Charleroi-based World Kitchen's market reflects its global name

Glass has been produced in Charleroi for more than 121 years.

But Charleroi-based World Kitchen is making its name, appropriately, in the world's kitchens.

Glassmaking has been a tradition in the Magic City since the plant was opened in 1893 by MacBeth Evans.

The plant was purchased by Corning Glass in 1937 and subsequently by World Kitchen in 1998.

The Charleroi plant will be celebrating 100 years of manufacturing the Pyrex brand during 2015.

While products made for the international market make up less than five percent of the roughly 50 million pieces made annually at the Charleroi plant, those glass items made in the Valley are sold in Russia, Mexico, Latin America and especially Asia.

“The largest part of what we export are knob lids – clear and tinted glass,” said John Lackovic, acting plant manager at World Kitchen's Charleroi plant.

Those lids are matched up with glass bodies made elsewhere and exported.

The tinted – or vision line – are produced for consumers in China, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and portions of Japan and Vietnam, Lackovic said.

“They boil, a lot on their kitchen tops,” he said, referring to residents of those countries. “The vision line is so named because you can see what's inside them.”

The bottoms for the tinted line are made in France.

The clear lids match with CorningWare for distribution throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Lids made here for the Simply Lite line are shipped overseas.

Lackovic said the glass storage products – anything with a lid – are made to go from the refrigerator straight to the microwave.

The Charleroi plant also produces rice bowls and nine-inch salad plates, designed as a pair, for export to China. They are made in tinted – or tan – glass, which is popular in the Asian market.

The rice bowls and salad plates were added to Charleroi's assembly line within the past year as plant management tinkered with ways to increase production. In 2013, more 90,000 such sets were produced.

“The rice bowls are something we had sourced outside Charleroi,” Lackovic said. “We had the molds here and we looked at what it would take to bring it here.”

Lackovic noted that Chinese consumers prefer American- or European-made products to those made in their own country.

The Pyrex classic line, such as lasagna, cake and pie plates and mixing bowls, are exported to Mexico and parts of Latin America, Brazil and Australia.

World Kitchen has an office in Singapore and a Latin American sales team.

The local plant employs 340 to 350, producing glass around the clock.

The bakeware and storage product lines are especially made for the domestic market.

World Kitchen is the largest manufacturer in the Mid-MonValley, according to Lackovic , who noted the historic tradition of glassmaking in Charleroi.

“The Pyrex brand name is the number one product in its market,” Lackovic said.

“A lot of that has to do with the workforce here continuing to meet the challenges before them, including the product or cost improvements necessary to maintain manufacturing in this area.

“I give credit to the union and the management. And it's more than one generation. It's the work ethic of the area.”

Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2642 or cbuckley@tribweb.com.