Katto was founded by me (Josh) and my best friend Thomas in 2018.
The idea was born out of a pretty miserable period in my life during which I had breakdown of sorts and was eventually diagnosed with an acute anxiety disorder.
It was - as you might imagine - a pretty bleak time. And as most folks do, I tried everything I could think of to get better.
I stopped drinking and started running. I began yoga, and downloaded the apps and read all the books. I gave-up caffeine and took-up therapy. But to no avail.
"Have you tried cooking?", a friend said to me over a (decaf) coffee. "It's supposed to be very absorbing and meditative".
So I did. And it was.
It didn't seem to matter if I was reading a cookbook, shopping for obscure ingredients or quietly podding peas: time spent cooking (or thinking about cooking) was time that I wasn't worrying.
Having uncovered this new obsession, like lots of people, my first task was to buy all the kit. I wanted beautiful knives, sturdy chopping boards and lots more beside.
I wanted kitchenware which looked great, oozed character and had strong sustainability credentials. None of which seemed to exist. Or at least not for folks who (like me) earned less than a billion pounds a year.
I pitched the idea to Thomas over a disappointing lasagne (under-cooked pasta, not enough bechamel) and Katto was born.
The idea for our business is simple.
We believe that people nowadays want to own fewer, better things. Things which last. Things which they're proud to own. Things which make their days (and dinners) better.
We want to make those things.
But more than that, we want to make them the right way. We want to use the best possible materials. We want to use human hands, not big machines. We want them to have the minimum possible impact on the environment. And, perhaps most importantly, we want them to be affordable for folks who earn less than that billion pounds.
We started with knives (see here) and now we're taking on the rest of the kitchen cabinet.
To find out more about how we make things in our Sheffield workshop click the link below.
Thanks for reading.
Josh
