Chinese Chopsticks: Made in Americus

Friday, 03 June 2011 | by Pat's Picks

How’s this for irony: China, land of 1.3 billion people and exporting extraordinaire, can’t produce enough chopsticks. So they import them, from the small Georgia town of Americus. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says China’s problem is a lack of wood. That’s good news for Georgia Chopsticks, which is headquartered in Americus. The area has an abundance of poplar and sweet gum trees, both of which have “just the right balance of hardness and softness” to make disposable chopsticks. Georgia Chopsticks makes about 2 million pairs a day, sending the primarily to supermarket chains in China.