TACKLING COVID AND COPYCATS: JOSEPH JOSEPH AND THE
PHILOSOPHY OF ‘BRILIANTLY USEFUL DESIGN’
This case was written by Tiju Kodiyat, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management,
and Deniz Meric, Senior Lecturer in Strategy and International Business at Faculty
of Business and Law, University of Northampton, UK. It is intended to be used as
the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective
handling of a business management situation. The case was compiled from
published sources.
© 2021, University of Northampton.
No part of this publication may be copied, stored, reproduced, or distributed in any
form or medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner.
-1-
TACKLING COVID AND COPYCATS: JOSEPH JOSEPH AND THE
PHILOSOPHY OF ‘BRILIANTLY USEFUL DESIGN’
Joseph Joseph Ltd., founded by twin brothers Antony and Richard Joseph, has
built its brand reputation in the homeware industry through unique products
offering a blend of innovative design, contemporary styling, and distinctive use of
colour. Since its establishment in 2003, the company has launched over 1000
products in more than 100 countries. Their iconic products include Chop2Pot™
(world’s first folding chopping board), Nest™ 9 (a clever space-saving food
preparation set), and Index™ (a set of food-specific chopping boards in a storage
case)i. Headquartered in London, Joseph Joseph puts their success into the
philosophy of creating ‘Brilliantly Useful Design’ which has enabled them to win
many prestigious awards and recognitions, including 14 Reddot Design Awards
and two Queen’s Awards for Enterprisei. Their mission is to create desirable
products that enhance everyday life and stay true to their philosophy.
The company has seen a steady increase in turnover over the last decade.
However, turnover dropped to £47.3m in 2020 from the £57.5m high achieved in
2019, a decrease of 17.7%ii. Global lockdowns due to the covid-19 pandemic
caused disruptions in the company’s supply chain. In addition to the challenge of
post-pandemic recovery, the company should overcome cultural differences and
local imitators in home and international markets in their strive to gain a larger
share of the homeware market both at home and abroad.
The global homewares industryiii
The global homewares industry was valued at $94.5 billion in 2020iv. Sales of
homeware products increased in 2020 as pandemic-linked restrictions pushed
more consumers to cook at home and sparked a renewed interest in recreational
cooking and baking. This market segment was also less impacted globally by the
closure of physical retail as homeware products are suited for online sales. Growth
of homewares was also accelerated by consumers’ use of social media platforms
as sources of meal-planning advice and recipe inspiration. Easy access to this
information through digital and social media channels contributed to rising
participation in the category by younger consumers, particularly in North America
and Western Europe. Increase in demand for homewares was witnessed in most
markets. However, a downward trend was noted in Asia Pacific, and Middle East
and Africa where the impact of reduced disposable incomes led to lower sales
(Exhibit 1). The only two products to see a decline in sales during the year,
dinnerware and beverageware, are typically associated with entertaining guests at
home and thus were likely to fall lower down consumers’ list of priorities during the
pandemic period (Exhibit 2).
-2-
While the pandemic led to the closure of some smaller players in the
homeware industry, mainly in developing countries, the boost in consumer
demand created by home seclusion also led market leaders to seek growth and
expansion to capitalise on an increasingly home-centric consumer. Between 2019
and 2020, the top 10 ranked companies saw sales growth of $1.6 billion, versus a
$2.5 billion decline recorded by others globallyiii. With a 5% share of global sales,
market leader Inter IKEA systems BV recorded the largest absolute value gain
over the 2015-2020 period at $4.5 billion (Exhibit 3). Despite operating across the
globe, many of the largest players in the homeware industry held their largest
share of sales in North America and Western Europe. As a result, they were
insulated from the decline in industry sales recorded in developing countries.
The top five leading brands in the industry retained largely unchanged
positions throughout 2015-2020, and through the tumultuous phase of the 2020
pandemic. Leading brand IKEA comfortably retained its position despite store
closures across its key markets, due in part to a marked increase in investment in
its online stores. Notably, however, SEB Groupe-owned Tefal was the largest
beneficiary of the widespread increase in global demand for homewares, rising
from 12th place in 2015 to the sixth ranked brand in 2020. Accounting for 1% of
kitchenware and 8% of cookware sales in 2020, Tefal added $629 million in sales
over the period with the majority of this coming from Western Europe. As one of
the most widely recognised brands in the category internationally, Tefal likely saw
an increase in demand from home-bound consumers who saw the pandemic as
an opportunity to invest in their kitchens and homeware products (Exhibit 4).
Many specialised retailers, especially within homewares and home
furnishings were deemed non-essential during lockdowns in many markets, thus
leading to closures or shorter opening hours, and reduced sales in the first half of
2020, followed by some recovery in the second half of 2020, as restrictions were
eased. On the other hand, retailers like hypermarkets, mass merchandisers,
warehouse clubs and discounters saw strong sales growth, as they typically
continued to operate as normal, serving as one-stop shops for many consumers,
and providing everyday essential products, as well as products like homewares,
home furnishings and furniture. Like many industries in 2020, homewares saw a
surge in e-commerce sales driven by physical store closures. Despite the strong
growth in e-commerce, however, store-based retailing still accounts for most sales
in homewares (Exhibit 5).
The aesthetics of Joseph Joseph
The early inspiration to developing kitchenware products with an innovative design
mentality came when Richard Joseph saw the ‘No-Spill’ cutting board at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York. While the ‘No-spill’ cutting board had failed
-3-
to draw the attention of consumers when it was designed three decades ago,
Joseph Joseph’s version called the Chop2Pot incorporated few design tweaks and
became a best sellerv. Since then, the company continued to blend design and
functionality in their products ranging from individually coloured chopping boards
and mixing bowls to a pocket folding tabletop ironing board. The ‘Brilliantly Useful
Design’ philosophy has already stretched from their initial kitchenware focus to
other areas of the home, and the brothers have emphasised that Joseph Joseph
is a ‘homewares’ rather than a ‘kitchenware’ designer. "The real trick is how can
you create really inventive products that you use every day and try and get better
at that. Ultimately, it's all about being as creative as possible" says Richard
Josephvi.
Antony Joseph, the design director, heads the design end of the partnership
while his brother Richard Joseph, the managing director, controls the business
side of this British kitchenware brand. Antony Joseph explains the company
philosophy as “...not just about functional ideas. That is key, that is the starting
point, but it is how we marry it with a really distinctive aesthetic and colour in a lot
of cases and how the two come together and how the product communicates to
the consumer so that when people look at it, they get it…” iv. The head office has
a state-of-the-art design studio with a highly skilled in-house team that oversees
the development of company’s products. “Each product takes between two and
three years to go from idea to being on the shelf, meaning careful planning is
necessary in an attempt to spot ‘macro-trends’ which will emerge in the future”,
adds Richard Josephiv. Joseph Joseph products are on mid to high end of the price
range, with best sellers such as Chop2Pot product range starting from £10 and
going up to £34, while their Totem Max 60 litre waste and recycling bin is priced
at £199 per uniti.
From the very beginning, the company has focused on products that can
be sold globally: "It was very hands-on, very naive. We were also lucky that we
had a product which, from a design point of view, could cross barriers. It wasn't a
British product" says Richard Joseph. Strategically it has been proven to be a good
approach as the company sells in more than 100 countries, mostly through third-
party distributors. Until 2019, international markets contributed a higher proportion
of sales, while domestic market sales have been catching-up (Exhibit 6).
Decision-making on product selection and placement for overseas markets
remains a challenge for the company due to cultural differences among their
diverse consumer groups across the world. For instance, the company were quick
to notice that Japanese cuisine does not necessarily require some of the products
they intended to launch, such as potato masher and cheese grateriv.
Relying on manufacturing in China to keep costs down posed a bigger
challenge. Richard Joseph identified 50 sellers with counterfeit versions of his
company’s products on display at the Canton Trade Fair in 2010, China’s largest
-4-
exhibition for exporters and importersvii. Joseph Joseph had to protect their product
design ideas from local imitators and international copycats. In the words of
Richard Joseph, "the quality (of counterfeits) is bad and then we start getting
customers thinking it is our product and calling our customer service, so if you are
not on top of it, this can be quite dangerous as far as the brand is concerned."
Joseph Joseph spent more on intellectual property protection than on product
design in the year after the 2010 Canton Fair. The company also won a two-year
legal battle in China to get the name Joseph Joseph back after a local factory
registered it as theirsiv.
Joseph Joseph is a successful business that has achieved significant
growth in the last decade. However, it is still a minnow in terms of market share in
both home and overseas markets. While homewares industry witnessed a growth
of 1.9% globally and 7% in the UK in 2020viii, sales of Joseph Joseph declined by
9.6% in the UK and 25.2% in rest of the world. UK homeware market is dominated
by supermarket and department store own brands and behemoths like Ikea
(Exhibit 7).
The future
Joseph Joseph identifies themselves as a ‘wholesaler’ of household goodsii, which
implies that their sales are dependent on the sales of their retailers. Despite the
dramatic growth of e-commerce channels in the pandemic period, store-based
retailing is still the primary sales avenue for homewares. While traditional store-
based retailers have developed or expanded their online sales channels, e-
commerce giants like Amazon are opening physical stores and launching own
brands, indicating the need for omnichannel strategies to ensure wider customer
reach. Additionally, investing in agile supply chain and logistics, and technologies
that bridge physical and digital realities, along with a focus on sustainability will
shape the competitive landscape of this industry in the future.
-5-
Appendix
Exhibit 1
Homewares absolute value growth, 2019-2020.
Source: Euromonitor International
Exhibit 2
World homewares absolute value growth, product categories, 2019-2020.
Source: Euromonitor International
-6-
Exhibit 3
Top 10 companies, global, 2015-2020
Source: Euromonitor International
Exhibit 4
Top brand rank, 2015-2020
Source: Euromonitor International
-7-
Exhibit 5
Retail distribution by outlet, 2020.
Source: Euromonitor International
Exhibit 6
Key financials of Joseph Joseph
2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
Total 47.2 57.5 41.1 39.6 32.0 41.9 40.1 35.5 31.3 22.4
turnover
(£m)
Turnover 24.3 26.9 16.8 16.3 14.1 13.0 11.8 9.7 8.2 6.9
(UK)
(£m)
Turnover 22.9 30.6 24.3 23.3 17.9 28.9 28.3 25.8 23.1 15.5
(Rest of
world)
(£m)
Gross 27.6 29.6 22.1 21.4 17.9 22.9 21.6 18.4 16.6 10.8
profit
(£m)
Profit 17.5 15.4 10.9 11.6 5.8 10.1 11.3 9.7 9.9 6.5
before
tax (£m)
Source: Companies Housevi
-8-
Exhibit 7
Homewares brand share, UK, 2020.
Source: Euromonitor International
Endnotes
i Company’s official website: [Link]
ii Companies House, Joseph Joseph directors’ report and financial statements, 2020.
iii Information sourced mainly from Euromonitor International report on homewares and home
furnishings, Sept 2021
iv Euromonitor International, World market for homewares and home furnishings, Sept 2021.
v The Guardian, ‘Joseph Joseph: how to cut it in kitchenware innovation’, 3 August 2014.
vi BBC News, ‘The twins powering kitchenware firm Joseph Joseph’, 12 May 2014.
vii Financial Times, ‘Protecting your designs from counterfeiters’, 18 November 2018.
viii Euromonitor International, Homewares in the United Kingdom – country report, April 2021.
-9-
