Honkarakenne Oyj () is a Finnish company that manufactures log homes. Honka is also a registered trademark of the company.
Honkarakenne’s factory is located in Karstula, Central Finland. By 2018, Honkarakenne had delivered about 85,000 log homes to more than 50 countries.
Honkarakenne has been a listed company since 1987. Its B-shares are now on the Small Cap list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
History
1958–1999
Honkarakenne’s roots go back to a company named Sahaus- ja Höyläysliike Veljekset Saarelainen, established in Hattuvaara, Lieksa, in 1958. Three brothers, Viljo, Arvo and Reino Saarelainen, originally had stakes in the company, which used an outdoor circular saw and planing machine. Their business idea was to develop the industrial production of log cabins, which was practically new to Finland at the time. They developed some machine tools, such as their round log machine, themselves.
The company's first prefabricated round-log villa, was introduced in 1963 and it launched its first villa collection in the same year. The cabins were prefabricated, but adaptable. In 1964, Nestori and Eino Saarelainen also joined the company, which was renamed Honkatuote Veljekset Saarelainen.
Eino Saarelainen became the company's sales representative for Southern Finland and a sales office was opened in Helsinki in 1965. The company's first exhibition house, next to Eino Saarelainen's detached house, was built in Tuusula in 1966. As sales increased, the company outgrew the production capacity of the Lieksa plant. Capital was raised for growth by expanding the company's ownership after which the brothers owned one third of Honkatuote Oy.
There were continuous conflicts between the brothers and Honkatuote’s main owners about the company's development needs. When cooperation became impossible, the Saarelainen brothers founded their own sales company, renamed Honkarakenne T. Saarelainen & Co. Ky. ‘T’ referred to their father, Tahvo, because they were wary of starting up a new business in their own names. Eino Saarelainen became CEO of the company. In 1967, Honkarakenne Ky was founded as the parent company, and Reino Saarelainen moved to Ikaalinen to plan the company's own round-log production. Reino and Nestori Saarelainen started production at Pohjois-Karjalan Honka Ky in 1967. They were granted a patent for their automated round-log production line.
Honkarakenne became a limited liability company in 1970. The Saarelainen brothers had no control over the innovative round-log manufacturing technology developed by Reino Saarelainen. Round logs were being produced in Ikaalinen, but the brothers believed in the future of the industrially manufactured round log. However, their financial situation prevented them from regaining control of Honkatuote, so they decided to redevelop round-log production from the beginning. In 1971, Honkarakenne expanded its production and sales network. Round-log production began in Central Finland in 1972 under the name of Karstulan Honka Oy, largely due to the interest shown by the municipality of Karstula. The factory had a good location in the middle of Finland's prime log forest, with the factory obtaining its raw materials from a reasonably nearby area. A Japanese export representative, Mr Fukuda, happened to be in Finland seeking suppliers of quality goods and visited the Tuusula exhibition area. This visit led to an agreement to deliver 250 houses to Japan. The Saarelainen brothers used the two million Finnish markka advance payment to buy back the majority of Honkatuote Oy's shares and merge the companies’ operations. Reino Saarelainen was elected CEO of Honkarakenne in 1976.
Honkarakenne was listed on the stock exchange in 1987.
In 1999 the company exported around 60% of its production and its main markets were Germany, Japan, France and the United States.
2000–
In 2000, Honkarakenne built the Suomi (Finland) house for Sydney’s oldest and most revered golf course at Concord, to mark the Sydney Olympic Games. This resting place after the ninth hole was around 500 square metres in size.
In 2006 Honkarakenne employed about 400 people, most of them working in Finland where the company had four factories. Honkarakenne also had a worldwide distribution channel and several sales offices abroad. Major exports of products went to France, Germany, Russia and Japan.
In 2013, the entire production of Honkarakenne was centralised in Karstula, where the company's main plant had been operating since 1971. The plant was given a major expansion in 2014.