Alaska birch makes the grade: a consumer preference study shows promise for an underutilized hardwood to be used by kitchen cabinetmakers.

Birch is an abundant, but underutilized hardwood resource in Alaska with relatively little lumber production. Potential market opportunities for solid wood products from Alaska birch are numerous. They include random width lumber, furniture, interior trim and mouldings, and kitchen cabinets.

A common concern among lumber producers and consumers is the large proportion of knots, heart stain, and other defects found in Alaska birch. This lack of clear cuttings is a disadvantage when selling lumber under standard National Hardwood Lumber Assn. grades. However, these frequent defects may be an asset for certain types of products such as kitchen cabinets.

To better determine this potential for Alaska birch, a study was recently conducted to evaluate consumer preferences for Alaska birch kitchen cabinet doors containing various types of character marks.

Study Design

The study evaluated consumer preferences for two groups of Alaska birch kitchen cabinet doors (see above). Group 1 consisted of four distinctly different types of character marks: clear, spalted, flecked and grain variation. Group 2 consisted of four doors with similar types of character marks. The frequency of these character marks varied from low to high.

One of the study objectives was to evaluate as many distinct looks as possible from Alaska birch. In this study "character" was defined as the presence of any feature that could be distinguished from clear wood, including grain variations, knots, bark pockets and heart stain patterns.

Cabinet Door Construction

All cabinet doors were constructed in a rectangular, raised face style, and had frames of clear, defect-free wood. The lone exception was the flecked-style door which also included fleck patterns in the frame.

Cabinet dimensions were chosen to reflect the size of cabinets consumers would likely purchase for their kitchens. The face construction on all of the doors was edge-glued solid wood. Cabinets were constructed from kiln-dried Alaska birch lumber. Individual boards were hand selected for the cabinet construction to achieve the specific appearance desired for each door.

Sampling Procedures

During March and April 2002 the cabinet doors were displayed at three events in Alaska -- home shows in Anchorage and Fairbanks and a business expo in Sitka. Approximately 630 responses were received during the three events.

Respondents were asked to rank each of the two character groups in order of preference in the event they were to remodel their current kitchen.

Other demographic information that was collected included age, gender, home ownership, income level, any plans to remodel or buy a new home within the next 12 months and familiarity with the "Made in Alaska" program.

Study Results

The overall highest-rated or favorite cabinet door in Group 1 was "D," featuring grain variation. The highest-rated door for Group 2 was "E," which exhibits low level of character.

In addition to door "D", overall preferences within Group 1 were greatest for clear wood door "A." Spalted door "C" and door "B "with its flecked patterns, did not fare as well.

Within cabinet Group 2, overall preferences were greatest for either high or low levels of character, but not moderate levels.

Regional variations in preferences were noted between Alaska's two largest markets: Anchorage and Fairbanks. In Anchorage, low levels of character were favored by a wide margin; door "E" was selected as the favorite by 45% of this group. In Fairbanks, high levels of character were favored; door "H" was selected as the favorite by 41% of the group.

Male respondents favored spalted cabinet door "C," and high levels of character exhibited by door "H." In each of these cases, when the given doors were selected as the favorite, more than 60% of the respondents were male.

Respondents' Comments

In addition to the survey questions, much was learned from the comments offered by respondents. In summary:

* There was a strong preference for matching the frame material with the same level of character markings found in the face material.

* Spalted lumber would be more popular for small items such as kitchen end tables, but could be too bold for decorating a complete set of kitchen cabinets.

* Character marks were generally desirable (including heavy character markings) as long as there was minimal surface roughness associated with them.

* Many of the respondents had distinct preferences for the different types of character marks. Therefore it would be inappropriate to group all types of character under the generic term "character marking."

Study Conclusions

There is strong potential for use of character-marked Alaska birch in kitchen cabinet construction. In particular, cabinet doors containing high levels of grain variation and those containing high levels of character marking are most appealing to consumers.

For firms interested in producing character-marked doors, preferred strategies could include doors having either high or low levels of character marks as well as doors with considerable knots and grain variation. Doors containing fleck patterns, spalted material and intermediate levels of character were generally less well received in this study.

Given the relatively low levels of birch harvested in Alaska, and the high proportion of knots and other defects, the use of character-marked material in kitchen cabinets would seem to be an ideal opportunity to create a high-value product from lower grade cuttings. Since this study showed differences in consumer preferences even between Anchorage and Fairbanks markets, detailed market research should be conducted for the local areas served before deciding on which cabinet styles (and character levels) to produce.

David Nicholls is a forest products technologist and Geof Donovan is research economist for the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station in Sitka, AK. The authors can be reached by phone at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail] or [e-mail].