Tableware

The European table- and ornamentalware industry has a very long tradition of manufacturing kitchen- and household goods. Traditional craft skills are still valued in the industry, although advanced manufacturing techniques including robotics are applied where appropriate. The industry has constantly modernized its production processes and increased its energy efficiency.

Within the tableware industry, both porcelain and stoneware products are manufactured. While ornamentalware is produced throughout Europe, there are important regional concentrations of tableware producers in several EU Member States. Nowadays there is a significant tableware production in Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Austria, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic.

Over the last decades, the European tableware industry has successfully adapted to changing consumer taste, modernized its production techniques and now respects the most advanced environmental standards.

In relation to health & safety, European standards for tableware have been implemented since 1984. This relates for instance to EU food contact regulations.