ZIKICO

Mitsunori Yamase, the mind behind ZIKICO, conceptualized the brand when he noticed that the metallic odor of spoons, caused by the decomposition of lipids by oxidizing reaction of metal, often hide the flavor of the food. He realized that food was much more flavorful when consumed directly from the dish without a spoon. He was determined to produce an alternative material that was durable and did not compromise the taste of the food. ZIKICO, with its exquisite zirconia cutlery, aims to allow people to savor the real taste of food.

Zirconia is a type of ceramic made from minerals, offering 3 properties ideal for cutlery: made from 2 types of crystals nearly as hard as diamond or ruby, with an even balance of metal-like hardness and suppleness, made by sintering at high temperatures. Like pottery, zirconia does not release metal ions, and is thus hypoallergenic. The zirconia processing technology is a combination of the technology of plastics, a mass production technology, and the art of ceramic. ZIKICO's unique industrial powder injection molding and shaping process yields products with consistently beautiful lines, while to achieve surface perfection, each piece is then hand-finished by expert artisans.

In 2017, ZIKICO's zirconia soup spoon won the Good Design Award. In 2018, ZIKICO received the JIDA Design Museum Selection Award. In 2019, ZIKICO won both the iF Design Award and Gold A' Design Award 2019 for the SUMU Cutlery Series.