After the runaway success of one of its brands, Rivsalt, distributor iConnectProducts is expanding its product offering.
Swedes Anders and Helene Gabrielsson began iConnectProducts while on a visit to Stockholm in 2013, making it their mission to find brands they could introduce to the Australian market.
“When we first came [to Australia], there weren’t a lot of European kitchen and homeware brands available,” says Anders.
“We always thought that this represented an opportunity to introduce Australians to products that we had really appreciated back in Sweden.”
They discovered Rivsalt—which has been nominated for two Life Instyle GALA awards—at Swedish store Designtorget, and quickly set up a trial order of 100 units with creator Jens Sandringer.
Literally ‘grated salt’ in Swedish, Rivsalt is a unique way of adding salt to food using a small grater and salt rock. Anders says it has been a big hit with Australian consumers, who appreciate the simple, functional design of Scandinavian products and the use of natural materials.
“When that first batch sold out in the blink of an eye, we realised that we were on to a good thing,” says Anders. “We subsequently took delivery of our first major shipment in 2014, becoming the Australian and New Zealand distributors for Rivsalt.”
Building on their success, iConnectProducts is preparing to showcase three new Rivsalt editions at Life Instyle Sydney: a larger salt rock that can be used in the kitchen; Rivsalt Blue, made of rare Persian blue rock salt; and BBQ by Rivsalt, which is a Himalayan salt block that can be placed on the barbecue and used as a grilling surface or as a serving tray for food.
The Gabrielssons are also the exclusive Australian distributors of Swedish home and kitchen brand Kattinatt, Danish brand Nordstjerne and Danish design house by Wirth.
They will be launching new by Wirth homewares at the fair including a table, shelf and on-trend leather flowerpot strap.
The pair is always on the lookout for new products, which must fit with their overall ethos.
“We knew Scandinavian design products and homewares were popular, and the kind of products that we were after also had to be unique, functional and well presented,” explains Anders.
“We like to try new things, to stay connected to our Scandinavian heritage, and to find unique products that are both beautiful and functionally designed.
“We also love interacting with our retailers and finding ways in which to support them and increase their sales.”
By Ruth Cooper
