FOR more than 35 years, East Teak Fine Hardwoods has distributed and manufactured a wide range of products-decking, siding, flooring, and architectural mouldings-from a variety of exotic hardwoods. To set itself apart, the company has made offering certified and sustainable wood its top priority.
"We are constantly sourcing new FSC-certified products to guarantee the legality and sustainability of our wood resources," says president Wayne Rogers. Recently, the company's search led to Accoya, a molecularly altered wood developed by Accsys Technologies and promoted by its wholly owned subsidiary, Titan Wood.
"East Teak had been looking for a new product for some time that would be unique, FSC-certified as legal and sustainable, have the durable qualities of exotic hardwoods, and be moderately priced for all of those qualities," said Matt Mladenka, East Teak's marketing and sales director.
When he read an article about Accoya and learned that Titan's U.S. headquarters were right across the street from East Teak's corporate offices in Dallas, Tx., he decided to investigate further. "After six months of product education, testing and negotiating, both companies believed the partnership was a good fit and moved forward," said Mladenka. "We feel that Accoya is a 'wonder wood' that would be the perfect alternative to teak or the other popular exterior woods, such as cedar, redwood, ipe or mahogany."
In January, East Teak entered into an agreement with Titan to import and distribute Accoya in North America, including the Caribbean.
East Teak will be milling Accoya into exterior decking, siding, and custom mouldings at its manufacturing facilities in Donalds, S.C., and Sultan, Wa. East Teak will also work with custom door and window manufacturing companies, while Titan Wood will work directly with the larger door and window companies.
According to Titan, the non-toxic acetylation process used to produce Accoya was designed to improve the performance and appearance of radiata pine and other sustainably grown softwoods without compromising the wood's strengths or machinability. The process reduces swelling, shrinking, and cracking, while improving resistance to UV light, insects, and micro-organisms such as fungi.
"Innovative technologies such as that used for the production of Accoya will give end users the confidence to turn to fast-growing, sustainable species, safe in the knowledge that their performance can match that of the very best tropical hardwoods in demanding applications," said Finlay Morrison, c.e.o. of Accsys.
Accoya is manufactured in Titan's state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Arnhem, Netherlands. Mladenka says that Titan's long-term goal is to produce the wood in U.S. factories using North American woods such as southern yellow pine.
Mladenka noted that East Teak has high hopes for Accoya. "We sell the highest quality of everything, only the finest hardwoods. Accoya is a 'Cadillac' wood that fits that philosophy."