20 YEARS OF PLANIKA

20 years ago, Jarosław Dąbrowski and Artur Weilandt, sitting around a bonfire in Australia, came up with the idea of creating an ethanol fireplace company. In October 2022, this very company – Planika – celebrated its 20th anniversary with dealers from all over the world. During this event, we shared the knowledge we have gained over the years in the industry, presented brand new products and much more.

Planika’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?

The Planika story began in Australia near Ayers Rock, where Jaroslaw Dabrowski and Arthur Weilandt listened to Aboriginal tales about a mythical Epoch of Dreams by the bonfire. The aura of the fire inspired them to find a way to bring the same golden flame into contemporary interiors.

Although fireplaces have been present in our homes for centuries, a simple, traditional fire was not the option they were looking for.

They wanted to overcome the existing difficulties associated with a fire in an interior space – soot, ash and the obligatory chimney. After months spent designing and testing, the result was a product that combined beauty of form and comfort of use thanks to bio-ethanol fuel. But above all, a product that satisfies the atavistic need to communicate with fire.

PLANIKA 20 YEARS LATER

Initially, it was a simple, manual fireplace whose main advantage was design. From the beginning, the Planika staff had a plan to work with the best designers, to have a bespoke, impressive product. Planika worked with Christoph Pillet and Arik Levy – both world-renowned designers. They designed exceptional products. We even sold one of them to Bill Gates’ house.

However, it was the technology that was constantly on our minds. Jarosław, together with Planika engineers, wanted to build advanced solutions to make ethanol fireplaces safer and easier to use than ever before. We had to overcome many obstacles over the years, but there was never a moment of doubt that we could have the best pioneering technology on the market.

We took the biggest step 15 years ago with the Fire Line Automatic. This product paved the way for the entire BEV family of automatic products. The FLA3 has become our flagship product for the luxury market.

Planika’s headquarters in Bydgoszcz, Poland

TEAL ORGANISATION

For Jaroslaw and his daughter Patrycja Gierak, this business – Planika – has always been about people and the joy of creating exciting products with them, but most importantly about creating the best possible workplace with an atmosphere in the office that allows for fun, meeting friends and truly enjoying time together.

Jaroslaw has always been the main force and visionary behind the management style implemented at Planika. He is the one who encourages us to read books and educate ourselves about working in a teal structure. This is the day-to-day process of building a management style where people hire people to work in their teams. Where there is no hierarchy and there is the same level of respect for each individual, their ideas and needs.

We all share the same level of responsibility for the interests of the company and therefore the wellbeing of each employee. This management style is about learning and realising that every decision, at every level of the organisation, must be made on the basis of what is best for the company.

The turquoise organisation is also about transparency when it comes to company policies, finances, employment. It is about giving the power of management to all people who show commitment and are willing to take responsibility.

20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS. DAY ONE.

On the first day, we welcomed our business partners at the Hotel Słoneczny Młyn in the centre of Bydgoszcz, the city where Planika is located. Among the 160 guests were representatives from 50 countries, even as far away from Poland as Australia or Taiwan. We started the day with a presentation on:

– the history of Planika (presented by Jarosław Dąbrowski and Patrycja Gierak),

– sales (presented by Edyta Nowak and Katarzyna Maciejak),

– BEV technology (presented by Agnieszka Kosycarz and Doris Satora-Isquierda),

– Tourmatic as a sales tool (presented by Oliwia Pawlus and Jakub Ziółkowski),

– Fanola fuel (presented by Tomasz Sendecki),

– and current strategies in Planika’s Marketing Department (presented by Paulina Trychoń and Łukasz Orczykowski).

Another part of the event was a panel discussion, led by Edyta Nowak and Katarzyna Maciejak, during which our dealers talked about their sales strategy and how they manage to always stay on top of Planika’s sales rankings.

Katarzyna Maciejak and Edyta Nowak during the presentation about sales.

Our partners visiting Planika’s production site.

We also invited partners to visit our head office. There, they were able to see the entire production process of each component of Planika fireplaces. During this part of the event, our guests were able to see a completely new collection of innovative fireplaces for the first time.

Among the new products were the first-ever BEV outdoor fireplaces – Porto and Cabo created using Cosentino’s high-quality Daze, Laurent and Gris housings.

Other novelties were fireplaces with BEV technology Stone and Rock (also available in 3 different Cosentino’s enclosures), Arcticon and the gas outdoor fireplace – Galaxy.

After the visit to Planika, the guests attended a reception where we had the opportunity to exchange experiences, talk about the company’s development, sales, but also get to know each other personally.

Reception for dealers in Słoneczny Młyn, Bydgoszcz.

New products presentation in Planika’s headquarters.

20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS SECOND DAY

On the second day during the content part, our partners had the opportunity to listen to the following presentations:

– 5 most common installation problems (presented by Michal Sidorowicz),

– logistics (presented by Małgorzata Kubiak and Judyta Florek),

– social media (presented by Adrianna Konecka and Julia Krukowska),

– technical support (presented by Anita Plamowska and Keti Włodarczyk).

After the presentation, we moved back to Planika’s head office, where we had lunch together, followed by individual consultations with representatives from the sales, marketing and logistics departments.

Anita Plamowska presenting Technical Support.

SEE YOU!

Planika has changed over the past 20 years. Today, our technology is a pioneer in the world of automatic fireplaces, but we are still evolving. We hope to continue to surprise you and meet all your expectations. We are confident that, thanks to our great employees and business partners, we will push forward rapidly. We can’t wait to see where the future takes us.

We are grateful that we were able to host our distributors in Bydgoszcz, that they were able to see Planika’s headquarters and see for themselves how our fireplaces are made.

We hope that everyone learned a lot from us during this event.

Thank you for all the inspiring conversations and the exchange of experience. This is an invaluable value. See you next time!