Vision 2030 - Interview with Sander van 't Hoen of Novy

Vision 2030 - Interview with Sander van 't Hoen of Novy

What will the kitchen look like in 2030? And, in the years to come? We talked about this with Sander van 't Hoen, General Manager at Novy, who certainly doesn't have the "definitive answer" to the curious question about that year 2030. But he is convinced that something substantial will change. And that will ultimately have a major impact on the kitchen market as a whole. 

"Super nice, of course, this current zeitgeist, in which we have literally managed to put the kitchen at the center of one's home. In fact, I also see cries like 'the kitchen is part of the living room' coming up almost daily. However, this will not continue. In fact, I think this 'luxury' will no longer be afforded to the generations after me."

And that's where Sander has a point. Because, let's back it up in numbers and facts. One million homes need to be added in 10 years in the Netherlands to solve the housing shortage. However, space is limited. After all, we already live in one of the most densely populated areas in the world and it will only get more crowded. Some politicians already speak of the Hong Kong of the Low Countries. Or, that Arnhem will eventually become a suburb of Amsterdam. So, future (new construction) housing will occupy fewer square meters. 

"So the question is whether the 'cocooning' of today that we have embraced en masse in the kitchen will last," Sander philosophizes. "Every young person today should be happy anyway if at some point they manage to find their own place to live at all. But, of course, it is impossible to 'cocoon' ten people in a kitchen of ten square meters at most. I doubt that the kitchen will remain 'the central meeting place' of the home."

Sander refers to the increasing popularity of "Tiny Houses. And, the continued urbanization of the country. "I can't imagine that ten or twenty years from now you'll still be having cozy dinner parties at home for tig people. On the other hand, I do think that people are going to seek out dining establishments outside the home much more and socialize there. Whether the kitchen will disappear from homes altogether, I don't know. But we are going to redefine the term kitchen. The perception is changing. Informed by the scarcity of space."

Whether the market is anticipating this enough now, Sander does not know. "No one can predict the future. But I suspect that the kitchen industry as a whole is not thinking about this enough yet. After all, right now is a pretty good time for everyone in the trade: there is a lot of investment in and around the home. And we in the industry are all benefiting well from that. But, will this turmoil continue? You will have to look to the (distant) future. If you want to remain successful in the kitchen industry, it is not only your commercial task to continue to deliver high quality, you will also have to find a practical answer to the complicated macro-social challenges. Because, the world will not look substantially different in 2030. In 2040, however, it will."