EvoWood – An innovative brand that constantly focuses on making woodworking easy, not only reduces all the hassles that come with engineered wood related tasks but also offers great design possibilities and aesthetics. The brand has also been a proud recipient of the Red Dot Design Award in 2019. It recognizes Canadian Wood as a dependable partner for high-quality, seasoned, and graded wood species and wood sheets supplied from sustainable forests in British Columbia (B.C.).
In an interaction with Buildingandinteriors.com, Mr. Avijit Marwah, Director, EvoWood, talks about the challenges and opportunities in scaling-up, the latest industry trends, the brand’s affiliation and inclination towards Canadian wood species, and the other factors that contribute to EvoWood’s ecosystem.
EvoWood and the concept of ‘Woodworking evolved’
As a company, EvoWood identifies as a wood engineering firm. Not to be confused with engineered wood, we believe in wood engineering which means keeping the wood in its natural form but designing the product to overcome its natural constraints, such as size limitations, warping, cracking, and other issues that you would face due to change in weather conditions and moisture content.
Therefore, we believe ourselves to be a solution provider to the industry where we are trying to make working with wood simpler for all the stakeholders of the interiors industry. Be it the contractors or designers, we aim to give them wood in a form where they can play with it.
Our key product is these solid wood sheets that we manufacture. These are 8×4 feet or up to even 12×4 feet sheets made out of purely natural wood in different thicknesses. So, that actually acts as a blank canvas for the designer because they can create different design patterns. Unlike most other products where possibilities are limited to two dimensions, solid wood sheets by EvoWood allow working in three dimensions. The designers can even work in the depth.
So, that is where woodworking evolved comes from. We are doing woodworking in a new manner that has previously been impossible.
Our Current distribution models
We have our own company-owned showroom in Gurgaon as well as in Mumbai. Other than that, we work with our partners Pan India covering all the major cities, such as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai. So, we have pretty much covered all the regions of India.
In addition, we have overseas partners in Taiwan that take care of the Taiwan and Japan market. We have recently joined hands with someone for the UK market and we’re exploring the US market as well.
Customer composition
Anyone in the interior can be a customer because wood, being the kind of material it is, appeals to all sorts of projects and customers. So, anyone who is working in the interiors industry, be it the designers, manufacturers, or contractors falls within this category.
Typically, the designers are the specifier and the client would be the builders and developers from all sectors including retail, hospitality, commercial, and residential.
Reaching out to the woodworking community
Being a fairly new and unique product, social media is one way that we are reaching out to our customers to inform them about it. We have a social media presence that constantly targets the audience. But majorly, meeting the architects in person and participating in exhibitions like INDIAWOOD helps a lot.
We have a dedicated team that constantly keeps in touch with architects and interior designers. Any member from this community is welcome to explore our products we also invite them to our display outlets from time to time. We educate them about our product and its usage in their projects and provide them with customized solutions for their projects.
We also tap on the project specifiers through our dealer network because they are already supplying various products from their portfolio to the architects and designers. So, when they add EvoWood products to their portfolio, they also start to market that to their designers.
I believe, with EvoWood, in India, we have been able to achieve that critical mass where the majority is aware of this product and have started to use it as well.
EvoWood products: A value addition to the woodworking projects
First and foremost, the EvoWood products in themselves are a valuable addition to any project. For instance, if a designer wants to do something different on a wall, laminate, veneer, stone, tile, are the most common options. But when you want to do something in wood, it becomes a challenge because you have to get it made on site.
So, we are able to provide a very simplified and ready-to-use solution. Also, through our engineering and production, we optimize the product in a manner that there is no wastage. We are able to even customize the designs that a designer would want and offer technical assistance right from installation to finishing.
Benefits of using the Canadian Wood species
Currently, the two species I work with the most are Yellow Cedar and Western Hemlock from Canadian Wood. Both of these are very different kinds of species offering varied benefits.
Yellow Cedar is a very unique wood in its own sense. It’s one of the best woods for exterior application because it has certain biochemicals that repel pests and termites. Being a lightweight wood species, it also offers structural stability. Also, the Yellow Cedar that we import is dimensionally stable lumber. Currently, we are doing a project in the hills where it’s being used in the exteriors as hand railings.
Western Hemlock is a light-coloured wood species that is quite economically priced for woodworking. It stains beautifully making it an excellent product that we are using for our doors. The main advantage of using Hemlock is that coming from a mature tree, it is better than using pine. So, the pattern, as well as staining of the wood that you get, is superior in terms of quality.
Our association with Canadian Wood
EvoWood has been associated with Canadian Wood for almost five years now and in the last 3-4 years we have been extensively using the Canadian species.
The team has been quite fantastic in terms of the marketing efforts that they put in. They are able to create this awareness about working with wood and using new species that has made our job way easier.
Additionally, wherever we had any sort of challenges or any questions, their team has always given us appropriate solutions. Peter Bradfield, in their Bombay office, is very knowledgeable on the wood species. So, he has been able to guide us in choosing the right species for a certain application, whenever required.
Challenges and opportunities in the engineered wood industry
The uniqueness of EvoWood products ensures that they cannot be duplicated easily.
Having said that, people have, kind of, moved away from wood due to the convenience factor. Everyone has the conception that using wood is not an eco-friendly practice. However, it is completely the opposite of that. Wood is the most sustainable building material.
Therefore, a shift in mindset is required. Moreover, a mature understanding of the fact that being a natural material, engineered wood will behave a certain way is required. Currently, this is not prevalent in the end customer base domestically. Also, the market that we cater to is niche and has a specific high-end consumer base.
With respect to the international market, the global pandemic has caused a lot of challenges in the overall supply chain and resulted in higher prices.
However, I believe that with the course of time, we would be able to overcome them as well.
We need very specific kinds of woods for our products. For example, in Hemlock, you get mixed grain and vertical grain. Vertical grain Hemlock has a more subtle grain pattern with a very straight line.
Now, due to COVID and the overall world demand, sourcing wood sheets has become a challenge in the sense that prices have gone up, and the wood species is not readily available.
Upcoming trends in the woodworking industry
People are starting to use wood much more than they did in the early 2000s. Now, they are going back to using wood more as they understand how eco-friendly it is.
The common perception that wood comprises only the teak and the brown tones is being proved wrong. Currently, we use it in a much more contemporary fashion in minimalistic interiors as well. So, people are opening up to the idea of using it in more imaginative ways.
Particularly with Evowood products, the design has always been either horizontal or vertical. But, now, the trend for diagonal is going to start.
EvoWood – Growing aggressively
South India has been our strong woodworking market for a long time. In addition, we are strongly focusing on international markets such as Norway, Taiwan, the USA, European Nations, North America, and the Middle East. Along with this, we are also working towards strengthening our domestic sales channel.
Get in touch with Mr. Avijit Marwah at:
Phone: +91 9810504102
Email: avijit@evowood.com
