My
Origin

The wood used in the making of this charcoal comes from forests in southern Estonia, all over Latvia and northern Lithuania and northern Ukraine

The Baltic forests are made up of various species typical of these northern regions, conifers such as Scots pine or spruce and hardwoods such as birch and alder, two species favored for the production of charcoal in these countries. Responsible and intelligent forest management enables the region to maintain a forest area and a wood resource for different actors in the wood industry (sawmill, furniture factories, charcoal plants ...). Working with wood, some factories produce scrap that can be recycled by charcoal plants. In Kaliningrad and northern Ukraine, we also find the species mentioned above but also more hard hardwoods like the oaks of various species typical of these northern regions. In Ukraine there are cases of illegal logging and EF takes extra care to assess this aspect on the ground.

My
Journey

Once harvested, the wood is transported from the forest, warehouse or sawmill to the carbonization plants where it is stored and converted into charcoal. Grill O'Bois 50L charcoal is produced in several production plants in the Baltic countries, Kaliningrad and Ukraine. Once bagged, pallets of charcoal bags are transported from production sites to storage warehouses in France by truck. The pallets are finally distributed in your store.

My
Production

Once on site, the wood can remain in stock for several weeks to several months to undergo a first drying in the open air.

The wood is then cut to be inserted into cylindrical or cubic tanks depending on the technologies used (3 different for this product). These vats, once filled with wood, are directed to the carbonization furnaces where the wood will be transformed into charcoal by increasing the temperature and depriving the wood of oxygen. The gases produced are used to fuel the carbonization and drying of wood, thus limiting their release into the atmosphere.

The charcoal is cooled and discharged to a stabilization zone. From this area the charcoal is then conveyed to a bagging line, where it will be sorted qualitatively and screened by size to be finally bagged. The charcoal in your bag is the restaurant quality, that is to say it contains mostly large pieces (50 to 150mm). 

My
Evaluation

Earthworm Foundation supports its members in the production of responsible charcoal. After each factory visit, Earthworm conducts a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the plants. This assessment is based on four broad categories of criteria: transparency, environmental impacts and forest management, working conditions and workers' rights as well as the management of the entire production chain. In a desire to support companies towards a continuous improvement, Earthworm follows during the following visits the implementation of the recommendations made during the previous visit.

The factories where the charcoal you just bought comes from, shows very good results concerning these 4 criteria:

	Transparency of supply chain: The company provides a detailed level of information on their timber suppliers, their customers as well as their means of internal control.
	Management of the forest: Sustainable forest management in the Baltic countries limits the impact on the environment. The technology used limits the release of fumes into the atmosphere. The impact on soils and streams is low.
	Health and safety: Companies provide these employees with comfortable infrastructure that guarantees them good working conditions. Their rights are respected concerning holidays, remuneration, breaks ...
	Production process: The technology used is quite advanced, wood stocks are generally well managed and each stage of production is well controlled.

To read more: 

www.earthworm.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-71EUZ3kKs