Canadian Wood partnership with MAS Furniture: Pranesh Chhibber

In a recent interaction, buildingandinteriors.com spoke to Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director of FII India, and Shabbir Vagh, Chief Executive Officer of MAS Furniture – a progressive channel partner of Canadian Wood, to gain valuable insights into this partnership. An impressive outcome of this partnership was at display in IndiaWood 2024.

In an insightful take, both Pranesh Chhibber and Shabbir Vagh throw light on how Canadian Wood’s engagement with MAS Furniture helped the latter in the adoption of sustainable practices and the exploration of new possibilities in woodworking and furniture manufacturing.

Channel Partner Perspective – Shabbir Vagh, Chief Executive Officer, MAS Furniture

Embracing sustainability – MAS Furniture’s commitment to using wood

Wood is one of the few renewable resources we have on our planet. In today’s world, wherein climate change has become a reality, it has become imperative that all of us use the planet’s resources wisely and more importantly switch to sustainable and environmentally friendly materials. We owe this not only to our generation but also the future generation to come. Governments and citizens around the world are realising this. There is, for sure, a push on expanding the green cover around the world. Positive steps are being taken to reduce the use of plastic, concrete, metals, and fossil fuel wherever environmentally friendly substitutes are available. We all know wood and wood products are plausible choice to be used as a substitute for most of the major polluting products the world is battling today.

As a furniture manufacturer, MAS furniture responsibly uses its resources. We consciously use local species that are plantation grown for our manufacturing. The factory generates electricity through solar energy to process our wood, making our energy needs clean and reduces our dependency on fossil fuels. In addition to local woods, MAS also imports timber to meet its raw material needs.

Lately, we have been using larger volumes of soft woods as compared to hard woods. The price points are better and the material is easier on our machines and cutters. Additionally, we know that most of the material is from sustainably managed certified forests. This is especially true for the wood being imported from Canada.

MAS Furniture’s journey with FII in using Canadian Wood for sustainable furniture solutions

From the time FII has been active in India, MAS Furniture, a part of the VAGH Group of Companies, has been keenly involved with them in understanding the possibility of using Canadian soft woods as a substitute for the many Indian hard wood species. The steep increase in price of Teak, the wood of choice historically, has become unaffordable. Customers are now willing to look at other options. Although price points are important, many customers are also questioning the source of the wood and preferring timbers that are sustainably grown.

As manufacturers, we have enjoyed numerous interactions with the highly knowledgeable team at FII. Through these engagements, they have provided us with technical insights and information, enabling us to use their woods effectively across various applications.

We have observed that Hemlock proves exceptionally well-suited for interior furniture, particularly the quarter-sawn grade, characterized by tight grains and robust joinery. Moreover, it readily takes on stains, facilitating seamless integration with diverse interior decors. Similarly, Yellow and Red Cedar work well for certain outdoor and poolside furniture pieces, with Yellow Cedar also demonstrating suitability for door and window frames. Our collaboration with FII has extended to learning comprehensive manufacturing techniques, including wood-framed house construction using SPF & Douglas-Fir for framing structures and Cedar for cladding and decking.

The collaboration, teaching, and mentoring has been very valuable to MAS. With years of firsthand experience using Canadian softwoods, we confidently affirm their comparable attributes to many traditional hardwood species we previously used.

Influence of Canadian Wood on our work

In recent years, the influence of Canadian softwoods on our work at MAS Furniture has been significant. Thanks to the efforts of FII in India, there has been widespread awareness regarding the availability, pricing, and properties of Canadian softwoods. Most importantly, many traders and mills now maintain ready stocks of various species, ensuring easy access to materials for our projects. This has effectively addressed the issue of material unavailability that previously hindered our manufacturing processes.

Red cedar has emerged as our wood of choice for crafting outdoor furniture, pool furniture, gazebos, and trellises. We have successfully executed numerous projects using J grade SPF for staircase treads, benefiting from its stability and suitability for this application. Additionally, SPF finds common use in our factory for internal styles and rails of doors, where the old growth wood’s tight rings ensure dimensional stability, mitigating issues like warping or bending.

The growing trend of architects and customers specifically requesting Canadian softwoods for their projects is particularly exciting for us. Informed clients, especially when working with natural materials like wood, allow us to cater to their needs more effectively. It is gratifying to witness how readily we can now fulfill such demands, thanks to the availability and quality of Canadian softwoods in the market.

Brand Perspective – Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, FII India

Pranesh Chhibber

Canadian Wood’s association with MAS Furniture

As part of our market development program, Canadian Wood engages with leading architects and manufacturers on an ongoing basis in projects where wood is used extensively, whether it involves just re-man, structural application, or both. Canadian Wood team supports them with technical assistance on selection of appropriate species, grades, and sizes, and handholds to source the same locally or through imports.

During the course of our interesting journey, we made some very good friends, like Ar. Gurpreet Singh, Founder-Director of Aakar Design, Gurgaon and Shabbir Vagh of Mas Furniture, Mysore. Both Gurpreet and Shabbir have a passion, skill, and craft on working with wood. At Canadian Wood, we appreciate and admire these traits immensely. Our stall at IndiaWood 2024 was meticulously designed by M/s Aakar Design and beautifully brought to fruition by an equally meritorious organisations, namely M/s Mas Furniture and M/s Woodcrafting.in.

Shabbir is known for his meticulous eye for detail and for his remarkable furniture designs and interior projects. We have been collaborating with Mas Furniture for over a decade now. Personally, I have known Shabbir since 2005-06. As a result, we conducted two extensive programs on Building with Wood at the premises of MAS Furniture and also set up a couple of wooden demo houses at their sister concern in Mysore. Moving forward, we, at Canadian Wood, will continue providing technical assistance and training by engaging domain experts from Canada as and when deemed necessary.

Canadian Wood at IndiaWood 2024

Since its inception in India in 2013-14, Canadian Wood has been a consistent participant in every IndiaWood trade fair. We showcase the 5 distinct Canadian wood species, presenting them in a new theme each time. This approach not only underscores the versatility of Canadian wood but also highlights that all Canadian wood species are certified and legally harvested from sustainably managed forests of B.C. Canada.

A key attraction for manufacturers towards Canadian wood lies in the meticulous processing of the wood. All Canadian wood species are duly sawn as lumber, graded, consistently sized, and seasoned. This process alleviates the burden on manufacturers, as it eliminates the need for sorting the wood upon receipt. Consequently, manufacturers can focus their efforts on the creative and productive aspects of their woodworking projects, confident in the quality and consistency of the Canadian Wood they use.

True to our track record, we showcased Canadian Wood species at IndiaWood 2024 in a fresh thematic display. This time, we showcased exquisitely designed and crafted furniture in the setting of a luxury suite of a 5-star hotel. We believe this immersive experience will captivate designers, manufacturers, and end customers alike, sparking their interest in Canadian wood as a raw material for high-end projects involving wooden furniture and interior fittings.