IKEA, the world’s largest furniture brand with 460 stores across 62 markets, is sourcing more wood from Sweden and the Baltics to offset the loss of supply from Russia and Belarus, which it has shunned due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine. In the 12 months through August 2022, IKEA used 20 million cubic meters of wood in its products, packaging, and communication materials.
“We have managed to replace those volumes in other countries on a very hot wood market,” said Ulf Johansson, Inter IKEA’s global wood supply and forestry manager.
Johansson explained that the war in Ukraine has led to a rise in IKEA’s wood sourcing from Sweden, the Baltics, Poland, and Germany, with some of the solutions being short-term and others long-term. Before the war, Russia and Belarus were the fifth and sixth biggest wood suppliers for IKEA, accounting for 6% and 5% of its supplies, respectively.
To meet customer demand for greater transparency, IKEA launched a map on its website that shows the origin of all its wood. Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden were the three biggest suppliers of wood to IKEA in the 12 months through August 2022.
IKEA uses wood from over 50 markets worldwide and has set a goal to secure that all wood used in its products comes from more sustainable sources. This means that only FSC certified or recycled wood is used. All suppliers must be able to track the origin of the wood used in IKEA products, and the company requires them to submit reports on their wood use three times a year.
IKEA’s due diligence system implements multiple safeguards to ensure the legality and compliance of the wood entering its supply chain. The company’s global wood supply and forestry team conducts around 200 global audits annually to verify compliance with IKEA requirements.
Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA takes responsible forest management and wood sourcing seriously and places them at the core of its business.
- Extracts from Reuters
