Fisher & Paykel joins American dream

By PAUL PANCKHURST

Take a close look at that issue of Time magazine the other week, the one with the cover story on today's not-so-humble American home.

Look through the 15 products described as desirable "dream home" luxuries - and see a dishwasher system from New Zealand company Fisher & Paykel Appliances. The Double DishDrawer, to be precise.

In Auckland, Fisher & Paykel Appliances managing director John Bongard said the publicity was unexpected, welcome, and the company's second big free plug in two months in the United States.

Last month, Oprah Winfrey featured the company's Single DishDrawer in a segment on small apartment makeovers. If Oprah could not quite master the pronunciation of the name Paykel, Bongard was not complaining.

It was publicity, he said, that the company could not buy.

The Time magazine piece did not identify Fisher & Paykel as the manufacturer of the featured product, but Bongard said that was not a problem - it was the only one of its type on the market in the United States. In both cases, the publicity boosted hits on the company's website, he said.

Macquarie Equities senior research analyst Paul Huxford said the DishDrawer products illustrated F&P Appliances' smart strategy as a small global player of focusing on innovative, high-end products.