There are two things about Daneson that seem at odds. On the one hand, we identify with a life out of doors and the good things it brings. And on the other, trees are harvested to make our toothpicks. Granted all businesses have a conflict of this sort if you dig deep enough, but for us it is clear - toothpicks come from trees.
There is something about this direct relationship I appreciate. Foremost, it is equally as clear to see what Daneson needs to do - we need to put more trees back in the ground than we use.
It is one thing to replace what you use, and a whole other kettle of fish to affect the broader system. And we don’t pretend to have all the answers but as a start, we strive to work exclusively with American or Canadian suppliers. This way we know where the timber came from to make our toothpicks which in turn makes it clear where our efforts should be focused to conserve forests.
As an aside, this North American-centric ethos applies to all our suppliers from ingredients through to packaging. It's not a marketing ploy - it’s a way of doing business. As a result, you get a superior product.
We are also working towards using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified suppliers. In the near term, this will lend us an air of credibility, but it is not a direct relationship with the woods.
With a direct relationship in mind, for every tree we use in producing our toothpicks, we are replanting 100 trees back into forests. Furthermore, those replanted trees have a priority for non-harvest regions so that we know our initiative has a positive, rather than net, outcome.
The current goal is to maintain a minimum 1:100 ratio of consumption to preservation. In simple terms, if one acre of forest goes into Daneson then, at the very least, one-hundred acres comes out of Daneson in forest preservation.
It’s that simple. It’s a start. And we think it’s the way business should be done.
We call this natural wealth.
