Proteak Cultivates Teak in Mexico
- By Jenna Lane, Contributing Editor
Proteak’s cutting boards and other teak products depend on a natural resource, so even though the company’s been around since 2000, it’s only been marketing product for a year and a half. It’s defying expectations from the plantation to the shelves of gourmet and independent stores.
In the beginning
Hector Bonilla knew he wanted to do some kind of forestry project in Mexico. With the help of forestry professionals and investors, he started looking for the right species – sustainable, valuable, and suited to Mexico’s climate. Teak turned out to be that species, even though it’s traditionally associated with Asia.
“He settled on an area north of Puerto Vallarta where the soil conditions and precipitation almost mimic exactly the teak-growing regions of Southeast Asia,” explains O’Neal Spicer, director of sales and business development. They wet rainy season and longer dry season allows the managers of the Proteak plantation to avoid irrigating, which, Spicer points out, is not the way teak grows naturally.
Turning points
Proteak started acquiring land, “going year by year depending on availability,” Spicer says, and now boasts about 7,000 acres under cultivation and some 2 million trees. “The land we plant on is generally used-up pasture land, cattle ranches that were overgrazed. The land is sitting there, unproductive. We go in, clean up, and plant.”
“The first plot was planted in 2000, and last year, after seven years of growth, we were able to go in and do our first harvest,” Spicer says. “You’re not going in and clear-cutting, but in forestry parlance, thinning. We take about 50 percent of the trees, which gives us some raw material but more importantly gives the trees that remain more light and more room to grow. Then we leave that plot alone for seven years. After 25 to 30 years and one final harvest, you replant.”
The company has been so careful about its land use, in fact, that it has already reached – three years ago – a major turning point in Earth-friendly credentials. The Forest Stewardship Council, known for its strict criteria, has certified Proteak’s forestry management practices and is now in the process of inspecting another level, the product itself.
To develop and market those products – distinctive cutting boards, carts and countertops – Spicer joined the U.S. operations of Proteak Renewable Forestry in 2007.
He finds the first thing that attracts people is “the unique aesthetic of the teak we’re growing.” They might say it’s unlike any teak they’ve seen before, because they’re not used to seeing the young teak’s blond tones. “When the tree is young,” Spicer explains, it has an almost equal proportion of heartwood to sapwood. We’re harvesting at seven years, rather than taking a mature tree out of the forest.”
Further, Spicer says, the product designs “are very simple and just allow the wood to express itself.”
Second to the design in most customers’ minds is Proteak’s “green story.” Besides its effort to cultivate its raw material sustainably, Spicer says, “we’re the closest source of teak to the U.S. Not only does that mean fewer emissions in bringing the teak to the U.S., it also means that we’re a verifiable source. If you buy Proteak’s teak, you know it’s not being extracted from forests because there are no forests to extract from in Latin America.”
Looking ahead
Proteak has no plans to enter the more traditional markets for teak, like the marine industry which is full of “nameless suppliers,” Spicer says. He has been working with the designers of skateboards, yoga blocks and even one Mexican sculptor’s dog figurines. But as a former sous-chef at Jeffrey’s, one of Austin’s longtime fine dining establishments, Spicer is most excited about the gourmet market.
“Bamboo markets itself as harder than maple, and maple has been the benchmark in cutting boards,” he says of Proteak’s niche moving forward. “We come in a little bit softer than maple. Teak is a very snug cutting surface; you get sort of a gripping quality with the knife without it gouging the wood. There’s very little slippage, and a nice solid surface to work on.”
Proteak may expand the number of grains it offers, beyond the popular end grain, which shows off what Spicer calls the “kaleidoscope pattern” of the wood, the herringbone and the edge grains.
Spicer also is looking at prototypes of products including bowls, rolling pins and coasters. He expects to introduce some of them in late 2008.
Proteak Products
Get to know Proteak
• Founded in 2000
• Plantation and mill in Mexico
• Headquarters in Wimberley, TX
• 30 SKUs sold in 150+ U.S. stores
• Up to 400 employees at harvest time
Learn more at proteak.com
