Buying Indonesian Teak Furniture? Be Wary

Many companies that sell Indonesian based teak furniture can offer such low prices because of the immoral and criminal logging that goes on within the country, not to mention typically cheap designs and low quality craftsmanship.

Most furniture that comes from Indonesia is made in the backyards or front porches of Indonesian families who get paid "starvation wages" so there is no real consistency to the quality of their products.  These companies will put together quality "prototypes" for display in showrooms but when it comes down it, the majority of their products are high maintenance and will very likely fall apart. 

Also, an article in Business Week Magazine entitled "Rainforest Rescue" by Mark L. Clifford, Hiroko Tashiro, and Anand Natarajan, goes into detail about the illegal and immoral logging problems in Indonesia as well as the resulting civic unrest. The article goes on to state that many well known companies are cutting purchases from Indonesia, alot of them completely. Particularly, the American Forest & Paper Association proclaimed that its "members would no longer buy illegal wood products -- and has singled out Indonesia as a special concern". At TeakPlanter.com, we provide only high quality furniture developed from Costa Rican plantation teak that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council