Magic tableware that mellows the palate of any beverage with its unique metal catalyst technology.
Stylish and luxurious feel created by the high technology of Tsubame-Sanjo and the sophisticated design of product designer Michio Akita.
Commitment to Our Products
Brand History
[Under the theme of "environmental technology × design," we are engaged in product design products that make full use of our unique metal catalyst technology cultivated in the wastewater treatment business.
For about 70 years, we have been developing our wastewater treatment business in Shiga Prefecture, home to Lake Biwa, which boasts the largest volume of water in Japan. About 15 years ago, we came across "metal catalyst technology. This technology made it possible to minimize the amount of catalyst and obtain efficient reactions by surface treatment of inexpensive metals instead of very expensive catalysts. This technology, which reduces the viscosity of liquid fuel through a catalytic reaction, when reacted with wastewater containing oil and fat, efficiently separates water and oil and fat, thereby increasing the efficiency of wastewater treatment.
However, explaining this catalyst technology was extremely difficult. Therefore, we attempted to help people understand the technology by having them experience the reaction of softening a liquid by drinking it. The taste of the drink seemed to change as the reaction softened the liquid, giving the impression of a change in mouthfeel. The cup with the metal catalyst that we were carrying around as a sample at the time was just one of our technical presentation materials, but we received requests from all over the place to commercialize it, so we started product development.
For those of us who had been in the service industry, product development was a new challenge. Catalysts are very expensive, even in small quantities. Therefore, the finished product would inevitably be expensive. Therefore, we decided to focus on the design of the product because we thought that the quality of the design had to be satisfactory as well.
It was then that I met product designer Michio Akita. Based on Mr. Akita's idea that "design must be user-friendly," the brand's first product, "78mm" (stainless steel tumbler), was born. It was difficult to reproduce the design, which was filled with thoughts for the user, such as the thickness of the plate used and the angle of the welding, and for two years no company would take on the manufacturing of the product. After two years of rejection, we finally met Takeda Corporation, based in Tsubame-Sanjo. Two years after the conception, the [78mm] was finally completed and VANTECH PRODCUTS was born in 2017.
