Pioneering coffin cart unveiled.

A supplier of environmentally friendly funeral items is using the National Funeral Exhibition in June to showcase two of its latest products, one of which is new to the UK market.

Fine Timber Products, which is based on the border of Shropshire and Worcestershire, will be unveiling its pioneering coffin cart at the funeral service exhibition (stand C2A), as well as a water hyacinth and cane coffin which is a new addition to the firm’s portfolio.

Owner of FTP, James Meynell, said: “I can not think of a more appropriate event at which to display these products to the trade than at the NFE, though we will also be exhibiting our core range of seagrass, wicker and bamboo coffins.

“I am sure that the coffin cart, which is made of wicker and soft wood, will raise a few eyebrows but only because they are new to this country – I am pretty confident that there will be a positive reaction.

“I introduced the cart to our product list because there is often quite a distance for coffins to travel on these sites, and the carts are light, easy to manoeuvre and surprisingly robust.

“This is important because they will need to stand up well to the terrain of natural burial, which is where I see them being particularly useful. I personally like their appearance and I think they would blend in extremely well at both green and traditional funerals.”

FTP is also introducing oval examples of the water hyacinth and cane coffins to its existing range and Mr Meynell is confident that they will prove extremely popular.

“ They are certainly visually pleasing and robust, but perhaps more importantly their harvest actually aids the environment,” he said.

“We are procuring them from China where water hyacinth has to be controlled or it potentially clogs up lakes and waterways, blocking out sunlight which is vital for plants and starving the water of oxygen. Furthermore it grows like a weed and therefore it replenishes extremely easily.”