By Lancelot Joseph. Executive Editor, Business India

Last month, the traditional Swiss company, Victorinox AG opened its doors with the opening of a new brand store at Palladium Mall, High Street Phoenix, Mumbai. “This is our first store in India,” says Colonel Chandhoke, MD, Victorinox India. “We had planned the entry in 2020, but the pandemic had ruined our launch. India is a matured market. About 12 per cent of our products are sold to the defence and the army”. Victorinox India has already crossed Rs100 crore in 2019 from its 300-odd point of sales and projects a 40 per cent growth in 2022. The company has an assembly line in Bhiwandi, Mumbai.

Victorinox has been in India for the last 15 years, as a joint venture with Aneesh Goel – a 90:10 JV. Then, in 2016, the Swiss company bought out Goel and now it is a 100 per cent subsidiary. As one knows, Victorinox is a worldwide operating family business, which today is run by the fourth generation of management. The headquarters of the company is located in Ibach, Canton Schwyz, in the heart of Switzerland. “This is where the founder of the company Karl Elsener I set up his cutlery business back in 1884 and, a few years later, designed the legendary ‘original Swiss army knife’.

 Meanwhile, the company produces not only the world-famous pocket knives, but also high-quality household and professional knives, watches, travel gear and fragrances. In 2005, the company took over Wenger SA in Delémont. The Wenger pocket knives were integrated into the Victorinox range in 2013, so that the Wenger product portfolio today consists of watches and travel gear,” adds Chandhoke, a CA who sells the products online, in own stores as well as via a widespread network of subsidiaries and distributors in more than 120 countries. In 2019, the company, with its more than 2,100 employees, had generated sales of CHF480 million.

 Outstanding design

“A wonderful tour around Switzerland, inspired by beautiful places and their famous sights, is captured in the Cadet Swiss Spirit Limited Edition 2022,” says Chandhoke. “Presenting an outstanding design with fine black haptic (3D) lines, this exceptional pocket knife is available in a limited quantity of 12,000 pieces only. It makes a great souvenir, collector’s item or gift”.