By Seema Gupta
What consumers want
Modern kitchen mixers are now versatile enough to meet all cooking and washing needs, and give both hot and cold water. Adding a spray spout to the tap, helps user to wash leaves and utensils like colanders. A pull-out spout with a short pipe gives flexibility in washing and filling utensils that are deeper than the kitchen sink. Kitchen mixers with swivel spouts allow user to use one kitchen mixer tap across both kitchen sink bowls in a double sink. Thus, the options in kitchen tapware have widened to meet various needs of the homeowner.
Shapes with big comfortable arches that allow more space to work are getting popular and there is an interesting trend of colors like white, red, matte black and finishes like stainless steel, polished nickel, and bronze
According to Anitha Sharma, Hansgrohe India, budding kitchen owners are seeking a novel technology or technique which makes kitchen an even better place to be. “A kitchen faucet has traversed its journey starting from the humble brass tap to the one providing home chefs with easy handling and freedom of movement, and kitchens with bespoke aesthetics. Water is the air that a kitchen breathes, but a faucet is the source. So, an intelligent functional kitchen mixer combined with perfect ergonomics and the best design is the need of the hour,” she says.
Hansgrohe’s latest kitchen mixers come with a pull-out spout that increases operating range around the sink and assists user to combine multiple chores. For a better experience, the company has introduced the innovative Select Button embedded in the pull-out spout heads. All it takes is a light touch with the back of a hand or elbow to stop or start the water flow. Temperature and water volume are set by turning the lever handle, and the user gets an advantage of changing between different spray modes as well. This added convenience of the Select technology requires no electricity or additional devices.
“Homeowners want a faucet that can be turned on or off while the user’s hands are busy, and a kitchen mixer that enables minimal contact to upgrade hygiene standards without any hazard of electricity. Also, customers desire a faucet that is accessible even when standing a few metres away from it; approaching faucet infinite times is bothersome,” adds Anitha.
Hansgrohe’s Axor Montreux range offers a Semi-Pro Kitchen Mixer that is rotatable upto 360o; it features two spray types for washing and rinsing work flows, and the characteristic lever handle for easy volume and temperature regulation. The Axor Montreux collection is characterized by cross handles and authentically labeled ceramic inlays. The taps allow for maximum operability with their swivel and pull-out spouts. The single lever kitchen mixer allows for easy operation with its ergonomic lever handle, and is also available with a pull-out spout. Both mixers are rotatable; the version with the pull-out spout additionally features two spray types for washing and rinsing work flows.
Rising incomes and global lifestyles have driven the demand for unique, high quality faucets, and brands have responded with innovative products
Ravi Nindwani, MD, Delta Faucet Company India
Says Ravi Nindwani, Delta Faucet Company India, “Rising incomes and global lifestyles have driven the demand for unique, high quality faucets, and brands have responded with innovative products. The Vuelo® offered by our luxury brand Brizo, derives its design inspiration from a swan and forms a graceful silhouette that is enhanced with split finish options. Delta’s Solna Articulating Faucet provides a wider range of movement and greater versatility for common kitchen tasks due to its dual jointed articulating arm with semi-flexible hose. The Delta brand lives by three tenets: water has the power to transform the way people feel every day, there can be magic in simple solutions, and innovations flow from human insight.”
He adds, “In terms of installation, kitchen faucets can be mounted on the wall or on the deck. Traditionally, wall-mounted kitchen faucets used to be more common, but in modern homes, deck-mounted kitchen faucets are gaining prominence because more designs and more features are available in this category, especially from global brands. For instance, a deck-mounted kitchen faucet can incorporate a pull-down wand, which in turn can include multiple spray modes for various tasks. In an island kitchen concept, a well-designed deck-mounted kitchen faucet becomes the centerpiece of the entire space. Kitchen faucets also come in the form of hot-and-cold mixers or as cold-only based on the needs of the consumer, whether or not hot water is plumbed to the kitchen.
Consumers are very demanding; their request is for long-lasting faucets, with revolving spouts and pull out sprays, capable of facilitating all the operations connected with cleaning and rinsing
Emanuela Tavolini, Director of Sales Europe, Graff
Says Emanuela Tavolini, Graff, “Consumers are very demanding and very interested in everything the market can currently offer. The kitchen faucet is perceived as an important “partner” by the person responsible for preparing meals every day. For this reason, the request is for long-lasting faucets, with revolving spouts and pull out sprays, capable of facilitating all the operations connected with cleaning and rinsing. Almost all our kitchen faucets are equipped with such characteristics. M.E., Conical, Oscar and Perfeque are some examples of Graff’s highly functional faucets.”
Technical upgradations
Utilizing the latest manufacturing technology supported by extensive plumbing and hardware manufacturing experience and its tradition of old-world craftsmanship, Graff creates cutting-edge, premium-quality products.
Delta’s Touch2O™ technology adds proximity sensing, allowing for both hands-free and touch-sensitive operation, which means that the user can turn the faucets on or off with just a touch anywhere on the spout, body or handle. Diamond Seal Technology (a system of cartridges and PEX waterways with Diamond® Seal Technology grind debris, helps the faucet last upto 5 million uses and keeps the water out of contact with possible lead contaminants in the faucet body), and the recently introduced revolutionary Shield Spray Technology in which, one of the spray modes, a concentrated jet stream helps rinse away the toughest of stains, while a protective envelope of water forms a rotating shield around the jet stream to prevent splashing.
In modern homes, deck-mounted kitchen faucets are gaining prominence because more designs and more features are available in this category
TempIQ™ and Temp2O™ technologies sense the water temperature before it leaves the spout and lets you know exactly when water has reached the desired temperature. TempAssure® Thermostatic Valving works like a thermostat to measure and monitor the temperature of the water and automatically adjusts the water mix to maintain a more precise temperature. The Delta Pilar® kitchen faucet with Touch2O® Technology was awarded the Parent Tested, Parent Approved (PTPA) Winner’s Seal of Approval.
Grohe India’s Essence and Concetto two new professional-style taps have a slim and streamlined body built around an advanced 28-mm cartridge. Concealing this high-performance component in an elegant cylinder casing is a design feat in itself. Another feature is the coloured easy to keep clean silicon hose. The hose can be easily switched from one colour to another to match the tap to other surfaces and finishes in the sink area for a visually coordinated kitchen look. The company is offering a limited edition with a hose in yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, green, and blue.
Using professional tools in the kitchen bring efficiency with pleasure. An indispensable feature is the professional spray offering easy switching between spray action and the normal flow of water
Renu Misra, MD, Grohe India
Once the job is done, Grohe’s EasyDock M technology uses a powerful magnet in the holder to guide the spray back to its ideal docking position. “This is another example of the company’s R&D engineers developing new solutions keeping in mind the user’s practical needs and requirements,” adds Renu.
Grohe’s hands-free kitchen faucets The LadyLux3 Café and K7 faucets come with Foot Control Technology, which allows the user to switch the water flow on and off with a tap of the foot on the activation plate installed discreetly in the toe space of the cabinet. It is also possible to convert any existing Grohe pull-out or pull-down kitchen faucet into a hands-free model with the company’s retro-fit set. The innovative enhancement frees hands, and because there is no need to touch the faucet handles, it helps reduce spread of germs and bacteria around the kitchen. Users in wheelchairs can install the plate within a close arm’s reach. The faucets also have a spray feature and an extractable hose.
“Technology driven kitchen faucets seem to represent a growing request from the market worldwide,” observes Emanuela Tavolini. The kitchen, in fact, is one of the environments where technology can really improve the level of functionality and make the user’s experience pleasant and easy. Graff’s wide selection of kitchen faucets combine design with the most advanced technological solutions. All developed in solid brass, the majority of our kitchen faucets are equipped with either side sprays or pull-out sprays, to make washing as smooth as possible.The faucets feature a revolving spout as well as dual spray/stream functions. Since kitchen products are expected to be long lasting and safe, Graff’s technology provides high quality products that are manufactured in compliance with all drinking water regulations and follow the most restrictive criteria required for the protection of health and the environment.”
Shapes, Styles, Finishes
Comments Ravi Nindwani, “Shapes with big comfortable arches, which allow more space to work are getting more popular, and we are also seeing interesting trend of colors like white, red, cocoa bronze, matte black and finishes like stainless steel, polished Nickel, Venetian bronze, etc. Many of Delta faucets come in Brilliance® PVD finishes which hold up to everyday use, with no tarnishing or discolouring. Our Fuse™ Kitchen Collection blends soft contemporary lines and innovations like Diamond® Seal Technology and MagnaTite™ Docking with bold color choices in red, white, and black.”
An intelligent functional kitchen mixer combined with perfect ergonomics and the best design is the need of the hour
Anitha Sharma, GM, Marketing, Hansgrohe India
“Finishes are another desirable factor in kitchen faucets. Customers generally like brushed variants of steel and nickel shades, but contemporary chrome still is the king,” opines Anitha Sharma. Hansgrohe’s Axor Montreux kitchen taps are available in: chrome and nickel finishes. Both are applied using the highly intricate PVD technology, by which a coating is applied in a vacuum using steam. This leaves the fixtures extremely scratch and abrasion-resistant.
Affirms Emanuela Tavolini, “Graff pull-out and side spray together with rubber grips, that make handling the faucet easier; brushed finishes for their ability to disguise water and lime-scale marks, are popular with customers. Graff Sospiro, M.E., Manhattan, Conical, Oscar and Perfeque collections are all available in brushed nickel (BNi) as well as the standard polished chrome finish (PC).
