Frugal innovation:

the process of reducing the complexity of a good and its production.

Dinnerware can be produced in different ways according to the raw clay, shaping, glazing and firing temperature of the processes employed. Simpler or more complex materials and methods can generate products that incorporate higher or lower energy costs, different environmental footprints and varying structural and appearance characteristics.

To make the best decision when shopping for dinnerware it is important to know the properties of different materials, so you know what you are buying.

Stoneware

is a type of fired ceramic dinnerware that has a long tradition of manufacture in Portugal:

→ More durable than earthenware and has a thicker and more opaque body than porcelain or china.

→ Can be finished with a variety of glaze textures, such as shiny, satin, matte or reactive and decorated either digitally or using decal firing.

→ Typically used in casual, everyday place settings. Stoneware is very versatile to use and to maintain, and is microwave, dishwasher, oven and freezer safe.

Unlike earthenware

that is fired at lower temperatures

Stoneware is not prone to chipping, on the other hand the vivid decorative colors of earthenware cannot be as easily produced and may require an additional firing stage to obtain.


Unlike porcelain

that is fired at higher temperatures

Or even bone china that uses calcined animal bones combined with porcelain clay, single fired Stoneware such as the produced by MESA Ceramics has a significantly lower environmental footprint and is a simpler more practical product.

Porcelain has a long-standing tradition among finer dinner tables due to its non-porous, extremely durable, thin and often translucent nature, however this comes at a cost of a significantly more complex production process often involving multiple firing stages at different temperatures. Low porosity Stoneware retains many of these characteristics through a simpler and more ecologically friendly process.

Stoneware

has an organic texture resembling handmade pottery

Allows for a great variety of glazes or decorations and is great for everyday items because it is so durable.
When looking at a finished piece of pottery, there is a simple way to tell the difference between Stoneware, earthenware, and porcelain: the body’s texture and color. Stoneware will have a coarser texture than earthenware or porcelain, with a body color varying from cream to brownish; Earthenware will feel smooth and lighter than Stoneware or porcelain, with a white or bluish body color; Porcelain will be smooth and white, thinner and denser, with a translucent appearance toward the edges.

MESA Ceramics

is a fine stoneware manufacturer of mass market dinnerware.

Using the finest natural resources from Portugal, best in class technology, the experience and know-how of our team and collaborating with leading designers, we work in an efficient manner to produce high quality affordable products in an environment friendly way.

Our Estarreja site, located in the Aveiro tableware cluster in Portugal, produces more than 1M pieces per month of high quality single fired stoneware using the latest isostatic and glazing technologies to implement efficient and automated production processes aimed at supplying high volume orders for mass market retailers.

We work with designers from EU and US to create our own collections as well as develop tailor made solutions for customers including but not limited to:

  • Shape development • Surface effects
  • Reactive glazes • Digital decorations
  • Decal decorations • Packaging solutions

A team of highly
experienced professionals
from the ceramics sector

With backgrounds in managing operations, technical, planning, production, maintenance and sales for sites in Europe and China incorporates industry best practices that are coupled with automotive industry expertise in quality and environment.

We employ high levels of B2B information technology to ensure full service to our customers and order processing transparency, ensuring timely deliveries of large volumes of high quality goods.

MESA Ceramics leverages the tradition of a family that has been in the ceramics sector for four generations, the know-how and expertise of industrial entrepreneurs that built the Logoplaste global business with 65 sites across 16 Countries and the support of professional financial investors Oxy Capital.