In the light of the debate in recent issues of Natural Stone Specialist about the purloining of the words ‘natural’ and ‘stone’ by the makers of concrete products, Graeme Robertson of A&J Robertson (Granite) Ltd in Aberdeen reminds us that EuroRoc already has a symbol to identify natural stone products.

EuroRoc is the European confederation of national organisations representing the stone industry. Its Natural Stone Mark is pictured above.

It is, however, only available to the members of organisations that are members of EuroRoc. Both Stone Federation Great Britain and the National Association of Memorial Masons once belonged to EuroRoc, sharing the cost of sending a UK representative to the meetings. But neither organisation currently belongs to the European body.

The logo has been available for several years but has not been as enthusiastically adopted by stone companies as, for example, the WoolMark has by clothing manufacturers. Because it is widely used, the WoolMark is recognised by most shoppers.

The WoolMark was created for the same reason as EuroRoc’s Natural Stone logo – to enable customers easily to identify the natural products they desire rather than man-made alternatives.

“If the Stone Federation were to rejoin EuroRoc, its members could participate in the licensing agreement and use the logo,” says Graeme.