ABOUT US

Our heritage – from Småland out into the world 

EFG’s story begins with an ambitious manufacturer of rib-backed chairs in 19th century Tranås. Today we are a furniture manufacturer with thousands of items in our product range and hundreds of resellers all over the world.

Our story begins with a rib-backed chair

Our origins are in the Swedish forests of Småland where EFG’s long furniture tradition is deeply rooted. The first wooden chairs were produced in Tranås back in 1880. One of the pioneers in the Tranås furniture industry was KG Andersson, the founder of what today is EFG. KG Andersson began his career as an apprentice with a painting company that bought and painted rib-backed chairs. He then became an apprentice for a chair manufacturer, before he decided to start his own business in 1885. Back then, production took place by means of treadle lathe and the company produced 20 chairs a week. To increase productivity, they needed powered equipment. KG solved this by running a traction rope from the mill shaft to transfer power to the workshop located 25 metres from the mill pond, thereby installing a power source.

This was the starting gun for something approaching an industrial revolution in Tranås. The old lathes were replaced with forming lathes, the hand saws by band saws and mechanical planes, drills and morticers were connected to the new power source. In 1897, the company changed its name to Tranås Möbelaktieföretag (Tranås Furniture Company Ltd), showing that it had moved on from handicraft to industry and had its sights set on manufacturing more than just chairs.

Leading European furniture manufacturer

Today, EFG is a leading European supplier of office furniture to private companies and public organisations, and it not only has distributors in the Nordics and the rest of Europe, but also globally. Each piece of furniture in the EFG product range is the result of the knowledge and insights we’ve gathered over the years. We know that a good physical work environment is equally important for employee well-being as it is for creating long-term results. It’s why we focus on creating sustainable products inspired by Scandinavian design – products that are thoroughly tested to maintain high quality, inviting smarter ways of working, meeting and socialising.