Forest Stewardship Council
We do buy some chestnut which comes from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sites. We support the principles of the FSC. But most of the chestnut we use comes from local woodcutters who work by themselves, in local woods which we know well. Those woods are not FSC certified. They are not working for a big company, with office staff looking after paperwork and they do not want to pay a registration fee to obtain a certificate to say that their wood is cared for to a certain standard. We believe that their chestnut is of an equal standard to FSC chestnut. They are very concerned about the continuation of their crop – it is their livelihood after all – and , having been in this industry for many decades, we believe we have the experience to judge that their woodlands are well managed.
Grown in Britain
The same applies with the Grown in Britain campaign. Again we support the principles underlying the campaign, but the paperwork behind it is rather daunting for us and our woodsmen . We know all our chestnut is grown in Britain ( indeed it is mostly grown within a few miles of Haslemere ) and that it all originates from well managed woodlands.
The Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group
We are members of the Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group.
