Brooks Bros believes the prospects for its sustainable EcoTeak are “excellent” having already secured more than £500,000 of orders for the Sri Lanka-sourced product in the past 12 months.
Speciality Woods, a division of Maldon-based Brooks Bros, has the worldwide exclusive rights to EcoTeak, which has seen a significant increase in sales following the US and EU ban on teak sourced from Burma because of the country’s military dictatorship.
Speciality Woods director Hans Ng told TTJ the product was sourced from managed and sustainable plantation forests in Sri Lanka, to would receive full FSC accreditation “by the end of the year”.
“We want to make people more aware of their choices,” said Mr Ng. “A lot of people still don’t know about EcoTeak and the fact that there is an alternative to Burmese teak.”
Speciality Woods now has a significant UK stockholding of between 85-100m³ of EcoTeak, with a value of £400,000, with regular monthly containers now arriving to further build landed stocks. Recent deals have seen £250,000 of EcoTeak supplied to a US customer for a joinery contract on a new build house; around £100,000 to Sweden for mouldings; and between £100,000-200,000 worth of orders for a major boat builder.
“We are not looking to sell it to everyone who wants to buy teak in the world,” said Mr Ng. “We want to work with specific customers who understand the product and realise the benefits that EcoTeak can bring.”
Ray Jones, head of division of Speciality Woods has worked closely with the Sri Lankan sawmills to develop a commercial supply chain for the product, as well as helping socially by providing funds to assist a local junior school.
And, said Mr Ng, the prospects for EcoTeak are “excellent”, particularly when the product gains its FSC certification.
“Brooks Bros are on the Olympic Timber Supply panel,” said Mr Ng. “With the Olympics promising to be the greenest games ever, EcoTeak would be the perfect choice.”
