FHW Staff – Mumbai
Ariane Fine Porcelain recently unveiled SOKKO and HIVE collections at Ambiente Show 2016 in Frankfurt, Germany. The collection is designed by renowned Japanese designer, Hiroshi Tsunoda, who brings a strong geometric character to his designs and provides them with a big honesty in relation with their function and the material used. Hiroshi finds the inspiration to design new products in this closer surroundings, in the small problems of daily life and exploring continuously new formal and conceptual fields.
The futuristic design and aslant shape makes SOKKO collection perfectly suited to adapt to ever-changing food trends and settings, offering a unique dining experience with its co-ordinated pieces. The collection is designed for serving Japanese, Chinese and other speciality food. Nowadays, India witnesses more flow of global visitors under the ‘Make in India’ initiative; and Japan, China and European countries are major partners in this mission. SOKKO collection offers them distinct dining experience and homely feel.
The idea of HIVE collection is based on having different sizes of plates and bowls placed together to create different atmospheres on the table through the versatility of their hexagonal shape. They are suitable for a range of uses, from serving a high end cuisine, to a dinner party at hotel, and can also be used individually.
Umberto Ceramics International is the only porcelain tableware plant in India producing international quality products under Ariane Fine Porcelain brand, having world class manufacturing facilities at Prantij, Gujarat. The state-of-the-art plant has over 30,000 sq m of production area with 10 million pieces per annum capacity of warm white porcelain tableware.
Dr Khater Massaad, partner and chairman, is the creative mind behind Ariane Fine Porcelain. He has lent his 30 years of experience and extensive expertise in the field of tiles, sanitary-ware and tableware.
He further added, “SOKKO collection is a futuristic design. The aslant on geometric shape tableware bring a distinguished look to your table, offering a memorable meal with co-ordinated pieces of SOKKO collection. Whereas HIVE collection can gear up stylish table with our vast array of statement bowls and plates with its versatile hexagonal shape.”
Ariane Fine Porcelain meets the stringent global quality standards such as physical tests certification from SFC France and quality tests (dishwasher safe, edge-chip resistant, microwave and oven safe, steel/ metal marking test) certifications by LUCIDEON, UK for its superior quality porcelain tableware that lives up to world-class standards. Ariane Fine Porcelain has been certified the ISO 9001:2008 for quality management and SA-8000:2008 for social accountability by TUV, Germany.
Ariane Fine Porcelain products have been approved by the Vegetarian Society of UK for being 100 per cent vegetarian. Every article of tableware contains no bone ash. Ariane Fine Porcelain thereby provides an absolutely hygienic vegetarian solution to markets that are exclusively vegetarian. It has also been certified by Halal Committee, Mumbai, India.
Sunil Malesha, managing director, Ariane Fine Porcelain; and a professional chartered accountant, having wide experience in the field of finance, mentioned, “Ariane is today one of the preferred tableware brands across the world throughout the hospitality sector, thanks to the efforts of its business partners across the globe. We are supporting the Make in India campaign, a national objective, by exploring the underlying potential of Indian Porcelain Tableware business in a very positive way. More than 60 per cent of our products are exported in many parts of the world including major European countries. Villeroy & Boch, a world-renowned brand, settled a new partnership with Ariane Fine Porcelain as the exclusive distributor of Ariane Fine Porcelain to the food service markets in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.”
With a steady rise in the number of fine-dining restaurants and hotels in India and globally, it can be said that tableware makes a statement. Connoisseurs of the kitchen and the hotel industry appraise that most fine hospitality establishments replace on average, 30 per cent of their original tableware every year. With an aim to offer the finest experiences to their guests, the majority of five-star luxury hotels opt for porcelain tableware due to their functionality and durability. However, till date there is no such porcelain tableware manufacturer in India. The country only witnesses the production of bone china tableware and low-end stoneware products, both of which have hygiene and quality related problems. In contrast, porcelain tableware offers high strength, chip and scratch resistance, and longevity. However, Ariane Porcelain has reduced the dependency of the Indian hospitality and food service industry on imports of porcelain tableware.
