The Ironclad Pan Company was founded in 2016 by Kate Slavin, Levi Slavin and Joe Carter. All three were working in design, branding and communications, and all three were looking to create a sustainable product that would be a return to beautiful craft and traditional techniques. In an era of disposable products, the team wanted to create a meaningful object that people only had to buy once. Something precious, that could be handed down for generations.
Why cast iron skillets? Levi and Kate had a set at home that they had inherited. Each daily use was a reminder of their family history. And when traditional family recipes were prepared in the original skillets—splashing oil where they had splashed oil, carefully placing fish where they had placed fish—something magical seemed to happen; it was a true connection through time. But to hand something down, you need two things: a product that will last and a world to leave it in. As their family grew, like all parents, so did their desire to leave a healthier planet for their children. Kate, a designer by trade, began to sketch designs for a new skillet. One that would be sustainably manufactured here in New Zealand and last for generations. Levi and Joe set out to find a way to prove their belief. If it was designed to last, what better way to prove it than to offer a guarantee. One that would last longer than any on the market. They settled on a modest 100 years, and cast that contract in iron on the base of every single skillet.
Next, Felicity Morgan-Rhind joined the team. A chef and director, Felicity elevated the vision of the Ironclad Pan Company to a larger audience. Helping share the founding principles of a locally made, sustainable product with an international audience. The more stories we collected, and the higher our pile of family recipes grew, we realised we needed to invent a contemporary way to store and share recipes. The result was The Ironclad Family Recipe Vault—a closed social platform designed to store, share and save family recipes for generations.
Get to know your pan, how to look after it and what the guarantee involves in our Ironclad Pan Blog. (Worth a read!)
