Interview iWAS
As more and more hospitality settings look at reducing their environmental impact, one supplier has its heart set on making upcycled glassware the norm but with the added bonus of supporting local communities in India and Indonesia. Nico De Wilde, co-founder of iWas, explains more to HoReCa’s Mairead Wilmot about the company’s unique setup...
The only way is up Nico, tell us about iWAS and the ethos of the company? Forget out with the old, in with the new, we make the old new again by upcycling waste to musthaves. By adding value without adding new waste or spilling energy. We recreate and design a new purpose for each object, while maintaining its unique and authentic characteristics. What sort of products do you produce and how are they made? We specialise in upcycled glassware. We have our own unique setup with our boutique hand-made production. What
makes us unique is that we own the production facility in India, we support our local workers and we operate from Europe with our design and support team. So the HoReCa sector and tableware companies can come to us for their assembly of a unique collection of upcycled glassware and or OEM collaboration. How do you work with the hospitality sector? iWas products are commonly used in the HoReCa sector as an alternative to traditional glassware. Some examples of our products being used in hospitality are
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water and drinking glasses, vases, carafes, serving bowls. We can cater for both large scale orders and bespoke orders, depending on the needs of the customer. As a company focused on
Give us some examples of iWas products being used in the HoReCa sector? iWas has already provided many boutique hotels, such as Yalo in Ghent, with a unique collection of
“The market for sustainable glass and tableware is expected to grow significantly in the coming years” sustainability, we believe there is a growing audience within the hospitality sector for more considered and environmentallyfriendly products like ours.
Smaller bespoke orders iWAS can manage locally with its support team in Europe (Belgium) while larger orders they supply directly from their manufactory in India. 46 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL: HoReCa
Two of iWas’s four co-founders Nico De Wilde with Dries Moens
upcycled glassware products for their rooms and restaurant. The hotels help promote iWas’s sustainability story by providing customers with leaflets or flyers explaining that they are drinking from environmentallyfriendly glasses. iWas has also created bespoke collections for some tableware companies, providing them with a unique collection of upcycled glassware products that they can offer to their own customers. This