Monday 3 January 2011

Cornishware and Le Parfait Jars

Our kitchen is being remodelled at the moment. Mr Prim is patching in a few new cabinets and upgrading the worksurfaces. It is looking great so far. I'm a big fan of storage jars, and have been buying these Le Parfait jars in John Lewis for some time. They are good quality, good value, made in France, and you can buy replacement parts, so with care they last forever.

So imagine my horror when I went shopping for more today, only to find that they have been replaced by some Made in China inferior quality copy, selling for what I believe is more expensive than the originals. Now, I may be Mrs Prim, but I'm not quiet when I'm annoyed. "LOOK AT THIS RUBBISH!" I hollered to Mr Prim, who tried to pretend he was not with me. "MY (note "my") JARS HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY SOME CHEAP COPY AND THEY ARE MORE EXPENSIVE". Enough of the uppercase - I'm sure you get the picture. I've nothing personally against China, and I am not racist. It is the replacement of a good quality product with tat that I am against. It is not as if John Lewis are now selling them cheaper. They are buying in a cheap copy, selling it expensive, and keeping the money. Maybe good business sense if no-one notices.

Another casaulty of this race to the bottom has been my favourite Cornishware. The new management say that it is no longer economical to make them in the UK, so they make them in China. What they mean is simply that they can make a bigger profit by making a cheap copy in China, and hope that no-one notices.

I don't like being made a mug of and I'm not paying a premium price for something that used to be made by craftspeople that is now made in a factory possibly by children, and the original owner just pockets the money, and doesn't seem to have any pride in what they are selling.

Oooh - what a negative post today, rant over :).

Here's a picture of a nice little tree I bought today in the bargain bucket, reduced because it is no longer Christmas. He makes a very nice air freshener - my kitchen truly is Pine Fresh.
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3 comments:

  1. Loo xx from Jumbles and Pompoms3 January 2011 at 22:29

    I can understand your frustration. Perhaps ebay is a good bet for originals (?).

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  2. Unknown3 January 2011 at 22:39

    Ooh I started organising my baking cupboard into jars the other day, I didn't get very far. Have you tried Lakeland? They have some great preserving jars. Our local co-op department store sell the cheap copies too. Looking forward to seeing the finished kitchen, that Cornishware is just lovely.

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  3. Anonymous4 April 2014 at 20:57

    With the rising cost of UK craftspeople, unfortunately it really was no longer economical to continue making Cornishware in the UK, short term. The Chinese factory use adults, mainly women, but with sadness they dont seem to have the same eye for detail as those who made it in the UK. To continue making it in the UK would have meant an approx price rise of around 35%. However, the good news is that there is a strong owner who is keen to bring manufacture back to the UK, and hopefully this will commence spring 2015 ish, plans are in place and hopefully this English classic will once again be, an English Classic :)

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