Finnish retailers sell mislabeled wood products, investigation finds

A Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle investigative report has uncovered discrepancies in the origin claims of wood products sold by seven major Finnish retailers, with some items mislabeled or lacking clear sourcing information.

Testing by Yle’s MOT program revealed that a wooden cup sold by Puuilo—marketed as oak—was actually made from rubberwood, a byproduct of latex production. The retailer acknowledged a translation error on its website and confirmed the product was not oak, though it stated the label “made of wood” remained accurate. Puuilo said it would correct the online listing immediately.

Another product, a birch clapboard sold by discount chain Tokmanni, was traced to Estonia, though the retailer emphasized its supply chain documentation was fully traceable. Tokmanni noted that isotope analysis alone may not account for overlapping forest conditions in neighboring regions.

A stool sold by furniture retailer Veko was found to contain wood sourced from Russia, purchased in 2021 before trade restrictions took effect. The company had not disclosed the Russian origin in its product listing.

The investigation also examined birch plywood from Bauhaus, which confirmed its supplier, UPM Plywood, sources veneer from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden. The retailer stated that precise origin could be determined only by batch number.

Hardware chain Stark acknowledged selling an oak plank labeled broadly as originating from the Nordics, Baltics, or EU, though documentation confirmed it was sourced from the U.S. via a Finnish supplier. The company defended its labeling as sufficient for customers, emphasizing traceability over granular detail.

Domus Classica, a smaller retailer, verified that its birch wood drawer was locally sourced and handcrafted in Hauho, about 30 kilometers from its store, with wood harvested from the same region.

Finnish authorities told Yle the findings were not surprising, noting that while most retailers act in good faith, gaps in origin disclosure persist. Current regulations do not require sellers to specify the exact harvest location of wood products, making omissions legal but potentially misleading for consumers.

Isotope testing, used in the investigation, provides probabilistic origin data and must be cross-referenced with supply chain records. Retailers stressed that single-test methods may not account for regional forest similarities, particularly in the Baltics.