Challenges & Missions

The capacity to develop new products and win new markets are two of the major cornerstones of our strategy. Innovation provides the Group with the necessary length beforehand to gain firm positions in the market and maintain or even reinforce them. The Group thus applies an active innovation policy.

Our business and our products are at the heart of everyday living for consumers worldwide. Our mission is to continue inventing the life of tomorrow and offer progress through new concepts, original functions and vehicles for improved living standards.
To do this, we must anticipate consumer demands in order to offer pertinent innovations, whilst taking into account rapid evolution of modes of consumption, growing demand for products that respect both our health and the environment, and specific local features. The aim of Groupe SEB is not to impose standardised products on all its markets, but to fulfil, in a targeted and suitable manner, the needs and expectations of consumers, no matter where they live.

Particularly in developed markets governed by supply, the consumer is becoming increasingly informed, expert and therefore demanding, no longer just requesting products but a “guaranteed result”. The Group therefore works to go beyond the technology and intrinsic function of the product in order to offer comprehensive solutions. The idea is to go one step beyond the simple notion of performance and incorporate the conviviality and precision of interfaces, work on connectivity and enrich the direct environment that contributes to the desired result, through recipes or ingredients, for example.

  An innovation community

The combination of all talents, whether they are technical, marketing or creative, is a key factor for innovative success.

We strive to nurture a real innovation community, which means constantly building ties between R&D, Marketing and Design teams, sharing the results of work undertaken, building bridges between the different business areas, and also developing the support of external partners such as laboratories, competitiveness clusters like Vitagora in Burgundy, start-ups, universities, healthcare professionals or large groups in the food & drink, health & beauty or other FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industries. In light of this, the Innovation Forum is THE annual event that brings this community together and drives the entire innovative approach by encouraging dialogue, the exchange of ideas, brainstorming workshops and the opening of new paths to be explored.

The Group’s global dimension requires to adapt to international diversity, which means that both French and international teams must be involved in all innovation processes. The many and diverse skills and cultures within the Group are a precious asset that we strive to reinforce and structure through our worldwide R&D network.

For example, Asia and Brazil are, today, important drivers in this network. The Group capitalises on local expertise – specialised cookware or soy milk makers in China, food preparation and air treatment in Brazil, for example –, defining methods and providing tools so that everyone has the necessary resources to build profitable, long-term growth in their own market.
 

The Group also encourages, when it considers it suitable, pooling expertise to gain a global vision and develop synergies.

Take, for example, the Pressure Cooker expertise centre in Selongey which centralises research for Seb, Tefal, Panex, Lagostina and, more recently, Supor.