Betterwood is the somewhat different timber trade: more sustainable, more transparent and more committed than the traditional companies. At this point we would like to give you a look behind the scenes and introduce the people who Betterwood make possible.
We founded our company in 2009. Our goal was to promote sustainable forest management in the tropics and thus stop the displacement of forests by agriculture. The idea came from Christian Körting, who tackled the project together with his sister Catherine Körting. Together with Philip Jaeger, Catherine's partner, was founded.
place of incorporation: Ganghoferstrasse 2, Berlin-Neukölln
Betterwood Website for the year 2011
Originally, our business idea consisted of acting as an agent for brokering certified tropical timber to the timber trade. However, the established companies in the industry showed little interest in the eco-tropical wood. This is how the idea of direct sales came about: Why not work without agencies, importers and wholesalers and deliver the good wood directly to private customers and their craftsmen? Our onlineShop Betterwood was the key: more transparent, more direct and more ecological. This allowed the sustainable idea to unfold its power. Because unlike large parts of the trade, private customers are interested in whether forest is being destroyed or protected for their terrace.
While we were always in Berlin with our sales department (from Neukölln via Treptow and today in Moabit), our warehouse once moved across Germany. We stored our first container with FSC®-certified Cumaru decking boards from Bolivia at a forwarding agency in Hamburg. Then the camp moved to Michendorf near Potsdam. In 2014, the warehouse in Nümbrecht in the outskirts of Cologne was opened. Location, area and the employees on site have allowed us to put down roots there.
Small hall: our Nümbrecht warehouse before the expansion
Big hall: part of our current stock
A lot has changed since we were founded a good ten years ago. The idea of sustainability has moved from its niche to the center of society. Online trading has established itself. Thousands of customers know us and have recommended us. So far we have been able to do without advertising and prefer to support environmental projects with the money. Every year we grow, without foreign investors and only from our own resources. We need to increase our stock and will introduce new products. Our team will grow and we will continue to develop technologically. But we never lose sight of our founding idea: to promote sustainable forest management in order to protect the forest.
(photos to follow)
Founder and CEO
Catherine was born in Bogotá and grew up there with her brother Christian. After graduating from high school, she moved to Germany. After working in Hamburg and Munich, she now lives in Berlin. She is our managing director and responsible for the strategic development of our company.
Founder, management and purchasing
Christian grew up in Bogotá with his sister Catherine. Today he is in charge of purchasing and is responsible for working with environmental protection organizations and for our environmental projects. Christian is on the Advisory Board of the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) and on the Tropical Timber Committee of FSC® Germany.
Founder and Marketing
Philip grew up in the Oberberg district, near our current camp. He studied philosophy and history, founded a magazine and worked as a journalist for the business magazines Capital and Impulse. Today he is in charge of marketing and responsible for the technological development of our company.
Warehousing and Logistics
Colin organizes the internal processes in the warehouse and is the master of inventory. He started as an order picker with us and knows the processes inside out.
Sales
Lorena studied musicals and is the wife of our purchasing manager Christian Körting. After engagements for Stage Entertainment in Stuttgart and on the cruise ships of the Aida Cruises, our sales department supports you in the season with terrace planning and customer questions.
Sales and design
Manuel studied industrial design at the Braunschweig University of Art and founded a start-up for innovative furniture in his hometown of Berlin. Today he accompanies our customers in their projects and creates the 3D models of our products and construction instructions.
Sales manager
Onno has known our company since its beginnings: it was founded at his kitchen table. Born in Hamburg, he earned a master's degree in philosophy and history from the Humboldt University in Berlin, founded a magazine with his friend Philip Jaeger and is now in charge of distribution Betterwood.
Sales
Pascal studied Economics and Business in Amsterdam and Environmental Sciences at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He is the contact person for our customers and develops our sustainability concept together with Christian Körting.
Sales
Raphael studied business administration at Humboldt University Berlin and LMU Munich. After his time in the music and film industry, he switched his focus to sustainability. at Betterwood he takes care of customer inquiries and supports the management with reporting in strategy development.
Accounting
After completing his training as an IT systems manager, Rick traveled through Japan for a year. After his return he started at Betterwood and takes care of our bookkeeping.
Warehouse and logistics manager
Tobias was one of our first employees in our Nümbrecht warehouse while he was still studying business informatics. Today he manages the warehouse and logistics on site.
picking and production
Nine employees in the warehouse ensure that our customers receive hand-sorted goods and that the custom-made products also fit. They don't want to see photos of themselves on the internet - but our forklifts are also important helpers.
The team from the ProSieben show “Galileo” visited us in our camp and in one of our forests in Peru. The result is a film that describes our new path in the timber trade.
In the late summer of 2016, our founder Catherine Körting Pacheco was portrayed by the WE Project (Womenentrepreneurs Project) of the European Commission. The co-founders Christian Körting Pacheco and Philip Jaeger also have their say.
Know where it comes from
We are proud that our wood comes exclusively from sustainable forestry. That's why we're happy to show you where the tree grew and what we're doing for the rainforest.
Our commitment to the environmentDon't have a customer account yet? Then register here.
Opening a coustomer account
