Money Grows on Trees

[Akavit]

Okay, okay.  I cheated a bit on the title.  It grows like grass too.

Here's a fun article that was linked in an industry newsletter I subscribe to.

Like disposable knives, forks, coffee cups and shopping bags, chopsticks are often only used for a few minutes before being tossed in the trash.

Thinking about the amount of time, effort and energy that goes into the production of the utensils found in many Vancouver eateries, Felix Bock decided he'd find another purpose for the otherwise trash-bound sticks.

Bock founded ChopValue, a line of wooden products made from the chopsticks discarded from more than 2,000 Vancouver-area restaurants. It is estimated that more than 100,000 bamboo chopsticks are thrown away every day in Metro Vancouver.

"When you look at it from a resource perspective... You quickly realize how large the volume is that we throw out," he said.

"I just took $200 of my teaching assistant's money at UBC and said, OK, I am going to invest it in recycling bins," he said.

He installed chopstick recycling bins in several restaurants, the contents of which are then sorted and cleaned. Once sanitized, the sticks are coated in resin and dried.

Then, they are placed into trays and transferred into a hot press. Heat and pressure turn them into the square tiles he uses to make his products.

ABC:Used Chopsticks = Home Decor

The hardest part about generating a profit is identifying the market.  One method of identification is to look for waste (time or resources) and find a way to eliminate it.  Eliminating waste simply means turning useless time or resources into valuable goods and services that people will buy

[Greg]

Sorted, cleaned, dried, heated, resin.

Sounds expensive.

[Bernadette]

Sorted, cleaned, dried, heated, resin.

Sounds expensive.

Gotta spend money to make money, Greg.

[Greg]

I struggle to understand how a business like this sells enough to make a profit.

$25 for 4 bamboo coasters?

Don't tell me they are making money until you see their accounts.

They might be funded by some do-gooding West Coast investor who likes the greenie credentials of the business.

[Vidi Aquam]

I struggle to understand how a business like this sells enough to make a profit.

$25 for 4 bamboo coasters?

Don't tell me they are making money until you see their accounts.

They might be funded by some do-gooding West Coast investor who likes the greenie credentials of the business.

Hi, I sent you a PM some days ago, have you seen it? I don't know if I have to post a certain number of posts before I can send PM's, since the message says it was sent.

[Akavit]

I struggle to understand how a business like this sells enough to make a profit.

There are various ways to pull it off.  First of all, lots of wood product companies are trying to find inroads into the reclaimed business.  It's a niche market but those who get into it can tack on a pretty good premium.  Three of my suppliers send reps out to visit on a regular basis so I get to hear what trends are on the upswing.  Last summer one of the reps said his company introduced a whole new line of "reclaimed" cabinet doors and trim.  His opinion was that it would fail because nothing was reclaimed but simply new material distressed to look old.  That sort of misses the point.

I'm not sure if it's the case anymore but for awhile, marketing gurus had the public convinced that bamboo was a responsible alternative to wood (combat deforestation!) despite the need to ship it across the Pacific.  People may finally be learning that the domestic lumber market manages forests well so deforestation isn't a danger.

So reclaimed bamboo has the potential for a double punch in terms of marketing.  That allows for high prices - especially when marketed in trendy regions.

Sorting, cleaning and disinfecting, heat and resin sound fancy, but are almost certainly adapted from common industry processes.  A power washer can be used to the for cleaning and disinfecting (local dog food factory used them to clean meat grinding equipment).  Sorting may be as simple as separating the various lengths or tossing the broken ones.  Heat and resin is used on all man-made sheet goods such as plywood, mdf, osb and particle board.  Considering a person can buy a 4'x8'x3/4" sheet of mdf for $25 it's not necessarily an expensive process.

The biggest trick is scaling up enough to drive the costs down and there's a good chance that the people developing the process intend to sell their material and are only making products to demonstrate how it can be used.  If they can generate decent sales, refine the process and show a small profit, they'll have a chance of selling it to a larger company that can scale it up.

If anyone has seen DAP RapidFuse super glue at Lowes, that's an example of a product that was developed by a small team then sold a few years after it hit the market.  The former product name was NexaBond.

[Bernadette]

Sorting may be as simple as separating the various lengths or tossing the broken ones. 

I would love this job!   

[Akavit]

Sorting may be as simple as separating the various lengths or tossing the broken ones.

I would love this job!   

How cheap are your rates?  I was thinking about suggesting a robot for the job.

[Bernadette]

Sorting may be as simple as separating the various lengths or tossing the broken ones.

I would love this job!   

How cheap are your rates?  I was thinking about suggesting a robot for the job.

Will work for coffee and pastries. 

[Akavit]

Will work for coffee and pastries. 

Might strain the budget.  Will instant coffee and day-olds from the grocery store suffice?

[Bernadette]

Will work for coffee and pastries. 

Might strain the budget.  Will instant coffee and day-olds from the grocery store suffice?

We are not amused (much). 

[Akavit]

It's so hard to find good employees these days.  With all the benefits they're demanding, how are the owners supposed afford a personal team of chefs and the helicopter kitchen?

[Carleendiane]

It's so hard to find good employees these days.  With all the benefits they're demanding, how are the owners supposed afford a personal team of chefs and the helicopter kitchen?

Do you value your employees, Akavit? The birds' request was so simple. Really. Good food is necessity. Good food=good work. Does it take a mother to hold a presentation on how to treat your employees? A pastry+coffee = satisfied help. Geesh. Just so simple. Right Bird?

[Bernadette]

I actually thought it was pretty funny, myself.

[Carleendiane]

It's so hard to find good employees these days.  With all the benefits they're demanding, how are the owners supposed afford a personal team of chefs and the helicopter kitchen?

Do you value your employees, Akavit? The birds' request was so simple. Really. Good food is necessity. Good food=good work. Does it take a mother to hold a presentation on how to treat your employees? A pastry+coffee = satisfied help. Geesh. Just so simple. Right Bird?

Oh. My. Goodness. I do hope NO ONE TOOK THIS SERIOUSL! It was a joke, but I can't assume everyone is going to get my stupid sense of humour.Really, I didn't mean a word of that. Besides, I don't mind day old one bit!!!! ? Therefore...I may be a cheaper hire than Bernadette.