Partnering with Cider Press Woodworks

For the past 10 years Brad Sullivan of Cider Press Woodworks has been a key figure in our design development. Cider Press Woodworks is a custom design and build shop out of Quakertown, PA (centrally located between New York City and Philadelphia). They deliver high quality framework, furniture, and architectural millwork to commercial clients on the East Coast. Brad Sullivan's personal interest in our material and story is what sparked the long-standing friendship between the two companies, but the implementation of a full collaboration only recently became possible.  

As we were studying the forest, building community relations, and seeking funding, Brad and his team of skilled craftsmen were experimenting with the Whole Forest material. In fact, most of our online portfolio is comprised of projects by Cider Press Woodworks. Despite the success of those projects, the nature of our company demands that we move forward deliberately. We're a vertically integrated company with a holistic perspective, meaning we must be aware of every impact our actions have. There was little data to show for the performance of Whole Forest's material, and any misstep in the development of products would be to the detriment of the Ecuadorian community and Chocó Forest. With this in mind, we slowly moved forward in product development and continued to collaborate with early adopters.

We're finally at a strong point where we understand the material and the impact of harvesting it, so the long-awaited collaboration with Brad's team is now possible. Our Head of Product Development, Maura Costello, moved from Quito, EC to Quakertown, PA in order to work full-time on prototyping and marketing. Maura will be working one-on-one with Brad's team to rapidly experiment with a variety of product offerings. Whole Forest is close to having a completion date for the Ecuadorian manufacturing facility. We hope to offer a range of high quality products by the time the factory is complete.

This collaboration represents a new era for our company. The transition into selling products online means that we can continue to build strong communities, protect the rainforests, and sustain a healthy planet. We'll be providing continual updates from the shop through our instagram, so make sure to follow us.