The Inspired Home Show, Chicago’s leading international trade show, has always been a great platform for What More UK, the Lancashire housewares manufacturer, and owner of the well-known brand Wham. With up to 200,000 visitors over three days, 1,700 home and housewares companies exhibit new products and build relationships with buyers from more than 140 countries.
In a keynote speech from this year’s show, Joe Derochowski, a home industry advisor from Circana, the consumer data research company, commented: “We need innovation not just in products, but in marketing, in merchandising, and along the path to purchase, in order to drive market growth.”
As always What More are ahead of the game by investing in innovation. On show in Chicago was their huge development for 2024, bakeware designed to fit in air fryers. Over 30% of households just in the UK now own an air fryer, and the market is expected to show a volume growth of 8.9% in 2024, making it the ideal time to launch. The products include a small loaf tin, and an oval tin designed to make lasagne or pies in, amongst other innovative solutions. They come in a Pewter finish, with Skandia extreme non-stick coating.
The next innovative solution is a Nesting range of roasters, oven trays and deep trays, five of each which have been designed to fit perfectly inside each other, maximising space in the oven and saving space in storage. They are also perfect for retailers, as they create sets that fit perfectly together to stack on the shelf, and also take up less space in transit cartons. This innovation was made possible by having all tooling made in house, with a team of highly skilled engineers.
PushPan® was also on show with an extended range which is now fully Made in Britain at What More. It’s very popular due to its innovative design giving superb results every time for home and professional bakers. The base features a unique silicone seal ring, making it 100% leak proof and water tight.
What More UK Director Tony Grimshaw OBE really values the time spent preparing for and attending The Inspired Home Show in Chicago. He said,
“Our investment in our tooling room is really paying off, bringing out innovative solutions and capturing new markets.
“We never stand still at What More, and constantly look to bring out new products that suit customer needs. Chicago is a huge show, and all our International Sales Team work really hard to turn it into a great opportunity for us.
“Trade shows are such an important way to connect with our customers, all round the world. They’re the ideal place to connect with people from all round the world, and show off our new products, all proudly Made in Britain!”
What More UK manufacture metal and plastic housewares of all kinds, from around the sink items to garden, garage and officewares. What More is a proud member of Made in Britain and they export UK branded goods to 75 countries around the world, in addition to every major UK supermarket and another 1600 independent retailers.