PODIUM is a Thai furniture manufacturer with 40 years of experience in producing wooden furniture.
The combination of attractive design and cutting-edge innovation is the key to the company’s success.
The company recently launched a new brand aimed at eco-conscious online consumers.
Founded in 1983, PODIUM has many years of experience in manufacturing wooden furniture for importers, especially in the USA and Japan. The brand has collaborated with many designers to develop unique collections, and its furniture can be found in famous showrooms all over the world.
“I believe that our success does not come from beautiful design alone,” says Charunwat Maoleekunprairoj, Managing Director of Podium Home Center. “Art has to go hand in hand with technology. We have gained the trust from designers because we have the innovation to turn what they have in mind into reality,” he explains.
One of the best examples is the brand’s “CANE” collection, for which PODIUM collaborated with the designers of Atelier 2+. The collection is a combination of solid wood and woven rattan. The brand uses its “Bending Technique” for the wood to create the perfect curved shape, replacing wooden joints. This also helps to avoid breakage, as furniture with many wooden joints is more prone to cracking than those made of bent wood.
In this way, the furniture in the CANE collection has both strength and a pleasing aesthetic. CANE chairs have been particularly popular on the US market for many years, while a CANE bed was voted “Gift of the Year” by the Wall Street Journal in 2019.
Sustainability is the core concept that the brand has always focused on. PODIUM selects the finest imported wood such as walnut, ash, oak and beech as raw materials; all certified by the FSC to ensure the forest is managed in a way that preserves biodiversity.
Recently, the company has focused more on the domestic market than before and has started to enter e-commerce. In 2020, the company launched a new eco-friendly brand called “Podium lite” to appeal to the new generation of environmentally-conscious consumers who are willing to buy furniture through online platforms, avoiding the use of a showroom, which helps to reduce costs.
Charunwat said PODIUM is looking for distributors in many countries, such as USA and Australia, adding that the company also accepts small orders, which are appreciated by distributors in countries such as Japan and South Korea, where the land is expensive, as this reduces the cost of keeping stock. In addition, distributors can access the inventory online and place a small order that will be delivered to nearby Asian countries within 14 days.
“Our goal is to strike a balance between exquisite craftsmanship and high-precision technology to deliver the highest quality products,” he said. “Most importantly, we continue to develop our production to be as environmentally friendly as possible”
For more information about PODIUM, please visit
https://podium.co.th
https://podium-lite.com
Find more interesting stories of Thai businesses at : https://www.ditpthinkthailand.com
Words by: Natanit Tanmanasiri
Photo courtesy of Podium Home Center
