– all of those and more are areas of conscious priority and progress for the leading companies.
Decent working conditions for staff, including in the originating quarries. Use of sustainable energy to power production. Recycling and proper treatment of process water. Reduction of crystalline silica content (for the sake of the lungs of stonemasons who will work with the stuff). Control of and traceability of the raw material supply chain. Just as they lead the way in design flare, the big companies lead the way in the ethical and environmental issues surrounding this commodity. The same logic applies to quartz production. But if you care about the conditions and welfare of the animals, and the possible environmental impact of the production methods, you may well choose to be choosy. Amusing – unless you end up with that turkey in your kitchen.)Ĭhicken is chicken, whether you buy Tesco Basics or organic, free-range chicken from a small-scale producer whose standards you know personally. (Though from time to time a product is launched that just isn’t ready… such is the pressure to innovate that sometimes even the big boys jump the gun and sell a turkey. You will often get the latest and best with a big brand. Special surface textures, anti-bacterial and easy-cleaning finishes may be less visible but very significant steps forward in quartz worktop development. This doesn’t only apply to looks, of course. Their designs are pleasant enough, but they don’t quite hit the spot in the way the big brands do. We have often noticed how the “second-generation” companies seem to be playing catch-up. All of the significant explorations of new ‘looks’ have come from them, and as a particular ‘look’ proves popular, they are the companies who will be first to perfect it. All of the big leaps forward in kitchen worktop technology over the last 25 years have come from a handful of brands. 
But whatever the truth in that, they were innovators then and they still are. There is some rivalry on this point: Silestone and Caesarstone both claim to be the first. Many of the ‘names’ were in at the very start of developing quartz for kitchen worktops. The big quartz brands are the innovators.
So the battle for the brands is, in part, about keeping a jump ahead, establishing the unique selling point of your brand, and letting the “me too” factories play catch up. That means that, for some colour and pattern types (grey granular, black sparkly, white marbled and the rest) the generic products from the little-known names will be seen as no different from the products of the great brands, and price alone will sort out what sells. The big fear for the established brands is the commoditisation of quartz for worktops. Where there is big investment in a factory, there is going to be big investment in getting the product to you, the consumer. The big brands have huge factories – often multiple factories in several countries – but even names you’ve never heard of may have production facilities the size of a small town.
Don’t let that obscure the fact that the product they fit in your home comes from massive production plants with a fully international trade. Many granite and quartz worktop fabricators work out of relatively small premises, often with a tiny, granite-dust-heavy office and no showroom. Make no mistake, kitchens and kitchen worktops are very big business indeed. Classic Quartz Fiji / 1810 Company Sinks.
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