Family culture

4 generations of staves makers

CANADELL company’s DNA

In 1939, Lauriano CANADELL, originally from Figueres, crossed the Pyrenees with his two children, Jacques and Narcisse, who were respectively 6 years and 1 month old, fleeing the Francoist regime. He took refuge in southwestern France.

As soon as he arrived, and with very limited resources, he began craftsman production of firewood and charcoal. This is a thankless job requiring great wisdom, consisting of building firewood ovens that provide for very slow combustion. This operation requires ongoing surveillance all night long so that the flames do not catch the coal, which would cause the entire production to be thrown out.

With his rudimentary French relatively quickly, he began  working in forestry to sell higher quality wood that had not been roughed down, going to local forest owners.

His son, Jacques, left school at 14 to work in the forest. In the 50s, they received their first orders for staves. Coopers, mainly located on Bordeaux’s docks, were producing barrel units in an economy still shaken by World War II.

The first shop for hand-riven staves sawed from quarters was established in Trie-sur-Baïse.

The two professions, acting as forest operator and merrandier, undertaken by Lauriano, are still the CANADELL company’s DNA.

from father to son

In the 70s, Jacques CANADELL junior joined the company. Increasing demand for beech and oak wood on the Spanish market expanded their activity, especially to provide quality products to a demanding clientele specialised in producing veneer for furniture.

In the early 1980s, the demand for staves grew amongst Bordeaux and California producers. Were looking more and more fine-grain staves, which led to the first supply in the prestigious Tronçais forest.

Following a growing, Jacques senior and Jacques junior decide to outsource the company to reach the forests of Picardy, Île de France and the centre of the country, in order to produce Staves on this location. The national Compiegne and Halatte forests are still part of the company’s supply hub.

While still faithful to specialised supply of quality oak, under the driving force of Jacques senior and junior, the CANADELL company has constantly created synergistic trades around this noble raw material by creating industrial veneer, sawing and furniture units.


In 1999, Frederic Canadell joined the family company. Since then, it has been more focused on cooperage and oenological oak, always maintaining strategic organisation in forest exploitation.

As a result of this strategy, the CANADELL company regularly holds a position within the category of the country’s top purchasers of high-quality oak trees has not been roughed down.

foret