Betterwood warehouse Drolshagen

Betterwood » About us

About us

Betterwood is the somewhat different timber trade: more sustainable, more transparent and more committed than traditional companies. At this point, we would like to give you a look behind the scenes and introduce you to the people who make Betterwood possible.

Our history

The beginning

We founded our company in 2009. Our aim 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 started the project together with his sister Catherine Körting. Together with Philip Jaeger, Catherine’s partner, the company was founded.

Founding location: Ganghoferstraße 2, Berlin-Neukölln

Betterwood website in 2011

Betterwood goes online

Originally, our business idea was to act as an agency to broker certified tropical timber to the timber trade. However, the established companies in the industry showed little interest in the eco-tropical timber. This gave rise to the idea of direct sales: why not work without agencies, importers and wholesalers and deliver the good wood directly to private customers and their craftsmen? Our online store Betterwood was the key to this: more transparent, more direct and more ecological. This also allowed the sustainable idea to unfold its power. This is because, unlike large sections of the trade, private customers are interested in whether forests are destroyed or protected for their patios.

Our locations

While our distribution was always in Berlin (from Neukölln to Treptow and today in Moabit), our warehouses moved across Germany. We stored our first container of FSC®-certified Cumaru decking boards from Bolivia with a freight forwarder in Hamburg. The camp then moved to Michendorf near Potsdam. In 2014, we moved into a warehouse in Nümbrecht in the Cologne area. And since 2021, we have been stored in Drolshagen near Olpe. The location, space and local employees have allowed us to put down roots there.

Our Nümbrecht warehouse before the move to Drolshagen

Betterwood warehouse Drolshagen

One of eight halls in our warehouse in Drolshagen

Our perspective

A lot has changed since we were founded a good ten years ago. The idea of sustainability has moved from a niche to the center of society. Online retail has established itself. Thousands of customers know us and have recommended us to others. So far, we have been able to do without advertising and prefer to use the money to support environmental projects. We grow every year, without outside investors and using only our own resources. We have expanded our warehouse and now have 8,000 square meters of space available in Drolshagen. With our planning tools, we are also the technological pioneers in the industry. And we never lose sight of our founding idea: To promote sustainable forest management in order to protect the forest.

The people behind Betterwood

Catherine Körting

Founder and management

Marketing, Personnel

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 is responsible for marketing and personnel at our company.

Christian Körting Pacheco

Founder and management

Purchasing, warehouse, sustainability

Christian grew up in Bogotá together with his sister Catherine. Today, he is head of purchasing and is responsible for cooperation with environmental protection organizations and for our environmental projects. Christian is a member of the Advisory Board of the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) and the Tropical Timber Committee of FSC® Germany.

Philip Jaeger

Founder and management

Technology, finance, sales, logistics

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 responsible for technological development, finance, sales and logistics in our company.

Onno Berger

Sales management

Onno has known our company since its beginnings: it was founded at his kitchen table. Born in Hamburg, he obtained a master’s degree in philosophy and history at Humboldt University in Berlin, founded a magazine with fellow student Philip Jaeger and is now head of sales at Betterwood.

Colin Honigmann

Warehouse and logistics

Colin organizes the internal processes in the warehouse and is in charge of the inventory. He started with us as an order picker and knows the processes inside out.

Lorena Mazuera-Körting

Marketing and certification

Lorena is a trained musical singer and the wife of our purchasing manager Christian Körting. After working for Stage Entertainment in Stuttgart and on the Aida Cruises cruise ships, she is responsible for our social media presence and FSC certification.

Matthias Trebus

IT support & website

Matthias produced music for a long time and then presented it live as a DJ or in bands. After his training as an IT specialist for application development, he now supports us in the IT area and in the further development and maintenance of the website.

Pascal Dusold

Distribution

Pascal studied Economics and Business in Amsterdam and Environmental Sciences at Humboldt University in Berlin. He is the contact person for our customers and develops our sustainability concept together with Christian Körting.

Our team in the warehouse

Order picking and production

Nine employees in the warehouse ensure that our customers receive hand-sorted goods and that the custom-made products fit. They don’t want to see photos of themselves on the Internet – but our forklifts are also important helpers.

Reports about us

Pro 7 Logo
ZDF logo
time magazine logo
Daily Mirror

ZDF report on our supply chain

A ZDF film team accompanied our Managing Director Catherine Körting to Peru and to our warehouse in Drolshagen. The result is a report about our supply chain and how our sustainable forestry can help protect the rainforest. The report was broadcast in April 2024 in the program Plan B.

ZDF logo

Report on Betterwood in English

The ZDF report was dubbed into English for Deutsche Welle and broadcast in 160 countries. We are delighted that our non-German-speaking customers can now also see a TV report about us.

Pro7 report about us

The team from the ProSieben program “Galileo” visited us in our camp and in one of our forests in Peru. The result is a film that describes our new approach to the timber trade.

Pro 7 Logo

Our founder

In late summer 2016, our founder Catherine Körting Pacheco was profiled by the WE Project (Women Entrepreneurs Project) of the European Commission. Co-founders Christian Körting Pacheco and Philip Jaeger also have their say.

Articles about us

read on www.baunetz-id.de

read on www.fsc-deutschland.de

read on www.wiwo.de

read on www.blog.zeit.de

our press area

Blog posts about us

Cumaru decking boards in Switzerland

From now on, the sustainable origin of cumaru wood must be proven when it is imported into Switzerland. Betterwood is [...]

Welcome Woody! Our new AI assistant

Our AI assistant Woody is constantly learning and helps our customers with answers to their questions.

Deutsche Welle reports on Betterwood

A TV report about Betterwood was broadcast in over 160 countries - and we received many encouraging messages from all [...]

Tagesspiegel reports on Betterwood

Tropical wood is not all bad - the Tagesspiegel reports on Betterwood, our wood and our sustainability.

Our products

from 9,10 

Cumaru decking boards, FSC 100%
Price from: € 70 per m2, resistance class: 1

Advantages: ✓ best durability ✓ particularly robust and scratch-resistant

Disadvantages: ✗ Partly rough surface ✗ High force development

Tip: Sand the boards after the first weathering.

from 1,10 

from 2,95 

Teak decking boards, FSC 100%
Price from: € 130 per m2, resistance class: 1

Advantages: ✓ Best durability and dimensional stability ✓ Lowest risk of cracking and splintering

Disadvantages: ✗ Relatively expensive ✗ Not very long planks

Tip: Lay decking boards together.

from 5,45 

Teak decking boards, FSC 100%
Price from: € 130 per m2, resistance class: 1

Advantages: ✓ Best durability and dimensional stability ✓ Lowest risk of cracking and splintering

Disadvantages: ✗ Relatively expensive ✗ Not very long planks

Tip: Lay decking boards together.

7,50 

Teak wood tiles, FSC 100%
Price: € 83 per m2, resistance class: 1

Advantages:✓ Best durability and dimensional stability ✓ Lowest risk of cracking and splintering

Disadvantages: ✗ slightly more expensive

Tip: Decking oil is not necessary if silvering is desired.

from 9,10 

Garapa decking boards, FSC 100%
Price from: € 65 per m2, resistance class: 1-2

Advantages: ✓ smooth surface ✓ homogeneous, light color

Disadvantages: ✗ Ferrous materials lead to discoloration ✗ Tendency to warp if not screwed down

Tip: patio cleaning removes discoloration and
professional interim storage prevents warping.