, such as India (please email srinivas@brandonindia.com), China and Russia (upcoming) 

If, due to market consideration, you do not intend to bring in a full container, or are tired of the import procedure, please tell us about it.  We will have fiscal representation in France who can enter into transaction with you and deliver the type and quantity of plancha of your choice as long as it is not an model committed to exclusive customer.  It is like a domestic sales transaction which takes away the troubles of importing.  Feel free to browse our webpage and let us know which selection is your favourite.  

By investing in marketing our brand, we are certain that this will benefit our resellers and help move goods at their stock faster.   If you prefer to sell under your own brand, you are always welcome and we will favourably consider an OEM (private label) relationship with you.

Please feel free to contact me at brianchan@brandon.com.hk.  I look forward to hearing from you.  

Regards


Brian

http://www.brandon.com.hk

What is the most suitable power of gas plancha (or electrical plancha)?

Many friends ask me the same question, “should I buy a plancha of high power?”   For the last decade since gas plancha has become a popular way of outdoor cooking, consumers tend to go for the higher power.   The initial rationale could be that a higher power plancha can cook faster and serve more people.  This could be true when years ago a plancha available in the market generally offered low power and it took long to cook.  Nowadays, however, the opposite is true.  The market is inundated with plancha claiming anywhere from 3 kW to 3.8 kW (in an extreme case) per burner.  One might ask:

l  Do we really need such a high power? 

l  Does a high power plancha come without any other cost?

Let me take you through, from a professional cooking point of view, what high power means for a plancha grill.  Power is measured in terms of watt, or in American unit, btu/h.  High power merely means a high input of energy, but not necessarily a corresponding high output of it.  Simply put, an efficient plancha grill has high power "in" and high power "out", whereas a less efficient plancha grill has high power "in" and low power "out".  For an inefficient plancha, one will notice the LPG using up fast, or temperature on cooking plate takes long to go up.  See the following example.   A low power - high efficiency plancha (A) cooks very much the same way as a high power - low efficiency one (plancha B), except that we need to pay more for gas for plancha B.  

Just an example	Plancha A  (Energy Efficient)	Plancha B (Traditional)
Heat Input	4 kW	5 kW
Thermal efficiency	50%	40%
Heat Output	2 kW	2 kW

A high power could mean a cooking temperature too high.

• First of all, nearly all plancha in the market do not come with thermostatic control or some call “temperature control”.   The gas valve (tap) has only a setting of high flame and low flame.  When the power of plancha is too high, it not only reaches the cooking temperature in a short time, it will definitely overshoot to a much higher temperature which overburns the food surface.  The food is spoilt, and burnt food is carcinogenic.  For example, I notice that some plancha claim to reach 350 deg C in just 3 minutes with its 3.8 kW per burner, however, without a thermostatic control the temperature of cooking plate will overshoot to a much higher temperature (450 deg C I would guess, or even higher) in a matter of 20 minutes.  No chef on earth should be required to handle temperature that high.  Inevitably, this plancha grill must be turned to a low flame setting immediately after preheating stage to avoid burning the food, and the cook will be busy flipping flame size high and low as the cooking goes on.   Ironically, plancha is designed for ordinary people and weekend chef such as some investment banker Daddy or working Mum.  I cannot imagine what good high power does, making people busily tweak the plancha knobs.

Some plancha is deliberately designed to dissipate the heat away.

• One may ask “Can we have a high power plancha but not the high temperature?” Some plancha, indeed, are deliberately designed so that the heat does not go into heating up the cooking plate but dissipates away so that the cooking temperature  never overshoots, but there is a price to pay.   The plancha performs like a low power one.  By that I mean an inefficient plancha.  It is like having a 3.0 liter car engine delivering the horsepower of a 1.6 liter engine.  The energy is wasted away.  What would be the point of having high power then?  In a world where green living is pursued, energy wastage is a sin.

Tips when you look for plancha of  the right power.  Ask the distributor: 

1. How soon does it take to preheat the cooking plate from room temperature to 300 deg C?  (Tips: as a guideline, anywhere from 7 to 12 minutes is acceptable).
2. What temperature does the cooking plate rise up to when the plancha is left unattended at high flame setting (Tips: 350 to 380 deg C is a good range.  If it exceeds 380 deg C, it is rather inconvenient because the cook needs to switch the setting about between high and low all the time). 

What should the power be?  In fact, in the market, there are plancha available at 2.5 kW per burner and meet the above criteria.   I sincerely hope that the above information helps.

Regards

Brian 

http://www.brandon.com.hk