While on holiday in Costa Rica 20 years ago, keen gardener Klaus Hennerbichler became convinced his ecological approach to cultivation could produce dividends in Central America. Now Teak-Austria is vying to take a slice of what it sees as a lucrative market in garden and outdoor wood product sales in the UK by trading on quality and sustainability.
The company imports exclusively from its plantations in Costa Rica where it has two million teak trees and is expanding with plans to acquire more land and embark on a reforestation programme.
The felled timber, which is FSC certified, is shipped to Austria for processing into sawn timber and finished products. General manager Martin Jachs was at Timber Expo this year, looking for UK distribution channels.
"Our goal is to supply teak from an absolute sustainable source. We bring it to Austria and process it as roundwood and sawn timber. The UK is very serious about sustainability and FSC. Gardening is a big thing in the UK and garden benches are made of teak," he said.
"We are looking for a wholesaler to which we would supply sawn timber to the dimensions they require. We would not look to supply finished products to the UK because I don’t think we could compete against the Asian importers."
The company imports teak logs that are 20-30 years old and 12-16in in diameter in lengths of 2.2-4m. The timber is dried at the company’s factory in Schöendorf, in Upper Austria, and processed into semi-finished goods in a range of dimensions. Much of the output is for outdoor and marine decking, and a separate company produces finished garden furniture and buildings. The timber is also sold through authorised distributors for use in flooring and veneers, and added-value interior products.
The company, which employs 16 people, has a turnover of €1.5m and is part of the stock market-listed Teak Holz International (THI) in Linz. The subsidiary sells mainly in Austria, but the wood is becoming increasingly popular in central and eastern European countries, Mr Jachs said, where the company has recently strengthened its distribution activities in Switzerland and eastern Europe. He said the company also has its own research and development department, which works with academic and industry research organisations.
Mr Hennerbichler, THI chief executive, established Teak-Austria after seeing teak plantations on that Costa Rican holiday 20 years ago. He believed he could apply his ecological approach to production, maintenance and cultivation of teak plantations, and marketing of the product. He began with 30ha and after attracting investment expanded to 1,000ha before starting the stock-listed THI.
Teak-Austria began processing in 2003 and received FSC chain of custody certification in 2009. The company now has 2,000ha under cultivation with an estimated two million trees.
"Our aim is to buy more land for reforestation," said Mr Jachs. "Teak is an excellent product; it is strong, there is no problem with decay and it grows very fast. Teak wood is one of the most valuable and interesting forestry raw materials of the 21st century.
"Teak guarantees cosy ambience in all its applications, be that boatbuilding, terracing or facade design. It has a soft face and is both beautiful and durable. It contains a high level of natural oils and is particularly long-lasting and inherently stable. Besides, teak neither splinters nor secretes resin. And 20 years from planting the seed, we can cut a tree."
The trees are grown under ideal climatic conditions in Central America. The company said that as a result of intensive forestry treatment, the mechanical and chemical wood parameters from the plantations are equal to those of teak from primeval forests, but with the advantage of sustainable plantation management.
THI has set a target to have 4,500ha under cultivation and aims to boost the present turnover of Teak-Austria from €1.5m to €4-5m in up to four years. "To do this we need more investors and in these times gaining investors for anything is very difficult, but we are very hopeful," said Mr Jachs.
The sustained quality of the teak was the company’s strength, he added. "Some of our competition has plantation teak with the same species, but not the quality. We’ve worked very hard on this because quality is the most important thing for us within the fact that it is absolutely sustainable. We also have a good quality of machinery for grading, sizing and processing.
"Teak trading is trading on trust. We have our own stock and our customers can inspect it and look at the quality. We don’t sell a container and they only see the quality for the first time when they open it."
