FALK Culinair

Copper cookware is such a statement and a beautiful cooking experience. So we’re proud to bring to New Zealand FALK Culinair, which is crafted by the Van Achter family in Belgium, as an exclusive Newtown House offering.

The family developed a unique bonding process just over 30 years ago that combines the incredibly efficient heat transfer of copper with hard-wearing, hygienic stainless steel. FALK have remained leaders by ensuring chefs guide their designs, and that traditional craft skills are applied.

It is the warmth and luxuriousness of the copper colour that really gets us going, probably much like our ancestors who started using copper back around 8000 BC. And this is where FALK has cleverly helped with their ‘satin’ finish. Rather than a harsh shine that requires constant chemical intervention to stay perfect, FALK cookware has been brushed. It produces a permanent soft glow – no polishing required. Brilliant. But remember all copper oxidises slowly over time to produce a lovely patina finish.

The Van Achter family are based in Wespelaar, which is between Antwerp and Brussels. It is just up the road from Leuven - where Stella Artois has been brewed since 1926, in a brewery tracing back to 1366.

FALK are a bit more recent than that. It was originally started in Brussels in 1958 as an extension of a silversmith business, but in 1962 Pieter Paul Van Achter Sr. acquired the shares, shifted it to Wespelaar and focussed on professional grade copper cookware.

His son Paul took over in 1977 and in 1985 used his industrial engineering and metallurgical experience to discover the way of laminating a thin layer of stainless steel directly onto solid copper. 

Today, the third generation leads the company with Jan Van Achter, Paul’s youngest son, as Managing Director.

Building on the success of the Classic range seen here, we now also stock their Signature range (with stainless steel handles for a contemporary look), and their induction friendly CopperCore range.

Jan hosts a two-minute video to give you a behind the scenes look at their tradition, innovation and crafted goodness here.