The campaign is the ambassador of three key messages: communicating the very high quality of cork intended as a material with extraordinary characteristics in favor of taste and charm, making known the high technological and innovative level that characterize this strategic sector for the economy of our country and finally tell the great heritage that the Mediterranean cork forests represent for the protection of the environment. A campaign that therefore embraces all the phases and actors of the cork value chain, referable not only to the production-transformation-marketing phases of the product, but also to the environmental and socio-economic values associated with the entire cork ecosystem and the sectors to it. related.
A dynamic, social project that is attentive to extremely topical issues. These are the distinctive features that characterize the new cork promotion campaign, with the aim of involving and calling to action even a young, sensitive and attentive public. " We are excited to cut the ribbon of this new campaign - says Alessandro Canepari , Coordinator of the Cork Group - in the full awareness that this is a central sector for the economy of our country both in terms of innovation and for the great attention that producers of cork are dedicating to the issue of the sustainability of the material and its use and recycling ".
In Italy, the campaign is accompanied by the claim " Life in a cork " in order to tell through digital activities and in the presence of the many lives that characterize a cork: the life that starts from the trees in the cork groves, the life of the animals that they live in harmony with this ecosystem, the life of the expert decorticators from which the production process begins, the life of people when they uncork a bottle of wine. A continuous life cycle that repeats itself and that revolves around many other lives. " Cork and wine have a centuries -old bond - says Adua Villa, sommelier, writer and digital storyteller - and thanks to cork, fantastic bottles of wine have arrived on our tables; thus wine has found in cork an excellent travel companion. Furthermore, adds Adua - due to its intrinsic characteristics, cork is a natural and effective solution for the conservation of wine in bottles, sustainable and respectful of the environment .
It should be borne in mind that the cork forests, in addition to being able to absorb more than 14 million tons of CO2 every year, represent one of the 36 biodiversity hotspots, natural habitat par excellence of many animal and plant species. The cork oaks also play a very important role in the fight against impoverishment and desertification in favor of sustainable development.
To date, the average production of cork in the world is around 200,000 tons and world exports of this material have a value of around 1.8 M euros, supplying 70% of the world markets for closures. Production is mainly concentrated in the western Mediterranean basin covered today by about 2.1 million hectares of cork forests, including Portugal, with 34% of the total, Spain with 27%, Morocco with 18%, Algeria with 11%, Tunisia with 4% followed by Italy and France with 3%.
Numerous activities are scheduled: in addition to the creation of dedicated social campaigns that will see the participation of exceptional testimonials, events will be held that will have corks as the protagonist. Enthusiasts and winelovers will be able to discover and approach this material with a thousand qualities in an exciting and engaging way. In addition to actions dedicated to consumers and the general public, the campaign will address in parallel to the sector press that through some educational both in Sardinia and in Portugal and ad hoc moments will be able to deepen all the issues that revolve around the world of cork and its compartment.
