The Rivesaltes factory innovates with 100% natural and biodegradable cork stoppers

2023-10-10 12:54:44

It is in its only French factory, in Rivesaltes (Pyrénées-Orientales), that the world number 2 in closure solutions for wine, the Belgian Vinventions, has repatriated the entire manufacturing of its latest innovation, a cork made of cork made from 100% natural and biodegradable raw materials called Sbür.

Hiring to monitor production

“We are the first to use a binder of natural origin and not a polyurethane glue in the manufacturing process of our micro-agglomerated cork stoppers,” claims Stéphane Vidal, director of development and innovation. A major difference for this manufacturer who made his name more than twenty years ago with the launch of a synthetic cork based on plastic, to “stop having to throw away wines because of cork taint” .

“The objective is to increase annual production from 15 to 200 million corks within four years,” indicates the director of the Vinventions factory in Rivesaltes.LP/NB

Three patents, seven years of Research and Development and nearly 1.4 million euros invested were necessary to complete the manufacturer’s range with this new stopper of natural origin. “The objective is to increase annual production from 15 to 200 million corks within four years,” says Ben Lombardo, the factory director. Objectives which will require doubling the workforce, from 15 employees currently.

A biosourced cap necessarily more expensive

For the moment, the Sbür cork stopper represents a tiny part of the 3.5 billion corks manufactured by Vinventions. “We are clearly taking the lead and we think that this will speak to winegrowers according to their position in relation to the ecological dimension,” confides Stéphane Vidal.

Professionals who are ready to pay a little more for a biosourced cap. “It’s the price of innovation,” recognizes the development director who intends Sbür for rather high-end wines. “The price is secondary at this level,” believes David Bleuze, director of the Catalan cooperative cellar Les vignerons de Trémoine in Rasiguères and customer of Vinventions. “Our priority is the good preservation of our wines. As for the eco-design aspect, it is now up to us to integrate it into our discourse.”