Founder Arne Thomsson, sons David and Eric

Brookside Veneers Ltd.
104 Melrich Road
Cranbury, NJ 08512

Tel: 609/409-1311
Fax: 609/409-1322
E-mail: info@brooksideveneers.com


According to Brookside’s website,

“The first step in the manufacturing process is our selection of high quality hardwood logs from managed forests in Africa.”

These so-called “managed” forests are actually old-growth rainforests that are being liquidated for high-value timbers for export, in many cases by foreign companies that pay very little to nothing in taxes that will benefit the people in the country.

“Timber experts cruise the forest to hand select each tree, choosing no more than one per acre.

That’s because the species targeted only grow one or two per acre. Roads and skid trails have to be bulldozed through pristine forests to hunt down and cut these trees. They can range in age from 250 to 1,000 years old.

“Only Obeche and Koto are harvested from Africa. Alpi, our Italian manufacturer, supplements production with plantation grown poplar.”

Replacing ancient forests with monocultural plantations of non-native species makes no sense and is highly destructive.

“Once harvested, the trees are transported to the mill where they are trimmed, sawed to length and then debarked. The prepared logs are then mounted on a lathe, peeled into rotary veneer, and clipped to 25" veneer leaves. They are then dried, stacked and shipped to Italy for further processing.”

The tropical veneers Brookside imports include mahogany, ebony, rosewood, teak and sapele.

According to their website, Brookside’s

“…goal is to preserve our wood resource for future generations while providing long term economic benefits for the countries where we operate. Through stringently supervised forest management and extensive consultation with independent foresters, we carefully monitor our methods to maintain sustained yield management and minimize environmental impact.”

If this is the case, then Brookside should by open to verification through independent chain-of-custody certification by an organization accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Brookside veneers have been used by Herman Miller, Inc., Bose and Armstrong, among other.

Send a message to Brookside asking them to prove their commitment to low-impact forestry by providing independent certification for the veneers they sell.