Georgia Chopsticks of Americus, Georgia, plans to increase production to 10 million by year-end, reports huge increase in demand for its poplar and sweet gum chopsticks in China, other Asian markets

Wendy Lisney

LOS ANGELES , August 25, 2011 (Forestweb) – The only manufacturer of chopsticks in the U.S., Georgia Chopsticks, is running 24 hours, six days per week, to supply China's growing chopstick market, which currently consumes 50 billion chopsticks annually, according to a report by the Huffington Post.

With a population of 1.3 billion, the Americus, Georgia-based company has found a ready market for its chopsticks which are produced from poplar and sweet gum trees.

The trees grow like weeds in the region, the report said, and provide the right balance of hardness and softness for chopstick production.

The company was created in November and the Americus plant opened in May. Production has reached two million chopsticks a day, which are shipped to China, Japan, Korea and the U.S. The company reports a huge increase in demand in recent months and expects to increase production to 10 million chopsticks per day by the end of this year.

The primary source of this article is The Huffington Post, New York, on Aug. 23, 2011.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.