Painting bands on ceramics, Bob De Armond is one of 38 employees at H.F. Coors China Co., the largest producer of restaurant china in the western United States. The company moved to Tucson four years ago and sends its products out from a South Side warehouse.

Photos by Dean Knuth / Arizona Daily Star

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Arranged on stainless steel shelves sit hundreds of glossy and colorful plates, bowls, mugs and platters.

The dishes, made locally by Tucson-based H.F. Coors China Co., will soon leave the dusty 33,000-square-foot warehouse on the city's South Side and be sent to some of the biggest companies in the hospitality industry.

"We take the greatest care with everything we make. We have a tradition to uphold," said Dirck Schou, 64, president of the 82-year-old company at 1600 S. Cherrybell Stravenue. The company was founded by Herman F. Coors, son of Adolph Coors, who founded the namesake brewery.

In 2003, Schou and partner David Sounart bought H.F. Coors' assets and moved the company's operations from Los Angeles to Tucson.

Schou and Sounart, who started locally based Catalina China Inc. in 1990, incorporated the H.F. Coors trade name into a division of Catalina China.

The company is now considered the largest producer of commercial china in the western United States. It makes miniature collectible tea sets for the The Longaberger Co., an Ohio-based craft company, and one of H.F. Coors' biggest clients.

The wholesale company also provides custom dinnerware to a roster of national and local companies, including Hilton Hotels and Tucson's own Beyond Bread bakery and cafes.

"The company is awesome," said Shelby Collier, owner of Beyond Bread.

After Collier tried to find other companies to make custom capuccino mugs, he turned to H.F. Coors for the design.

Using overseas suppliers usually raises prices by about 25 percent, because of freight and shipping costs, he said.

"There's no company out there that can do what they do with custom orders," Collier said. "We're lucky they're here in our own backyard."

Besides cutlery, the company's 38 employees make creamers, trays, serving dishes, salt and pepper shakers, mustard pots and tea pots.

Inside its warehouse, workers create and oversee every item — from its beginning as squishy clay forms to its last delicate touches of paint.

Since moving the company to Tucson four years ago, Schou and Sounart have been concentrating on steadying local operations and building up sales in Arizona, California and Las Vegas, along with sales to small national chains.

Read a Q&A with Dirck Schou, Page D7

Take a video tour of the H.F. Coors plant and see more photos at www.azstarnet.com/business.