A clear conscience

Demand for FSC®-marked garden furniture is increasing from all corners, and it’s a trend that is largely consumer-driven.
“For us, this is a way of bringing wood to the fore and differentiating it from other types of timber and furniture,” says Joakim Andersson of outdoor living products company Hillerstorps Trä.

Andersson is the Marketing Manager of Småland-based Hillerstorps Trä, one of the biggest manufacturers of pine garden furniture in the Nordic region.

“We were one of the first furniture manufacturers in Sweden to become FSC certified. That was in 1998. The furniture produced at our Hillerstorp factory is made exclusively from Swedish pine. The company’s FSC certification is yet another way of highlighting the wood we use and differentiates it from other types of timber and furniture available on the market,” he says.

Annual inspection

FSC is the acronym for the Forest Stewardship Council. According to Andersson, it is neither difficult nor expensive to satisfy the requirements of the FSC. Companies that hold a “traceability certificate” must be able to keep track of the proportion of FSC certified timber they use in their products. An inspection visit is carried out at least once a year.

“All our wood furniture is manufactured at the factory in Hillerstorp, so we employ an extensive in-house inspection process.”

What is demand like for Swedish timber garden furniture?

“There has been a clear seismic shift in recent years. Demand for Swedish-made furniture is increasing, particularly glazed furniture. We have managed to strengthen our market position, even during this period of economic recession, primarily on the Scandinavian markets. Many customers have expressed a clear desire to buy FSC certified products, and interest has increased significantly over the years,” says Andersson.

Jysk is one of the biggest retailers of garden furniture in Europe, with stores in Sweden, Denmark, the UK and Norway. The company began its collaborative relationship with FSC in 1999.

“There wasn’t a wide appreciation of FSC at the time, but consumers are now increasingly aware of what the organisation is and what it stands for. The last few years have seen a number of changes take place,” says Jonas Schrøder, Head of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) at Jysk.

He says that, because of its size, Jysk must lead the way in encouraging responsible forestry throughout the world.

“We have to take responsibility. Illegal forestry practices constitute a major problem in many places, and if we can help by steering things in the right direction it can only be good for the industry as a whole.” In 2010, 75% of the outdoor furniture sold by the company was FSC-marked.

“This season, that figure has risen to 80% and covers all our territories as our procurement is centralised. The remaining 20% is made up of teak. Although the proportion of FSC-marked teak furniture is increasing, it is still difficult to get hold of. Our aim is to be in a position where 100% of the furniture we sell is FSC-marked within the next few years,” says Schrøder.

100% FSC certified

Another of the big chains, Plantagen, has already succeeded in achieving this goal.

“All our garden furniture for spring 2011 is FSC-marked. Customers are showing great awareness and look for the mark, so it’s vitally important,” says Evelina Sjögren, Head of Marketing at Plantagen.

About 50% of the productive Swedish forest stock is FSC certified. In total, more than 450 Swedish companies are affiliated to the global mark, which according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), is the fastest-growing certification system in the world at the moment.

“Sweden has been at the vanguard in terms of certifying its forests. In order to achieve FSC certified production, you have to be able to keep a tight control over your raw material, and this is where the Swedish forestry industry has led the way,” says Tony Ohlsson, Marketing Manager at Da’Core, which last year bought Swedish family-owned company Harbo Fritid. Harbo still operates as a brand within Da’Core and manufactures pine garden furniture in the southern Swedish town of Fagerhult.

“We only use certified timber in our mauve process, buying in materials from sawmills that offer 100% certified products. We have no forest of our own,” says Ohlsson.

Harbo became an FSC affiliate in 2002.

“We had received pressure from German and British chains, all of whom were leading players in terms of FSC involvement, and started to make similar demands of our suppliers quite early on.”

More scope for clarity

Ohlsson says that demand for marked garden furniture is increasing all the time.

“The chains want to create a distinctive image for themselves and believe that becoming FSC certified is one way of achieving this, so our ability to sell FSC certified products to them gives us a significant competitive edge. However, end consumers aren’t really all that aware about what FSC actually is or what it stands for. I would like the marketing to be made better so that customers can understand what they are buying and not buying,” he says.