2024 | JULY / AUGUST ISSUE
ARIANE NEWS & BUNZL
HOTEL & RESTAURANT TIMES
ARIANE & BUNZL MCLAUGHLIN UNITE IN TREND-SETTING CERAMICS MARRIAGE Glenn Ewart has been involved in the world of table ceramics for over 35 years. Having worked for a number of different companies, such as Churchill, he is now Head of Sales for Europe at Ariane Ceramics.
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riane is part of Umberto Ceramics, which was founded in India by (amongst others) Dr. Khadel Massaad. He was one of the experts who established the hugely successful RAK Ceramics in Rhas Al-Khaimah, UAE. After a split from RAK in 2014, the Swiss national moved to Gujarat in India, bringing his
expertise to the fledgling organisation with the aim of making the new factory the most technologically driven ceramics factory in the world. Since early 2022, Ariane has teamed up with Irish distributor Bunzl McLaughlin in a deal that is spearheading Ariane’s likely dominance in this marketplace over the coming years. Part of Bunzl plc and supplying the trade since 1874, Bunzl McLaughlin is an established market leader in the hospitality and catering sectors across Ireland, providing non-food consumables and equipment.
“They asked me if I’d be interested in a partnership and I immediately said, ‘yes’,” ...says Ewart of the moment that the arrangement between Ariane and Bunzl -McLaughlin was proposed.
“It comes from a long history of having worked with them over the years. They’re very trustworthy, they’ve got a great team of people and a great reputation in the market.” Ariane’s factory in India is, according to Ewart, “the most technologically advanced ceramics factory” that he has seen in his 35 years of working in this sector.
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When Ariane began ten years ago, Ewart says, their factory became a world leader in sustainable manufacturing, long before others in more ‘developed’ countries had caught onto it. “Everything that we make, up until the point that it’s fired, is 100% recycled material. So if you make a ceramic bowl out of clay and it gets broken along the process, that can just be put back into recycling.” “The plant also has a system for harvesting rainwater for re-use in the manufacturing process.”
“And, of course, being in India and in a very hot state, there’s plenty of sunshine and we have solar panels that are providing about 35% of the power needs of the plant. All of the offices are powered 100% by solar power. We are currently planting 1300 trees at the site to help nurture a green environment” It’s not something that one might readily associate with the Indian industry, but this is probably what the near future is going to look like.
“You talk to people about India and they might shake their heads and picture some run-down sweatshop somewhere,” says Ewart.
“We’ve got 700 people employed in the factory. We house them, feed them, we give them their health care, we educate their families and on top of that, we support the local community… we even have our own ambulance and doctors on site.” The fact of being able to proudly show the kind of sustainability credentials that their operation has is a very important selling point, Ewart says. And for companies ordering stock from Ireland, the stock isn’t coming directly from India the majority of the time, but from Ariane’s facility in the Netherlands. That way, stock can be delivered to Ireland within a matter of days of an order being received. The clay used in their manufacturing operation comes from the best source available in Germany.
“It’s like when you’re buying anything,” says Ewart. WWW.HOTELANDRESTAURANTTIMES.IE
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