奢·尚生活——专访Le Creuset所有者Paul Van Zuydam

We all know how French people are into cooking and delicious food, and if you are an epicure gormandizer, Le Creuset can’t be unfamiliar to you, as a national treasure cookware brand widely known as the excellence in quality and cutting edge design to the world for over 80 years. Delicacy and romance, two things that French people adore are combined and revealed on the enamel cast iron pots from Le Creuset. What made Le Creuset a legend of fashion and tradition for over 85 years? As Le Creuset has announced its entrance into the Chinese market, will it continue its glory on this oriental land where everyone keeps the notion of "Food is the first thing for people”? Grand Hotels presents the interview with Mr. Paul Van Zuydam, owner of the Le Creuset brand， let’s take a close look at this traditional but fashionable brand together.

　　Once you meet Mr. Paul Van Zuydam, it’s easy to figure out this man at his seventies must be a man of stories and experiences as the way he talks and behaves. Born in the KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa, young Paul spent his childhood in a farm in Zululand, and went to school in Swaziland south in South Africa. His talent and industry led him to Natal University where he studied accountancy. After graduation, he headed to Canada and took his very first step of his career. The hardworking and ambitious young man didn’t stop as an ordinary accountant, and immediately after qualifying in administration and accountancy, he decided to buy a struggling house ware business. He turned the company from deficits to profit in a short time and sold it to Prestige, a British cookware business giant, opening a new stage of his entire career and took over the legendary Le Creuset Company. Ever since, Paul Van Zuydam and Le Creuset have been inseparable, writing one new page after another of the cookware legend together.

Since 1925, Le Creuset has enjoyed a worldwide popularity for its colorful enamel cast iron pots. It’s a household word in Europe and America, and has a great vogue in Japan and Korea as well, known as the Louis Vitton in cookware. As is known, every single Le Creuset pot is imported from FRESNOY-LE-GRAND, a small town in the northern France. What’s the story of this brand of 85 years?

Paul said with proud, “Le Creuset, founded in 1925, was the leading pioneer of the cast iorn cookware in France at the early years of the twentieth century. Its products, just like those from LV and Chanel, represented the leading design, outstanding craftsmanship and fashion trends. The factory of Le Creuset is located in Fre-Le-Grand, a small town near Aisney in north east France, where the legend of almost one century was born.” In 1987 Prestige intended to purchase Le Creuset, but encountered the questions and disagreement from inside the company. “At that time we mainly focused on how to gain larger market share, and planning to support the company with economical and practical products and large market share. So when I decided to acquire Le Creuset, most people didn’t approve my idea for our Prestige was already very successful under our strategy at that time, and the acquisition seemed to be unnecessary to us. However in my opinion, we could be really successful only after we’ve covered the high end market. And Le Creuset had every reason to be a top seller in the high end market, so I invested my life saving and bought Le Creuset by myself. As it turns out today, our success is beyond dispute. Le Creuset, as a top ranking cookware brand, kept its original design and encouraged continuous improvement in details to achieve perfection. Although various kinds of ordinary and cheaper cookware brands have fierce competition, our products have kept their high price for all the time, for its unique design and outstanding quality has already made it the winner of the high end cookware market.

Paul takes great pride in his brand and products, because now the celebrities worldwide, even the heads of the states, are using his colorful enamel cast iron pot. Paul bought a set of yellow Le Creuset cookware with a large sum of money at an auction, and the name of its last owner is Marilyn Monroe. Yes, Le Creuset has become a luxury brand just like LV and Chanel.

So what makes Le Creuset so special? “Every piece of Le Creuset cast iron cookware, was casted from natural pure iron without alloy or other impurity, and has to go through multi procedures such as melting, moulding, firing, polishing, enamel painting, parts building and product inspection. Now, Le Creuset still makes their pots in this way, not as different as we might imagine.” Paul’s great familiarity with the production procedures as the leader of the corporation really impressed us, as it might be the secret why Le Creuset can enjoy its great popularity till now, a practical leader with wisdom. “We’ve always kept a simple idea to bring more colors and joy to the ordinary cooking for people, and make cooking a part of their happiness rather than a boring and repeating routine job.

Talking of colors, we found out it’s the major feature of Le Creuset cookware. Unlike most of the black or silver cookware that we’re used to see, each piece of Le Creuset cookware has a warm and delightful color. Imagine these lovely things in your own kitchen, you just can’t help to cook, can you?

Coming to the Chinese market where there must be some pressure of competition, what’s the competitive and marketing strategy? “Actually, to Le Creuset, our real opponent should be Ipod, we share a feature of fashion, colors and style. There are other enamel cast iron cookware brands from France, Italy, America, even IEKA has its own enamel pots. However, none of them can exceed Le Creuset in appearance. Enamel is like glassy oil made of silica which is made to decorate cast iron cookware for its sturdy and durable character and beautiful colors. Another important reason is that one of our marketing strategies is to grasp the essential idea to improve the quality and added value of the product and concentrate on the industry trends. Our purpose is to arouse the same feeling among our customers. And today we’ve become the benchmark of the industry, and we lead the trends of the industry.” Paul’s confidence and pride shows not only in words but also on the face, “Our idea is to create the fashion and make Le Creuset a reason for you to fall in love with cooking.

As for Chinese market, we’ve been paying attention to the Asian market, especially the market in China, Japan and Korea. I hope our excellent cookware can be the kitchen helper across the world, and we do hope to explore beyond our current market covered. So my team and I put Asian market， especially Chinese market at a very important position. It only took us two years to establish our professional team led by General Manager Troy Shearouse, and we’re planning to observe a qualitative leap in channels and brand building. Our greatest ambition is that Le Creuset cookware can be seen in the kitchens of every Chinese family in the near future.

法国人对美食的狂热和痴迷，是众所周知的。如果您也是个老资格的饕餮老手，那么相信您对于“Le Creuset”这个品牌也一定非常熟悉。没错，就是这个法国国宝级的厨具品牌， 80多年来因其卓越的品质和前卫设计而举世闻名，在西方更是早已家喻户晓. 法国人爱美食，更爱时尚浪漫，这两者都在Le Creuset珐琅铸铁锅的身上，就展现得一览无余。那么是怎样的秘诀让Le Creuset欢快地游走在时尚和传统的浪尖之上，成就了85年传奇的呢？如今Le Creuset已经高调进军中国市场，它是否也能在这片“民以食为天”的东方大陆上再续辉煌呢？此次，大酒店专访Le Creuset的所有者Paul Van Zuydam，让我们一起去解读这个兼具传统和时尚的品牌！

当第一次接触Paul Van Zuydam这位年过古稀的老人时，即刻能从他的举止言行间阅读出一种传奇经历丰富的气质。Paul出生在南非夸祖鲁－纳塔尔省，幼年的Paul是在祖鲁兰的一个农场里长大的，之后前往南非南部的斯威士兰求学。因他的聪慧与努力，顺利进入纳塔尔大学学习会计专业。毕业之后，Paul移居加拿大，开始了他事业发展的第一步。天性好学上进的Paul并没有满足于普通职员工作的束缚，经过一段时间的积累和学习，在财务和管理上都取得一定成绩的Paul，毅然决然地决定买下一家运营困难的家居用品公司。在很短的时间内，这家公司即扭亏为盈，并在之后成功被英国厨具行业巨头Prestige收购，Paul也由此走上了人生新的舞台，直至掌管Le Creuset这家同样传奇的公司。一个传奇的人和一个传奇的品牌从此紧密联系在一起，注定将会书写出新的传奇。

Le Creuset自1925年来，便以生产色彩丰富的铸铁珐琅锅具而闻名世界，它在欧美家喻户晓，在日韩等地也大受欢迎，享有“厨房中的LV”的美誉。据了解，每一个Le Creuset锅具都是原装进口，来自法国北部小镇FRESNOY-LE-GRAND。这个延续了85年的品牌，有着怎样的故事呢？

Paul略带些骄傲的说：“Le Creuset在1925年就成立了，早在上世纪初叶，既是法国铸铁厨具的先锋品牌之一。它的出品，就象LV、CHANEL，代表着最高级的厨具设计制作标准和时尚趋势。Le Creuset的工厂位于法国东北部Aisney小村庄Fre-Le-Grand，从而创造了这个延续了近一个世纪的奇迹。”1987年的时候，当时是厨具Prestige曾提议收购Le Creuset，但是却遭受了公司内部的质疑和反对，“当时大家关注的更多的是怎样拥有更大的市场份额，靠经济实惠的产品和市场占有量来运营公司。所以当我提出收购Le Creuset这个品牌的时候，大家都比较反对，因为当时我们的Prestige已经在那种思路的指导下成为非常成功的品牌。所以大家觉得是多余的。但是在我看来，只有拥有高端市场，才能算真正的成功。而当时Le Creuset完全具备成为高端市场宠儿的潜质，所以我还是投入毕生的积累，独自收购了Le Creuset。到今天，正如你所看到的，我们成功了。Le Creuset 厨具作为一个高档品牌，它从原始设计中改进了细节。尽管在这个竞争很激烈的市场上面，充斥着各种便宜的厨具品牌，它价格还是一贯的高。并且因为它独特的品质和设计，使它已经成为高端厨具市场不争的王者！”

对于自家的品牌和产品，Paul有着非同一般的自豪和骄傲，因为现在全球名流显赫们，甚至国家首脑用的，都是这种色彩绚烂的珐琅工艺铸铁锅。Paul曾经花重金拍得一套黄色的Le Creuset厨具，而这一套厨具的上一个主人叫玛丽莲.梦露。是的，Le Creuset现在已经成了世界上不让LV、Channel等的顶级奢侈品牌。

那么，Le Creuset的魅力在哪里呢？ “Le Creuset”每一件铸铁厨具，均由纯天然铸铁逐件倒模制作。它的每一锅都由纯净铸铁打造，而不会混入合金或其他杂质，经过三十几名工匠，由熔铁、制模、烧制、打磨、喷珐琅、制作组件、成品检查等多道工序。现在，Le Creuset仍然在用这种方法来制作锅子，跟80多年没有太大分别。”听完Paul如数家珍般的介绍，真没想到作为一个公司的掌舵手竟然最它的生产工序也那么熟悉。这也许是Le Creuset能享誉至今的另一个秘诀——拥有睿智务实的管理者。“其实我们所秉承的理念很简单，就是希望我们的产品能为人们的日常烹饪增添些色彩，让烹饪成为乐趣生活的一部分，而不仅仅只一项简单枯燥的工作，它应该变成一种享受和情趣。”

说到色彩，我们发现这也是Le Creuset厨具的最大特色，与我们熟悉的黝黑或者银色的厨具不同，Le Creuset的每一款厨具都有着一个温馨的颜色，试想一下自家厨房里添置了这许多可爱的家伙……果然做饭的欲望是抑制不住的。

既然进入中国市场，那么Le Creuset的竞争策略和市场策略又是怎样的呢，有没有感受到来自竞争对手的压力？“其实，对Le Creuset而言，我们真正的对手应该是Ipod。同样的时尚、多彩而引领潮流。市面上也有其他珐琅铸铁厨具品牌，有来自法国、意大利、美国，甚至连IKEA都有了自己生产的珐琅铸铁锅。但是，就是没有一个品牌比得上Le Creuset那样漂亮。珐琅象一层玻璃光油，原料是玻璃矽石，上世纪初已用来装饰铸铁厨具，也是因为它坚固耐用，颜色多又漂亮。另外一个主要原因就是我们的市场策略之一就是把握本质，更专注于提高产品的品质和附加价值，专注于掌握行业风向。我们力争让每一个产品都能唤醒人们的共鸣。时至今日，我们已经成为行业的标杆，很大程度上我们在制造着行业内的流行趋势。”Paul的自豪和自信毫无掩饰的表达出来，“我们的理念就是，引领整个行业风向，让Le Creuset带你爱上烹饪。”

“对于中国市场，其实我们几年前就开始重点关注亚洲，尤其是中国和日本韩国的市场，我希望能让我们的优质厨具成为全世界厨房里的帮手，更希望能在现有的市场领域之外开疆拓土。所以我本人和我们的团队都非常地重视亚洲尤其是中国市场。在中国我们仅仅花了两年的时间就组建了我们以Troy Shearouse总经理为首的专业团队，未来5年时间内，我们也希望能在渠道和品牌建设上有质的飞跃。希望在不久的将来，在每一个中国家庭的厨房里，都能看到我们Le Creuset的厨具，这也是我此时此刻最大的心愿。”