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Hello everyone, Megan here!
Some of us here at Tuin have recently taken a trip across the water to Tuindeco. They are based in Coevorden, Netherlands. The aim for my attendance to this trip was to learn more about Tuindeco and our business practices. To gain insight as to what made them become one of the biggest competitors in the Log Cabin industry.
So, after the ferry trip that consisted of napping, eating Bitterballen (Highly recommended by the way) and a drive to Coevorden, we arrive at the office of Tuindeco. We were met with a large showsite and friendly employees, including the owner of Tuindeco. We were soon into discussion of the actions they implemented over the winter, ensuring a successful collection of cabins ready to sell. Show further down into this blog.
Tuin Tuindeco Supply & Demand
Winter can be a rough time in this business. Sawmills running low of wood and struggling to supply it with the demand of companies wanting to restock their Cabins ready for the busy summer period. Tuindeco came up with a process that allows them to get their supply of stock, as well as keeping the sawmills going with jobs during the hard period. This starts with them buying an area of trees to be sent over to the sawmill. Then hiring them to cut them into the required logs. This may be an expensive way about doing things however by supplying our own wood to the sawmills we are then able to get a consistent supply of Log Cabins. As well as keeping the workers in the sawmills in work during the quiet winter months. Allowing a fairly win-win situation for both parties.
Stacked Up High!
During this talk, they often mentioned about how much stock they had. I though they may had been exaggerating this a little. But I was soon proved wrong when we were taken around their warehouses. Their warehouses are spread across the town of Coevorden, with plans for more land into consideration. The warehouses closest to the main office were filled with Log Cabins!
I’ll let the images I took speak for themselves.
There was hundreds of Tuin Tuideco Log Cabins, all organised in their allocated sections and stacked as high as it was safe to. These pictures show just some of the many Log Cabins within the warehouse. As well as a large section dedicated to our Garden Furniture range. All ready for a quick dispatch to our customers.
There was also a noticeable difference with the Log Cabins this year regarding packaging. A shrink wrap has been implemented to protect the cabins so they can be stacked as high as they are. As well as reduce the chance of water leakage into the package.
The Snow White Playhouse looking protected in the new shrinkwrap packaging.
Sights & Smells
After looking around in amazement at these two large warehouses, we were then taken to another area of Coevorden where there was two more large warehouses- These ones were filled with our timber supplies:
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- Not all of the timber could fit inside the warehouse!
If only I could share the smell of all of the fresh timber inside those warehouses. I was also delighted to see the regulation stickers on the timber as shown below. All of our timber comes from sustainable sources. Trusted and approved by the regulators such as FSC, PEFC, KOMO and Indonesian Legal Hardwood.
Though it may appear like a lot of timber just stacked up on top of each other, care is put into the layout of the warehouses. With fragile items such as glass carefully stored near the corresponding items (for example, glass table tops).
After seeing all of this, as well as hearing plans for them to expand even more- I am more convinced that Tuindeco will be able to successfully supply the demand of their hundreds of retailers across Europe, including us.
Tuin Tuindeco Show Site
To finish off the day, I drifted off from the business talk to explore their showsite. It’s much bigger than ours and stocked with some new products in the 2018 range. Here are just some of my favourite products I photographed. You may find more updated across the site to the corresponding product pages.
At first, I wasn’t too sure when I saw the Wicker Picnic Range in the catalogue. However, after seeing them in real life, they were spectacular. They’re comfy and appear to be very durable. As well as being unique in their design, there aren’t many wicker/rattan picnic sets in this style on the market. Made with Aluminum framing to prevent rusting, the rattan braiding was done straight over the framing. Made from a synthetic material in order to make their maintenance pain free.
The Oakland Eight Piece Wicker Lounge Set has been tested and approved by myself for comfort levels. A great addition to any garden seating area.
This Larch DIY Veranda was on our list for quality checking before preparing to list it for the UK market. With a polycarbonate roof available as well as the sliding glass panel – It certainly impressed us and hope to impress our customers too. Keep an eye out for when this will be listed in the near future!
Pardon the rain in the next two photos, but the newly added entrance verandas, found in Shepherd Hut Accessories, also looked very impressive to the eye – A great way to personalise your Shepherd Hut and make a more inviting entrance to your Garden Office or Summerhouse!
Conclusion
And these are just to list a few of what’s within their showsite – Overall, I can confirm that this was an impressive trip, from looking at the new catalogue products as well as gaining more insight of Tuindeco’s business practices- I hope this was insightful to you as well!
If you’re still curious about Tuin Tuindeco, you can read more about how we operate from our Tuin About Page as well as the Tuin Tuindeco in Pictures blog.
