The fundamental difference in Proteak is harvesting – or thinning - young teak trees on our plantations to make room for other trees to grow to maturity. These younger trees have a greater proportion of lighter sapwood than mature teak trees and this fact accounts for the distinctive contrast with the darker heartwood. In terms of strength and durability young teak is essentially the same as mature teak. Rather than burning the thinnings or sending them off to Asia by the container-load, we’ve found a way to mill these smaller logs and turn them into the beautiful products you see here.

In light of the fact that sources of indigenous mature teak in places like Myanmar (Burma) and Indonesia have been largely depleted by both legal and illegal logging, future supplies of teak will come almost entirely from plantations. Given this reality, it is important to note that not all plantation teak is of the same quality. Some plantations receive too much rainfall or are artificially irrigated. Others don’t receive the proper nutrients from the soil and must be fertilized. At Proteak, we carefully choose the location of our plantations to match the precipitation levels and soil conditions found in the world’s most renowned teak growing regions. The result is slow grown teak with a dense grain that comes very close to matching the structural and aesthetic characteristics of old-growth teak.

Furthermore, Proteak’s geographic proximity to the United States is an added bonus and significantly reduces transportation costs and environmental pollution related to long-haul shipping.