LUCE 320 | Page 26

1 | Noè Duchaufour Lawrance, Lannà, Kundalini, 2017 2 | Alberto Saggia & Valerio Sommella, Kushi mobile, Kundalini, 2017 3 | David Pompa, Yuma, Kundalini, 2017 What is your final word on Euroluce 2017? What signals did you perceive? My feelings have been positive since the beginning. In a short way, we had an unerring method to calculate the number of visitors of the stand: the coffee pods. Compared to the previous Euroluce edition, two years ago, we had to refuel twice! Not only did we always have visitors in our stand, but those who visited it were pleasantly impressed and surprised. This year, Kundalini’s new artistic direction has been clearly declared and understood by everyone. Products have been the absolute protagonists and they have captured the attention of many, demonstrating that a well-made and successful collection makes the difference in sales. The latter, inevitably, leverage on the strength and image of the brand. The success is further demonstrated by the many orders signed at the fair, which was not something to be taken for granted in recent years. Finally, I can say that this edition of Euroluce has been great, both for Kundalini and, in general, for the lighting industry. Euroluce is a fair that one has to attend. How are Assoluce’s numbers? Are they growing? I am in my fourth year as chairman of Assoluce, and luckily enough the numbers are good. This trend is closely linked to the physiological export disposition of the lighting world. Since the domestic market cannot absorb the whole production, exports have become dominant, with an average figure of 68% and reaching 72% in 2016. While in the past years the domestic market gave shares up, companies turned mostly overseas. Another reason driving export is the fact that shipping costs are low: shipping a lamp overseas is far less expensive and less complex than shipping a kitchen or furniture. Logistics, as you can see, is a crucial factor. I could add another element: lighting companies have a relatively low unit cost, and this definitely favours purchasing from abroad. Even on important orders, we are not talking about exorbitant figures, and this makes foreign customers more confident to buy our product. This has made and continues to make the difference between the lighting industry and other manufacturers. Unlike furniture, lighting has not lost foreign markets. Just think of the drop in the classical furniture branch, which is heavily dependent on the Russian market, and its difficulty in recovering from it. Our industry, being independent from specific markets, has been mostly favoured in terms of exports and growth. 24 LUCE 320 / INCONTRI