We did go to press on April Fool’s day this week, but the piece in our special focus on Austria & Switzerland about the de-stressing properties of stone pine is the genuine article. It strikes me as a story for our troubled times. It highlights a commercial opportunity for enterprising timber companies and a discovery that could help soothe many a recession-troubled brow.
There has been anecdotal evidence for a while that stone pine, or Pinus cembra, has some sort of relaxing effect, with beds made in the timber helping you sleep and interior cladding inducing feelings of calm. But now the Johanneum Institute in Weiz, which sounds like something straight out of a Bond movie, but is probably nothing of the sort, has proved that there is something to it. Its tests showed that stone pine does aid sleep and even slows your heart rate – although, not dangerously so.
The researchers are too cautious at this point to say for sure, but they think it’s all down to the essential oil odours the wood gives off, possibly combined with an effect it has on melatonin levels and a capacity to block electromagnetic radiation. But whatever it’s doing, Austrians and Germans are reported to be lapping it up. Since the Institute released its findings, sales of stone pine beds have increased in both countries.
There is no guarantee that UK consumers would go for it too, but pharmacists here do report sleeping tablet sales rising in inverse proportion to the downturn in the economy.
More encouraging reading this week is our focus on the Saint-Gobain Building Distribution Timber Group. This major, multi-faceted operation exudes confidence in the potential of the UK timber and wood products market and its investment in training and in improving perceptions of timber as a dynamic, sustainable material should be a boost to the industry generally, as well as its own business.
