Tropical countries have been privy to wicker and rattan furniture for decades now. In the Canada and the US, the interest for wicker furniture, especially for Philippines’ furniture has only been increasing for about two or more decades now. The hospitality industry has been one of the most aggressive in the use of rattan furniture because of several reasons. One of them is that rattan can be used both for indoors and outdoors. This is especially good for hotels and resorts since they can interchange the furniture from time to time. The furniture helps to give a more relaxed and helps set the tropical theme of the hotel/resort. The ability of rattan to be used with other materials such as metal, wood, and even leather further helps to make it look more chic and modern. Another plus is the latest innovation of creating wicker furniture that can stand up to the different kinds of weather elements has made more people more assured of their furniture.
Nowadays, trade conventions and exhibitions have been promoting the use of cane furniture to all over the world. The companies that deal with wicker furniture also go to great pains to help their companies image. They would highlight the fact that their products do not cause damage to the environment by saying that they are eco-friendly. They will also make sure that they not will break any child labor laws. This approach has helped endear the rattan furniture industry to consumers who are very conscious of the environment.
Most companies that manufacture wicker furniture come from South East Asia. This is due to the fact that most of the raw materials like rattan and cane are usually indigenous to those countries, especially in places like the Philippines. Most of the people who work on wicker furniture are craftsmen who learned the skill from their forefathers. Most of the furniture is still being done by hand since not everything can be done by the machines. Most especially the more labor intensive processes like the weaving. The process and the treatment of the rattan is a very long process and the craftsmen are integral to the quality of the finished furniture.
This means that the rattan furniture companies based int he US or Canada have to import most of their furniture from all over the globe. They have to deal with other business from Philippines or they would have their own factories based in Asian countries. Once the furniture has finished and passed quality checking, the furniture has to be shipped by sea. This is the most cost-efficient way to handle them because of the furniture’s size and bulk. Usually the shipments take several weeks to arrive on US soil. As stated earlier, some companies have their own factories off-shore and just send packed materials to their onshore to be assembled. This helps to reduce the cost of shipping the bulkier items.
The wicker furniture industry has only been on the US shores for a short time yet it has already experienced a lot of growth. With all the positives and consistent high demand it is certain that the industry is still on the way up especially with the expanding variety of designs of the products out in the market.
