Why stainless?
A note on what we use, what we don't, and why.
If you're reading this, you've probably already started asking the question. Not in a panicked way — more like a quiet, recurring thought. You make considered choices about what you eat. You read labels. You pay attention. And then you open the cupboard and reach for a plastic container without thinking twice.
We're not here to alarm you. Most plastic used for food storage is considered safe under normal conditions. The honest answer is that the science is still catching up, standards vary by country, and "considered safe" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
That quiet doubt you feel is reasonable. We think it deserves a straightforward answer.
Start with the lid
Here's the thing almost nobody looks at, and it's the thing that matters most.
Your food doesn't only touch the box. It touches the lid — for three days, in the fridge, pressed right up against it. And in this category, the lid is where the plastic went.
Nearly every container you can buy closes with polypropylene. Not just the cheap ones. Chilly's, Stanley, Hydro Flask, Mepal, IKEA, Bentgo, Zojirushi. And every glass container sold in the Netherlands — Pyrex, Glasslock, HEMA, Duralex, all of them. Glass solved the box and forgot the lid.
Even Klean Kanteen, the most credible plastic-free brand in the category, ships a polypropylene cap as standard and charges extra for one that isn't.
Our lid is steel. So is our bottle cap. Not as a premium option — as the only option, in every product we sell.
See the whole category in one table →
Why steel
Stainless steel has been the standard in professional kitchens, medical equipment and food processing for decades. Not because it's fashionable — because it's stable. It doesn't react with food or drink. It doesn't absorb flavours or smells. It doesn't break down with heat, cold or daily use. What you put in comes out as it went in.
The grade we use is 304 — also written 18/8, for its 18% chromium and 8% nickel. It's the food-grade standard. It's what surgical instruments are made from. It's what a chef's worktop is made from. It isn't a premium upgrade; it's simply the right material for anything that touches food.
It is the grade on every surface that touches your food or your water, in every product we sell. It doesn't change by size, by colour, or by price.
One honest note, because we'd rather you heard it from us than found it out. Our bottle is double-walled, and the outer skin — the part your hand holds, which nothing you drink ever touches — is 201 steel, a lower grade. It makes no difference to your water. It is still covered by the ten-year guarantee, because we're not going to name a grade and then exclude it from the promise. We explain the whole thing, alongside everyone else's materials, here: what actually touches your food →
There are no coatings. No inner liners made from materials we'd rather not list. No hidden layers between the steel and your food.
The silicone seal — and why we point at it
Our containers have a silicone seal. Silicone is not stainless steel, and we won't pretend otherwise.
It's there for one practical reason: to stop your food from spilling. Food-grade silicone is inert — it doesn't react with food, doesn't degrade under normal use, and has a long track record in kitchens and cookware. We chose it because it does its job without compromising what the product is built on.
So the whole product is this: Steel. And one silicone seal. Nothing else.
Two materials. Both named.
We say two, out loud, because nobody else in this category would ever volunteer a number greater than one. They all round down. We'd rather you counted.
And the seal eventually wears out — silicone loses its spring after a few years of dishwasher cycles. So we sell you a new one, for a few euros, for as long as you own the product. Replacement seals →
What we won't tell you
We won't tell you plastic is poisoning you. Nobody honestly can. The research isn't there, and the brands that pretend otherwise are selling fear at a markup.
We won't say "BPA-free." That was the last reassurance, and it expired — BPA got removed and quietly replaced with a different bisphenol. We're not interested in being the next reassurance that runs out.
We won't hide a material. There are two. If a third ever appears, it goes on the page before it goes in the box.
We won't pretend steel is perfect. It doesn't go in the microwave. You can't see through it. It's heavier than plastic. If those things matter more to you than what your food touches — buy something else, with our blessing.
The argument, in three lines
- Plastic doesn't belong in food. (The Voedingscentrum says this word for word.)
- Nobody knows the long-term effects yet. (Every Dutch authority says this.)
- So why keep the question open, when a material exists that closes it?
Stainless steel is not a lifestyle choice. It's not a statement. It's a material that has been quietly doing its job in the most demanding environments for a very long time.
Replace the plastic. Once.
Food should be stored without doubt.