Decor Solutions visit to Riga Wood, Latvia

Some members of our team recently had the opportunity to visit Latvijas Finieris in Latvia. Both Decor Solutions (and our sister company DHH Panel Products) regularly visit our suppliers around the world. These trips are for personal development; and help us gain a better understanding of our supply chain and associated products.

Latvijas Finieris are a Baltic plywood producer based just outside of Latvia’s capital, Riga. You may also know them by their English name, Riga Wood. This reputable manufacturer has been producing Birch Plywood products since 1873, and are known internationally for their products.

Our team visited four mills in total, enjoying the opportunity to observe the full production of a range of products, from logs arriving from the forest, peeled into ply veneers, selection and grading, and also the finishing and packaging lines.

In addition to our mill visits, we also visited the Betulin Laboratory. This innovative lab uses by-products from the plywood process, for pharmaceutical purposes. The range of birch bark extract applications is extensive and used in a range of pharmacological activities such as anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. This is an intelligent way to use by products naturally occurring in the production process of birch wood products. The team also visited the port in Riga where ships are loaded and products are stored prior to dispatch.

Visiting our suppliers on a regular basis enables us to maintain good business relationships, ensuring compliancy with Health & Safety; the EUTR, and any FSC or PEFC Chain of Commands. These relationships enable us to sell with confidence, assured all our products are sustainable, accredited, safe and fit for purpose.

Conflict wood from sanctioned countries still continue to pose a problem to UK markets. It is imperative importers ensure integrity of the origin of products and visits to our suppliers provides assurance of compliance on every level.

Thank you very much to our Latvijas Finieris and Riga Wood colleagues for a great few days! We are proud to offer plywood products from Riga Wood that are safe, legal, certified and sustainably produced.