Sustainability in the DNA

To the top of the global market for outdoor furniture in less than two decades: that is the bottom line that Scancom, a company that was founded in 1995, can look forward to even before celebrating next year’s 20th anniversary. “When I first arrived here the lights went out at eleven in the evening and we were woken the next morning at half past five with PA announcements, political slogans and military music,” reminisces Bøje Bendtzen, founder of the company. His “here” is Ho Chi Minh City, the capital of Vietnam, where the company’s story actually began. The globally operating company still has its headquarters in Vietnam. A major part of its production is also still located in this country as well. Head office is in Korsør, Denmark. It is the philosophy of the house to have the production processes in its own hands, and to keep control of them. Nevertheless, it does still work in cooperation with contractual partners. Altogether the group employs a workforce of some 5 000, while another 8 000-odd work for the sub-contractors. Apart from Vietnam, Scancom also maintains its own production facilities for teak furniture in Indonesia, and operates two sawmills in Brazil. Bøje Bendtzen chose this South American country for the production of hardwood, the company’s raw material. The background to this was the problem of getting hold of reliably certified raw materials in Southeast Asia. A problem that was solved by an FSC-certified eucalyptus plantation of around 100 km x 100 km in Brazil, with which Scancom maintains a long-term partnership. A paper factory makes use of the younger trees, leaving the older, bigger trunks, which are of a quality that is extremely suitable for outdoor products, for the manufacture of garden furniture. The company has received certification from WWF for its consistent use of sustainably produced raw materials: the supplier was the first ever privately run company to receive the Gift to the Earth Award in 2001, in recognition of its founding of the Tropical Forest Trust. For as Bøje Bendtzen asserts, the company is really serious about sustainability. “It is in our DNA,” he says. ‘Doing business the right way’ is its maxim. That is why Bendtzen attaches such importance to providing decent working conditions and paying above the minimum wage. He says that it is only possible to maintain the level of quality through this strategy. It is also why he refuses to work in cooperation with prisons in Vietnam, which offer to make wicker…