Carlos de Jesus from Amorim on Cork

This show was published Friday, July 4, 2008

Overview

Carlos de Jesus from Amorim, one of the largest cork producers in Portugal, talks to us about cork. We discuss corks past, present and future, and is protecting the environment and jobs the best reason for using cork?

Amorim has 25% share of closure market and exports to 103 countries. The company uses the triple bottom line approach to business, a concept that, in addition to traditional financial bottom line there is also the social bottom line and the environmental bottom line to consider. All 3 need to be in sync to make true progress.

Cork has 81% of closures market. If corks were no longer used the cork forests would simply be replaced with other crops - many people rely on cork for their livelihoods. The forest has great biodiversity and is home to endangered species such as the Iberian Lynx as well as bees, insects, lizards and plenty of other fauna and flora.

Plastic stoppers offer no benefits - the main two closures to focus on are cork and screwcap.

The cork industry needs to deliver the right risk management policy to reduce the problem of cork taint as far as it can. Different sources put the failure rate at between 2-5%. In future Carlos predicts there will be fewer but better cork companies.

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