Instead of competing with industry giants, Kantar has been victorious in the kitchen for fifteen years.
When the morning light spills into the kitchen, the steam swirls lightly in the air, and the aroma fills the space. Some are baking, while others are making coffee. The rhythm of life is gently lifted by the warmth.
This poetic picture of the kitchen is exactly the daily life that Kaituo wants more Chinese families to have.
“I've always yearned for such a scene: home is not just a functional space but a place to express one's attitude towards life,” recalled Ke Man, the CEO of Kaituo Appliances. “Relatives and friends can gather together to bake and chat, or simply immerse themselves in their own world with a cup of coffee.”
This yearning for the warmth of life is also the brand philosophy that Kaituo has adhered to for the past fifteen years: technology should not merely be a stack of efficiency but a form of gentle empathy.
Under the leadership of Ke Man, this Shenzhen - headquartered enterprise has grown from a niche brand focusing on steam - oven combos to an invisible champion in the “new kitchen appliances” sector. The concept demonstrated by Kaituo is just like what was mentioned in its previously released “Man” TVC: technology shouldn't just be on the parameter list; instead, it should seep into the creases of life like water and then flow into people's hearts.
Because of this sense of warmth, every brand move of Kaituo has been extremely restrained. For fifteen years, it has rarely engaged in entertainment marketing aimed at the general public. For years, it has relied solely on one product after another and one user experience after another to make the brand visible.
On October 21st this year, Kaituo officially announced Yang Mi as its global brand ambassador. In essence, this is not a simple grafting of traffic but a harmonious resonance between a “pioneer” who has been deeply involved in the new kitchen appliances industry for fifteen years and a “boundary - breaker” who has been in the entertainment industry for over two decades. From the warm innovation of “Purple Technology” to the flexible perseverance of the “Water Philosophy”; from the brand's original intention of “paying heartfelt tribute to life enthusiasts” to Yang Mi's temperament of “combining elegance and edge” - the underlying logic of this cooperation has long transcended the scope of endorsement.
Kaituo, a brand that “does well but is rarely seen,” is finally going to tell its new story.
Fifteen - year in - depth exploration: From an overlooked sector to a pioneer in “new kitchen appliances”
Great innovation often doesn't start from scratch but is a sudden flash of insight into the blank space.
The story of Kaituo began with an intuition about the future of the kitchen. More than a decade ago, the keywords in the Chinese kitchen appliances industry were “smoke extraction,” “firepower,” and “rigid demand.” Most brands were still immersed in the scale - expansion logic of “large - scale + rigid - demand categories,” pursuing channel coverage and hard - parameter competitions.
Around 2010, the founding team first came into contact with the prototype of the “steam - oven combo.” At that time, hardly anyone believed that the “steam - oven combo” would have a market - the concept was too new, the price was too high, and the installation was too complicated.
However, Kaituo saw the opportunity. They acutely realized that integrating the two core cooking methods of Chinese and Western cuisine into one might be the future of the Chinese kitchen.
Before many traditional kitchen appliance players were still competing for market share around the traditional three - piece set and technology brands hadn't realized that “the kitchen is the last piece of the puzzle for smart homes,” Kaituo had already started doing something that seemed “over - thinking” at that time - paving the way for future lifestyles in advance. This was the prototype of “new kitchen appliances,” which defined a new form of the kitchen with composite functions and spatial aesthetics.
In 2012, Kaituo launched its first batch of steam - oven combo products, and the built - in style was an industry first. However, with the products in hand, how could the market accept this “new species”?
“New” means both opportunities and challenges. The rise of e - commerce triggered the first online explosion of consumer demand. Between 2012 and 2015, the sales volume of Taobao's Double Eleven jumped from 19.1 billion yuan to 91.2 billion yuan. In this wave of enthusiasm, Kaituo saw the possibility of growth but also realized a reality: the steam - oven combo couldn't be “sold” as simply as ordinary kitchen appliances.
The root cause was that this was an uneducated market. Users didn't know what it was, let alone why they needed it. At first, Kaituo tried to let an external team handle the operation, but the other party still used the traditional promotion logic for electrical appliances, and as a result, almost no one showed interest.
Ke Man realized that this was a category that had to “teach users.” Her thinking was clear and firm: instead of simply “selling goods,” they should be partners with users. She required each team member to hold themselves to the standard of a “product manager,” not only being proficient in the cooking skills of steam ovens but also carefully answering every user's question during communication.
“We're not just selling a machine; we're conveying a lifestyle,” Ke Man summarized to 36Kr when looking back on how Kaituo found its differentiated path.
It was this “heartfelt effort” that made Kaituo choose the path of direct user communication in the early days. The team not only answered product questions but also shared cooking skills and life inspiration, turning every communication into a dialogue about lifestyle. This made early consumers voluntarily become brand recommenders and spread the word among neighbors and friends, becoming Kaituo's earliest “ambassadors.”
Meanwhile, Kaituo continued to increase its investment in technology. While competitors were busy with marketing, the team directed all its R & D efforts towards basic engineering such as heat flow management and steam uniformity. These invisible details laid the foundation for product stability.
Subsequently, Kaituo launched the world's first large - capacity steam oven with an external water tank. It increased the capacity from 28L to 56L, solving the core pain point of “needing to add water halfway through steaming” and achieving a leap in user experience.
Thus, Kaituo established “user experience” as an industry standard for the first time and set the innovation logic of “putting in one more degree of care”: precisely controlling every degree of temperature, optimizing every bit of space, and enhancing every experience.
In the following years, giants flocked in, and cross - border brands entered the market high - profile, but Kaituo always maintained its own rhythm. It wasn't involved in price wars, nor was it driven by traffic. Instead, it firmly occupied the top position in the industry with word - of - mouth repurchase and engineering stability. Over a decade, Kaituo created a new category with one machine.
It made the “steam - oven combo” a common sight in Chinese kitchens and made “new kitchen appliances” a new logic capable of competing with traditional giants.
Kaituo's boundaries: After reaching the top, only do things with value
After the steam - oven combo became an industry consensus and Kaituo firmly held the leading position in the category, new questions emerged: How far can a company's growth go relying on a single sector?
For any brand, this is a proposition full of both temptations and risks.
Around 2016 when Kaituo was initially showing signs of success, it also tried to expand into “all categories,” with the first stop being integrated stoves. However, reality quickly woke them up. “We thought that as long as the product was good, it could be sold, but the logic of the C - end market is completely different,” Ke Man admitted when looking back on that experience. “If you want to do everything, it means you can't go deep enough in any of them.”
That attempt made Kaituo realize that boundaries are not restrictions but the starting point of focus.
Since then, Kaituo's attitude towards “expansion” has completely changed: it's not about not doing it but first thinking clearly about the reason. “All the new products we've launched later have the same starting point: either they are based on the reuse of our existing technology, or they are categories that our core users really need and have long - term value,” Ke Man has emphasized this to herself and the team more than once.
Kaituo's second - round category layout was carried out under this “value - centered” thinking.
It no longer aims to fill the kitchen but extends along the two lifelines of the kitchen, “water” and “heat” - the steam - oven combo remains the core. Around the application of “heat,” integrated stoves and range hood - stove systems have been derived; around the “water” scenarios, products such as water purifiers, water dispensers, dishwashers, and coffee machines have emerged.
“Water and heat are the two nerves of the kitchen and also the two temperatures of life,” Ke Man interpreted in the “Man Tan” interview centered on the Water Philosophy. She further added, “Water can be the inspiration flowing in the coffee machine or the health protected by the water dispenser; heat can be the reunion condensed in the steam oven or the expectation dancing on the stove fire.”
Screenshot from the “Man” TVC
This extension from physical temperature to emotional temperature constitutes Kaituo's unique product language - not “piling up functions” but “weaving experiences.” This logic has also transformed Kaituo from a “kitchen appliance manufacturer” into a “kitchen system builder.”
However, this focus means that Kaituo needs to have extremely precise strategic determination. You know, in each of the large product categories such as integrated stoves, water dispensers, coffee machines, and dishwashers, there are already many giants. Kaituo can only rely on its in - depth understanding of new kitchen appliances to keenly capture and boldly explore those “strategic blank areas” ignored by traditional large - scale kitchen appliance companies.
Ke Man believes that Kaituo's battlefield is always in the core hub area of the kitchen; and Kaituo's sharpest “weapon” is to deliver the most extreme user experience through its products.
Thus, a long - term “front - line breakthrough battle” began.
Kaituo didn't rely on price wars. Instead, with its engineering capabilities and experience logic, it reused the accumulated technology in different categories, using “technological integration” to counter the industry's “function stacking.”
This makes Kaituo's new products compete not on parameters but on the depth of experience reuse. To outsiders, this seems like a “head - on” adventure, but in Ke Man's strategic vision, it precisely demonstrates Kaituo's unique value.
“Others may think we're moving slowly,” she said in an internal sharing. “But this is not slowness; it's leaving the necessary time for technology to ferment. We believe that only technology that has been fully precipitated can take root and grow in each category we enter, rather than just having a superficial try.”
This “slow philosophy” is the underlying color of Kaituo becoming an “invisible champion.” While cross - border brands charge forward with their voices and traditional giants build walls with channels, Kaituo has established a competitive order for “new kitchen appliances” with R & D, repurchase, and time, and can still maintain a calm and steady rhythm even in the most noisy external stages.
Now, Kaituo's product line covers multiple new kitchen appliance fields such as steam ovens, water dispensers, dishwashers, integrated stoves, and coffee machines, but the rhythm remains steady.
Kaituo Built - in Micro - Steam Oven TR - Pro
Kaituo Integrated Stove T2E Pro
Kaituo Water Purifier ZS9
Kaituo Range Hood and Stove Y601Z601
Kaituo Dishwasher G200
“We never chase short - lived hotspots,” Ke Man emphasized. “For any category we enter, it must pass a core test: Can it bring substantial and sustainable value experiences to users? This is our unshakable boundary.”
In this era of the kitchen appliance industry where brands are constantly crossing boundaries and new concepts are emerging one after another, Kaituo's sense of boundary is not so much a market strategy as a profound brand self - discipline.
It doesn't follow trends, nor does it avoid giants. Instead, it grows in the toughest battlefield in the most flexible way, just like the Water Philosophy that Ke Man advocates, having a direction and a destination.
From an “invisible champion” to a lifestyle proposer: The long - termism of being seen
If the label of Kaituo in the first decade was technology and products, then the new proposition is: to let the verified value be seen by more people.
Announcing Yang Mi as the brand ambassador is a crucial step to achieve this goal. Ke Man said in an interview, “We're not pursuing traffic but hoping that more people will know what kind of brand Kaituo is - a brand that understands and pays tribute to life.”
