Concrete Expert Fu-Tung Cheng Partners with Interstar: Concrete Countertop Products to Reach Wider Market

BERKELEY, CA, 2006 — Cheng Design Products announced the formation of a manufacturing and distribution partnership with Canada-based Interstar Corporation. Interstar, a manufacturer of pigments, admixtures, fibers and other products for the concrete market, will manufacture and distribute Fu-Tung Cheng's proprietary line of concrete countertop mix products in North and South America. Currently, these products are exclusively sold online at Cheng Concrete Exchange (www.concreteexchange.com).

Cheng, the CEO of Cheng Design Products, an award-winning designer, and author of bestseller Concrete Countertops and Concrete at Home, is a leading innovator in residential concrete design. He was recently recognized by the Kitchen and Bath Business (K+BB) magazine as one of the Top 50 industry leaders to influence the kitchen and bath industry in the past 50 years.

Interstar manufacturers and distributes a range of concrete products in North America, Mexico and Brazil, and was recently awarded "Exporter of the Year" by the Canadian government. "We're excited to be working with Zach Gilman, the president of Interstar, and his highly capable team,” said Cheng. “Together we'll introduce an entire range of products for professionals and DIYs (do-it-yourselfers) to address the increasing demand for concrete countertops.”

Cheng, who has been designing with concrete for over 25 years, recently began teaching workshops in Berkeley, CA, on the design and crafting of concrete countertops.
"Concrete allows for highly sculptural designs in countertops, something not really possible with two-dimensional materials like granite or stone,” said Cheng. ”But there’s a shortage of craftsmen able to design and build them. We hope to address this shortage with our training programs and full line of specialty products.”

ABOUT CHENG PRODUCTS
Cheng Design Products, Inc. was launched in 1998 to bring Cheng’s aesthetic embodied in countertops and kitchen hoods to homeowners, designers and architects. In 2003, Cheng Concrete Exchange, a division of Cheng Design Products, was developed as an online resource center for professionals, DIYs, designers, and homeowners interested in designing with concrete. The website offers information and imagery with respect to Cheng’s designs projects as well as concrete countertop products and workshops. For information on Cheng Design Products, please call (510) 849-3272 or visit www.chengdesign.com or www.concreteexchange.com.