Miinus Has Arrived

The First UK Retailer of New Eco Kitchen Range Announced

Long established Leeds retailer, Four Seasons Interiors, will be the first kitchen showroom in the UK to offer Puustelli’s range of Eco Kitchens, the Miinus Range.

The showroom will be offering the range to clients from January 2016 and owner and Design Director, Ian Sandford stated, “We’re delighted and proud to be the first UK retailer of a groundbreaking kitchen range especially at a time when consumers are so conscious of the environment when making buying decisions”, he continued, “I’ve long held the belief that Retailers have a responsibility to meet the eco demand and by offering the Miinus range, this will allow us to realise that ambition with a kitchen range that ticks all the Eco boxes”

The Puustelli Miinus range is the result of a €1.5 million investment R&D programme to develop a material to replace the standard Melamine Faced Particle Boards that make up the majority of kitchen cabinets. The complete range, from carcasses to doors, has been developed entirely on ecological grounds and utilises a biocomposite carcass frame that results in almost halving the Carbon footprint of existing kitchen cabinetry.

CEO of Puustelli, Jussi Aine, commented “I’m delighted to welcome Four Seasons Interiors, Ian and his Design and Installation Team, to the Miinus family of retailers. Ian’s excellent reputation as a quality kitchen retailer, his vast knowledge and experience in kitchen design and his passion for improving the environment is a perfect fit for our pioneering range”

The launch of the Miinus range in the UK comes at a time when market research carried out for Mintel’s Consumer Trends 2015 publication, discovered that “76% of UK adults pay attention to the ethical and green credentials of products, including manufacturing and distribution processes, as well as the reputation of companies or brands”.

Puustelli’s Miinus project manager, Tony Lonnqvist, who will oversee the development of a network of Miinus kitchen retailers in the UK and Ireland, stated “Puustelli are the largest and longest established kitchen brand in Finland and our goal is to build upon the success of Scandinavian design in the UK and Ireland with a network of reputable retailers offering our Miinus kitchen range to service and satisfy a growing market of responsible buyers seeking quality Eco products”.

Puustelli’s Miiinus Kitchen Range will fall in the mid range price sector and they expect to grow the network of Miinus retailers to six showrooms in 2016.

Kitchen Consultant and Miinus’s point of contact here in the UK, Tim Foley, said, "After 30 years as an installer and contractor, I never thought I’d witness a much needed evolution of kitchen cabinetry. It was through my earlier conversation with the scientist, Professor Juhani Salovaari, who worked with Puustelli to develop the Miinus range, that my enthusiasm was born. I am thrilled to now be driving it's introduction into the UK and Irish market some 4 years later"

END

Notes to Editor

The Puustelli Miinus kitchen’s carbon footprint is up to 50 per cent smaller than that of a conventional kitchen.

The new kitchen range is, on average, 200 kilograms lighter than current kitchens allowing a reduction in emissions during transport.

The biocomposite, recyclable frame is called UPM ForMi and consists of 60 per cent polypropylene and 40 per cent wood fibre

The mix tolerates great variations in temperature, from -25 degrees up to +90 degrees centigrade.

The kitchen carcass frames are injection moulded and can be dismantled and re-erected several times.

Further information can be found at www.puustellimiinus.com/en