Le Creuset
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| SAS | |
| Industry | Cookware |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Founder |
Armand Desaegher Octave Aubecq |
| Headquarters | Fresnoy-le-Grand, France |
| Owner | Paul Van Zuydam |
| Website | lecreuset.com |
Le Creuset (French pronunciation: [lə kʁøze], meaning "the crucible") is a premium French cookware manufacturer best known for its colorfully-enameled cast-iron cookware "French ovens", also known as "casseroles" or "Dutch ovens". The company also makes many other types of cookware, from sauce pans to tagines.
Le Creuset was founded in the French town of Fresnoy-le-Grand, Aisne, Picardy, a strategic location at the crossroads of transportation routes for iron, coke, and sand. Armand Desaegher (a Belgian casting specialist) and Octave Aubecq (a Belgian enameling specialist) opened their foundry in 1925. That same year, the first (or French oven) was produced, laying the foundation for what is now an extensive range of cookware and kitchen utensils.
The Le Creuset signature color, Flame (orange), was born in this first piece. With their new ability to pigment the enamel glaze, Desaegher and Aubecq modeled their first color after the intense orange hue of molten cast iron inside a cauldron ("creuset" in French).
During World War II, Le Creuset began to focus on continually improving their cast iron. In 1957, Le Creuset purchased a competitor, Les Hauts Fourneaux de Cousances, and began producing items such as a grill model and a fondue set.
In 1995, Le Creuset began exploring new product categories: stainless steel, stoneware, silicone, enamel on steel, textiles and forged hard-anodized aluminum.
The current Le Creuset logo was introduced in 1970 and was designed to be a symbolic representation of metal casting and molding. The company was purchased by current owner Paul Van Zuydam in 1987.
Le Creuset offers a variety of colors, from bright (e.g. cherry, a gradated red) to muted (e.g. dune, a gradated off-white). Its discontinued colors include cobalt (gradated blue-violet), black onyx (solid black), kiwi (gradated light green), as well as slate, granite, cactus, and citron.
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