Lagostina review with an open letter to Lagostina regarding truth in advertising with Chinese made products promoted as “made in Italy.”
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A Lagostina Review – An Open Letter to Lagostina: Shame on You
Edited Oct. 2020: I’ve had to remove all the screenshots of the 1 star reviews, however, you can easily find them on Amazon. Questioning the fact that there are so many good Lagostina reviews? Maybe this is why.
Dear Lagostina,
It’s time for us to part ways.
When your PR company first contacted me to work together, I was over the moon. Lagostina, the Italian company with a reputation for quality, Italian-made products, wanted to work with Christina’s Cucina. I was totally on board because I thought our brands were a perfect match for each other. We had so much in common: high standards, a reputation for quality, and our Italian backgrounds.
If it wasn’t for my mother’s Christmas gift to me, who knows when I would have discovered the truth. Lagostina is no longer Italian, and most of your products are not made in Italy. Although, the biggest issue for me is that your company is not clearly presenting this information on your website or other retailers’ sites.
The discovery
My mother says I’m difficult to buy for, so when she saw how much I loved my Lagostina pots and pans, she bought me an entire set for Christmas. However, it was upon opening the box that I spotted (in tiny print, on the very bottom of that massive carton) “Made in China”. I cannot adequately express how I felt when I saw those three words, not to mention what my mother’s face looked like when I uttered them out loud.
Cooking rapini before I knew this was made in China.
I’m not alone: the typical Lagostina review.
I knew we were not alone in feeling deceived after reading several reviews on Amazon’s site regarding your company’s products. Below is a recent Lagostina review, and the reason for my choice of words in the title of this post. This customer’s explanation and why she is upset is exactly how my mother and I felt. I think Lagostina should truly be ashamed of this deceitful advertising practice. (Note: I disagree with the reviewer on blaming Amazon as they cannot possibly oversee every single product on their site.)
Since opening that box of cookware, I have spent a lot of time researching Lagostina’s US website and have yet to see the words “made in China”. When I first called Lagostina, I informed your representative how disappointed and upset I was, but there was no apology. I asked him if they could replace the Chinese made items with Lagostina’s Italian made counterparts, but he immediately refused, stating:
“They are not defective.”
Perusing Amazon’s Lagostina reviews gives a different viewpoint, and it’s rather shocking, to be honest.
Keeping vital information from consumers
The next day, I spoke to the Lagostina representative’s supervisor and explained my situation to her. She did have a response to the fact that most products are not made in Italy. She informed me that “Made in China is printed on the box”. I pointed out the fact that there is no box to read when ordering online. To this, she had nothing to say.
The verbiage on Lagostina’s “About” page, clearly leads the reader to think that your products are made in Italy. If you go to your website, see the photo at the top with the “made in Italy” stamp on the cookware? I would hazard a guess that after reading your “About” page (see the photo and text below), most people would come to the conclusion that Lagostina is an Italian company making solely Italian-made products. Sadly, I now know that this is not the case.
My mother had called Lagostina before I did. She explained that she had bought a set of Chinese made cookware for her daughter who was promoting the products as “made in Italy” on her website. Their response? “As a writer/blogger, she should have done her research.” How can one come upon information that is non-existent, or not clearly conveyed where one would think to find it?
The Lagostina Company is no longer Italian
There isn’t a significant difference in price between the Italian made and the Chinese made products, either. Actually, on Amazon the Chinese made pastaiola pot is about $5 more expensive than its Italian counterpart. It’s simply unfair not to inform your customers where your products are made. In fact, I just recently discovered that Lagostina is no longer even an Italian company:
“Groupe SEB (a French company) include All-Clad, Krups, Moulinex, Rowenta, and Tefal. According to the Groupe SEB website. They have faced considerable competition from low-price Chinese competitors, but have managed to maintain a constant sales level. A large proportion of their product lines are now manufactured in China.” -Wikipedia
I met my friend, Marie, for dinner the other night and she told me she had spotted a Lagostina pan at her local TJ Maxx recently. She remembered me telling her about the Lagostina brand, so she purchased it. However, she informed me that she immediately put it back in the box in order to return it when she spotted “Made in China”!
Lack of transparency continues
My contact at the PR company was also surprised to learn that most of Lagostina’s cookware is made in China. Luckily, she was much more understanding of the situation I was in. She agreed to send one of my giveaway winners an Italian made piece as a replacement. The PR rep also sent me a pastaiola pot that is actually made in Italy.
My number one priority is being honest and forthright with my readers. Now that I know that most of Lagostina’s cookware is made in China, I have no choice but to pass on the information to my followers. I also don’t like feeling as though I was purposefully misled. It is an understatement to say that from my perspective, Lagostina’s reputation has been tarnished.
I felt compelled to write this letter as a Lagostina review. Your customer service representatives seemed to not want to hear what I had to say, and I needed to let you know. I do hope that it has some sort of impact in the way that Lagostina (US) presents products on your website. Online customers researching on what they think is an Italian company’s site have the right to know where the cookware is manufactured–before the box arrives at their home bearing the words, “Made in China”.
Sincerely,
Christina Conte
To My Readers ~
I apologize for the Lagostina review posts that I wrote last year informing you that the cookware was made in Italy. As you can see from reading this letter to Lagostina, I had no idea that most of the pieces were made in China. Lagostina’s Heritage Collection is their only cookware line that is still made in Italy (at the time that this was written).
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Just bought a le creuset cookware set online. Little did I know that it was made in China as well. Right now tempted to return it to the local store of the same company. Same as issue as above not told that its made in China directly.
As for Lagostina been at least 15 years since most of their cookware is being made in China. It is a shame because we now have to research before we buy the item to ascertain its actual origins.
Made in China, does not guarantee any form of quality, quality assurance or trust. And I usually avoid many kitchen items that will suffer through repeated use and not purchase if made in China.
Last complete pan set that I purchased made in Europe was Henckels Sensation set which is made in Belgium.
Sorry to say, but cheaper price comes with unintended side effects including cheaper materials, cheaper workmanship and more profit for the company that is contracting in China.
Lastly, any Lodge cast that I purchase has to be made in USA or I will not purchase it.
So sorry to hear this Frances, but I completely agree and empathize with you. You do get what you pay for and those cheaper materials can even have consequences for our health. Just unfair that they don’t clearly state where the items are manufactured; we have the right to know. At least you know to check, many others don’t. It’s sad.
I just bought the lagostina grill pan thinking it was an Italian company with a good reputation..$169. It wasn’t until weeks later that I noticed it was made in China. I figured there was nothing I could do except feel stupid.
Disgruntled,
Absolutely not; take it back, Tina! As long as you are in the US, return it. If they refuse, which I doubt any company would if you explain being duped, then I would put it in dispute with my cc company (assuming you paid with a cc). It’s the only way to get the message to Lagostina. Good luck.
This is, unfortunately, a common practice today, especially among the higher end cookware brands: the core product is still made in the original country (France, US, Italy), but their other lines are made overseas–yet because of the name, the makers can charge a premium price for their Chinese-made cookware. Le Creuset, All-Clad, Viking, and (of course) Lagostina are all examples of that.
The moral, once again, is to read the fine print before buying–and if you can’t find the country of origin, it’s a pretty safe assumption that it’s China.
High five to you christina. Ii think more folks should take a stand as you did. Its one thing to pay a pretty penny for quality items but its downright wrong to pay just as much for an inferior knock-off from china. Most folks myself including myself, run the opposite way after reading “made in china” especially childrens toys and pet items. I will say that i do like chinese food, but cant lie when i wonder whats really in it. I love your honesty and moxey in calling the company on their dishonesty.
Thank you, Michella. I’m so sorry I missed replying to you until now, but this happens when I’m traveling. I agree with you on everything to wrote here. It’s very sad that we have to feel this way, but it’s only from experience. Thanks for your note.
Very informative article. I just bought a Lagostina Clay cooking pot. In one corner of the box written in tiny letters are the three words ‘ Made in China’. I haven’t been able to find any information about the product. It doesn’t say anything like lead free or such. I ordered it online so obviously I saw the pot, not the box. Searching searching searching for info, I came across your post. Thanks a tonne.
You’re welcome, Aman. Yes, unfortunately Lagostina is no longer the family company it once was. Good luck in your research. CC
Thank you for this information. I feel duped by Lagostina. I swear by it and just bought my daughter a 12 pcs set as her housewarming gift!! I also bought myself the cast iron pot and pan duo. I’m so disappointed to hear this but so thankful that u took the time to share this information with us. I only wish I had found it post before telling my daughter its the best out there and spending my money on it.
Is it too late to return her set and buy her another brand, Stacy?
Please note that you are confusing two separate issues as though they were one. In the process you are unfairly generalizing about all products made in China based upon some personal bias you have against anything made in China. Your criticism of companies that market a specific level of quality and then deliver something else is certainly justified! However, your leap to the conclusion that everything made in a country as large and diverse as China is of poor quality, dangerous or worse, is not justified. No modern American kitchen is complete without a wok for stir frying, indestructible bamboo cooking utensils to safeguard the finish on the interior of your good cookware and the myriad of finish safe disposable scrubbers we use for hand washing our special cookware. Those are just a few examples of indispensable Largely Chinese made products.
When a company contracts to have products manufactured in China, it has control over the materials to be used, the manufacturing process and the overall quality of the product. This is especially true for larger companies contracting on a long term basis. Before Lagostina agreed to sell any of its Chinese made cookware, it received, held and should have tested the product. Then, it decided to place the product on the market. Shame on them if they decide to go with a product of poor quality. However, the quality issue does not owe to the country where it was made, it owes to the quality and material standards set and agreed to by Lagostina. Had they chosen to do so, Lagostina could have contracted with a Chinese manufacturing firm to produce cookware of equal or better quality than their Italian made cookware, but they chose not to. That choice was theirs and it should not be blamed on the Chinese.
There is a totally different issue of counterfit or adultererated products that can and do come from China. These products are purposefully made and sold as part of a criminal enterprise. That enterprise can and often does include networks of conspirators from many nations. Every country has their share of criminals. The fact that some criminally made counterfit products eminate from China is not a rational basis to condemn all products made it that huge and diverse country.
If we have learned anything as a nation so far this year. It is that we cannot generalize about other nations, their people and their products without the specific facts to support those feelings or we risk becoming a nation of haters. It is often expedient or popular to generalize about a place as large and diverse as China because we do not share the views of its current leaders. I respectfully suggest that in this instance, we put the blame where it belongs, on those companies whose name is on the product, not on the country who manufactured it to their specifications. If you travel to China and meet some of the people in that diverse country you may feel differently about your Chinese product kitchen ban and who properly deserves responsibility for the product quality issue.
This is a classic case of blaming the victim (Christina’s Cucina) by Mr. Whritenour/Lagostina and his company for “not doing the research.” If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, then it should be a duck, right? In this case, it’s a Peking duck. If the Italians are abandoning their branding to the Chinese, there is no point in buying products that purportedly are made in Italy. It’s not because Chinese-made products are inferior; it’s because a code of trust has been broken between a consumer and manufacturer. By not disclosing the origin of a product with an Italian (or French or German or even American) brand, there is some discomfort and possibly shame on the part of the manufacturer with revealing the point or origin.
Amazon increasingly and unwittingly is selling counterfeit, inferior knockoffs of excellent branded products. They appeal to a buyer because the prices are incredibly cheap. Read the reviews!
Thanks so much for succinctly explaining what I had written in my post. I appreciate your support and your most important sentence is the last one: the reviews say more about the product quality than anything else! Thanks again!
Christina
Matt, please re-read my post: I am not confusing anything. I clearly and concisely wrote what my issues were and outlined the reasons why I feel as I do. The fact that Louise has clearly understood what I wrote and what I intended to convey makes it obvious that you are the one who has misinterpreted my post.
Christina
“This is why I absolutely refuse to use anything in my kitchen which is from China. I try not to buy anything from there, but sometimes it’s impossible not to. ”
This is your comment Christina and I’m pretty sure I understood every word. I am saddened as you love to travel, see new places and meet new people. Yet you are too quick to blame the Chinese for faults of those companies that set the specifications for the goods that they ask the Chinese to make. I love your blog, but we will hVe to agree to dis agree about blaming the Chinese.
I am sorry you don’t understand my perspective, Matt. However, I have had too many personal experiences and read too many sad stories from products which were made in China. I have nothing against the Chinese people, in fact, one of my very closest friends is Chinese!
The fact remains that when I purchased a “memory foam” mattress for my young daughter, we had to put it outside due to the noxious chemicals which were being emitted from it. I had to fight for 6 months to return it as it was a health issue, and refused to let my daughter breathe those chemicals for 10 hours a night. US made products are not permitted to have the chemicals which were in this mattress, and when we purchased one which was made in USA, there was no chemical odor.
It is a fact that many ceramic and china products from China contain high amounts of lead. It doesn’t matter to me if an American company ordered them, I still won’t buy them. It is a fact that Chinese milk was contaminated with melamine. It is a fact that there have been many incidences of dogs dying from contaminated dog food from China. I know that there are many recalls on food in the US, but I choose not to take my chances on a country which has set a reputation of very poor decisions on quality. Whether or not the US and/or other countries are involved or not, it doesn’t matter to me–I will not buy the products. The bottom line is that no matter who is to blame, these unsafe and poor quality products are coming out of China.
Hi Matt,
I’ve read through this entire blog post and its comments and have to agree with what you’re saying. No matter how much this blogger backpedals, it is extremely evident in her post (and her replies to likeminded commentators) that she does have a personal bias against China.
For someone who’s claims to love cooking, sharing of cultures and travel – it’s very disheartening to see her write unjustified comments about China the way that she did here.
To be frank, this entire post only proves the type of person she is beneath the simple “love for cooking”. The content on this blog is well written with informative posts, so I sincerely hope that new readers/potential followers don’t come across this post on their first visit.
For someone who “claims to love cooking, sharing of cultures and travel” -yes, I do, my entire site proves this. My comments about China are not unjustified in any way, shape or form. I have personal experience from a mattress from China that was so noxious, we had to keep it outside (the store refused to take it back, so I had to put it in dispute with the credit card company due to health and safety issues, including having formaldehyde in the mattress, and won.) Would you sleep on, or have your child sleep on a mattress all night, every night that made it difficult to breathe because it was so full of chemicals? Baby formula has been laced with melamine, dog and cat food from China killed peoples’ pets. Chemicals in sofas ate through peoples’ flesh and you say I’m unjustified in saying I don’t want to eat anything that is cooked in a product from China (which often contains lead)? I’ve just gone back and added links which I found immediately from my first google entries, and these were just the few things I remember off the top of my head! You can check into what the Chinese do to seafood and other food they send to the US. I refuse to eat anything that is grown or processed in China for this reason, also. My “bias” as you call it, is called learning from experience. It’s what we do to keep us alive longer; survival of the fittest and all that. You are attempting to call me out as a racist, and that is something that I am not.
If anything, I think someone reading this for the first time would understand that I am doing the right thing and warning others so that they don’t have to learn the hard way like the rest of us who dealt with Lagostina. It is misrepresentation, plain and simple, and I have never “back-pedaled”. Please feel free to buy their products and test them out for yourself, Alina.
[…] all opinions are my own. EDITED: please note that I have since learned that only a few pieces of Lagostina cookware are actually made in […]
Good for you! What a shame that they are deceiving consumers. Everyone wants to cut corners these days. I’d rather spend more and get a good quality product. I hope they become more transparent!
Thanks for your support, Cynthia. I feel EXACTLY the same way. I’m so willing to pay more for quality and I’m loyal to companies that treat me as thought they actually care about me. For example, Lenox replaced some old dishes I had that they acknowledged there was an issue with in manufacturing. They didn’t need to do this, but the fact that they stand behind their AMERICAN made products has made me a fan for life.
Thank u for ur post. My daughter’s getting married soon & wants a good set of cookware. Now I know who to avoid.
Glad you saw my post. Congratulations on your daughter’s marriage!
Hats off to you, Christina, for raising the issue! Sadly many a customer have resigned themselves to forced acceptance regarding Chinese ware – mostly because China has taken over our livelihoods. Meanwhile companies like Lagostina are crafty: they rely upon their brand prestige in order to push goods of a lesser quality to their customers.
You notice it across the board with tableware goods too. Beware those established long-standing heritage brands: most have closed down their operations (think the Stoke-on-Trent potteries in the UK), and have quietly relocated their production to the Far East; they won’t even bother mentioning the country of origin (‘Made in China’) on their packaging or on their wares, misleading customers into the belief that they purchased a genuine piece of British heritage. I got tricked in ‘reputable’ British department stores!
You are exactly right, Nathalie! That’s why it’s even more wrong, IMHO, because the original Lagostina company creators built up a reputation of quality and the new owners/managers totally take advantage of this reputation. However, what they don’t realize is that it will only last so long. Once customers realized they’re being taken advantage of, they’ll never buy another one of their products and will tell others about their experience.j
I was just in the UK and noticed in TK Maxx that all the mugs said, “designed in England”. Well, guess what? To me, they may as well just stamp it “Made in China” because that’s where I’m going to assume they’re made, and would bet my house on my guess, too. Left with zero mugs. Sad.