About us
Khaya Woodware is a family-run business that was founded in 2020 with a focus on creating products that are inspired by nature, art, and durable design. The company is passionate about their work and operates with enthusiasm.
Khaya Woodware is run by a talented family, including founder Lucienne who is a marketer with a love for the outdoors and a minimalistic aesthetic. Her son Max is an art director who values creative concepts and considers himself a designer. Lisa, Lucienne's daughter, is a brand manager with a passion for food photography and sustainable skills.
Khaya Woodware is a sustainable and eco-friendly company that was founded after a trip to Vietnam where the family discovered traditional woodworking. They were inspired by the combination of practicality, sustainability, and aesthetics in the craft, and decided to bring these values to their business by selling products that are both functional and beautiful.
Khaya, our brand name, is a tribute to the sustainable wood species we use. We started with a small collection of products, including plates, cups, sushi trays, and rice bowls. The process of creating the entire collection took some time, but the unique design and aesthetic appeal of each item made the wait worthwhile.
Lucienne
I have a strong connection with nature and its beauty. Nature provides me with energy and motivation to work hard and enjoy life. My dream of starting my own business that sells eco-friendly products became a reality with the support of my family. My background in the wind energy industry have provided me with valuable knowledge about sustainability and the impact of human actions on the environment, which I am now using to make a positive impact through my 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.
