About us
Khaya was founded in 2020, as a result of an undeniable love for nature, art, and durable design. We are a small family business with strong creative roots, and we run Khaya Woodware with great enthousiasm and passion.
Founder Lucienne, a talented marketer, who loves the outdoors, is an admirer of minimalism and a styling expert. Max, her son, is an art director who enjoys creative concepts and considers himself a designer at heart. Lisa, her daughter, is a brand manager, a food photographer and a food lover as well, she has the most sustainable skills.
During a trip to Vietnam, far from the green rice fields, among the colorful street food, and surrounded by the friendliest people on the planet, we were introduced to traditional woodworking. It was at that point when practicality, sustainability, and aesthetics all came together in our family's ambition of starting our own company selling eco-friendly goods.
We chose the name Khaya for our brand as a respect to nature and in honor of the corresponding sustainable wood species. We originally began making plates, cups, sushi trays, and rice bowls. And we were quite interested in the outcomes. Our collection took a while to get to the Netherlands. However, the durable quality, the taste of nature, and the aesthetics of each item make the wait worthwhile.
Lucienne
I love all aspects of nature. Its beautiful colors, fragrances, organic shapes, and silence give me the energy to work hard while also enjoying life. Speaking of energy, I spent several years working in the wind energy industry. I worked on providing clean energy to homes and businesses in order to reduce CO2 emissions. I learned a lot about sustainability and the impact that humans have on the environment. But, I also learned that if we start making environmentally conscious choices now, it is not too late. At the time, I fantasized about starting my own business, selling environmentally friendly products. And I'm proud that we actually started this family business.
Lisa
Khaya combines my interests in food, nature, and photography. When I saw the dinnerplates, I immediately thought of delicious recipes and imagined the beautiful food photography. When I was studying Future Planet Studies, I focused on social media for Khaya and I came up with the idea for the Imperfection Box. This surprise box contains just-not-perfect Khaya products that are too lovely to throw away. This effectively provides a beautiful destination for all of our products. And now, after my trip through Vietnam, I'm even more motivated to work for Khaya. We complement each other perfectly in terms of skills as a family, but it's also a lot of fun!
Max
When my mother suggested making eco-friendly tableware and showed me the first prototypes from Vietnam, I immediately started designing in my sketchbook. I came up with the first concept for the Khaya brand while sitting in a bus on my way to Utrecht City. As art director, it was my responsibility to turn the initial idea into a creative concept and bring it life with a design. Making a design or brandmark always have my fully attention and I will refine it over and over again until it's perfect. Aside from being a true designer and entrepreneur, I also enjoy nature, am curious, and travel extensively. Building the Khaya brand is amazing, and doing so with my mother and sister is even better.
Brandmark
Max is the designer of our Khaya logo. A unique tailor-made typeface. The sans-serif and highly symmetric letters communicate modern minimalism. Together with the elegant arcs and balanced letter spacing, it creates a subtle Asian touch.
Our logo is literally a table on which our 'tableware' can stand, but it is also the rotating K of Khaya. That K was not chosen at random. It's part of an Asian sign that means "wood." Max developed this sign to represent 'wooden tableware.' Our logo and brand identity indicate the products' simplicity and Asian elegance while also representing Khaya Woodware's sustainable values. Each product is brandmarked with our identity for further uniqueness, and we are really proud of this.
Our belief
Our Story
Our goal is to unite sustainability, functionality and aesthetics to a beautiful design with a purpose. We created our all-natural handcrafted wooden tableware collection for those with a conscience about the environment and a sense for minimalistic and artful beauty. On top, there is no better place to live a ‘pure’ lifestyle than right at the dinner table of your own home.
Our Mission
Our image of an ideal world revolves around minimizing our ecological footprint and pursuing a sustainable lifestyle. We want to leave a greener world to future generations. Khaya is supporter of World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF). With every product sold we contribute to deforestation and forest degradation. With our monthly donations we support WWF's initiative: global forest protection and conservation, especially in the Amazone area.
Our Wood
We acquire our wood from sustainable resources - from locally planted forests in Vietnam. The Khaya tree is a fast growing tree; its wood is excellent planet-friendly material to make dinnerware. Wood is 100% natural, biodegradable and reduces CO2 emissions, which helps slow down the climatic change. Our products are finished with a clear natural oil, to bring out the wood's warm color and individual markings and to make it food safe.
Our designs
Artful background
Because creativity runs in the family, we designed some of the collection pieces ourselves. Our grandfather was a carpenter who created beautiful furniture and home décor items. The other one was a painter who worked with water colors. In addition, he was a co-founder of the first Art School in Utrecht, Netherlands. He also was an interior design instructor.
Inspired by nature
We were often inspired by nature, when designing our tableware. Like during a walk into the woods, we discoverd an aesthetic multi-colored leaf of a beech tree and during a vacation on the seaside we found a unique seashell on the beach. These natural objects gave us the idea for the design of the Leaf serving platter and the Seashell platter.
100 ideas for using Khaya woodware!
Live your life more sustainable and intertwined with nature with our wooden bowls, plates, trays and cups.
