Amorim Cork America is in an ideal position to take advantage of a growing domestic and export market for US wines.
While the US still trails the rest of the world in annual per capita consumption of wine at 34th place with two gallons (9 litres) per person, the American market already represents nearly 700 million gallons (3.2 billion litres) and the trend is upward. 1
In recent years, annual per capita wine consumption in the US has grown at around 10 per cent.
The growth rate has driven a significant increase in the number of wineries in the US and with each vintage US wineries now produce over 10,000 new wines.
In addition to domestic demand there is a strong export market with exports generating US$658 million in 2005 and nearly half of all exports going to Europe.
As the US wine industry expands so too is Amorim’s position in the market with sales of nearly 450 million corks in 2005 — an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year. Significantly, Amorim and its subsidiary Portocork supply corks to 15 of the top 20 US wine companies.
Daryl Eklund, Amorim Cork America’s general manager and a winemaker by trade, believes Amorim is in a perfect position to grow with the US wine market by providing products and services that adapt to changing market demands.
“The US is on course to become the world’s largest wine consumer in the next three to five years,” says Eklund.
“In line with that growth the wine business has become more than just a small family enterprise. Players like Constellation, Beringer/Fosters, Diageo, Allied Domecq, Bronco, Vincor and others are reshaping winemaking into a global, bottom line-oriented business.
“Naturally, the growth in the US wine industry means a growing demand for quality closures.
“Having the cleanest corks in the industry, and the ability to meet price and delivery expectations on a local and global scale, gives Amorim a huge advantage.”
Amorim Cork America currently serves over 500 customers in 38 states and in northern Mexico and British Columbia. The company employs 24 workers in its Napa, California processing facility, where it provides quality assurance, finishing and printing services, and on-site inventory management for up to 40 million corks.
“Being the largest natural cork producer in the world absolutely depends on quality assurance,” states Eklund.
“After our customers, our most important asset is our relationship with the Cork Quality Council and ETS Laboratories.”
As a founding member of the Cork Quality Council (CQC) in the early 90s, Amorim Cork America has worked closely with the CQC and ETS Laboratories in the development of scientific testing and quality control protocols for the detection of TCA in natural corks.
“The 80 per cent reduction in TCA levels reported by CQC members has been largely due to the coordinated activities of manufacturers like Amorim,” said CQC director Peter Weber.
During the past four years, CQC members have analysed over 2,500,000 corks in 56,000 separate analyses. The results speak for themselves.
“We went from an average TCA count of 4.0 parts per trillion (ppt) several years ago to all lots with less than 1.0 ppt. We have taken threshold amounts well below any sensory perception,” said Eklund.
Nicki Pruss, winemaker for internationally acclaimed Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and a stickler for consistency and quality, says she has found these attributes with Amorim corks.
“We use Amorim corks for a large percentage of the wines we bottle at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars,” she said.
“This is because we have found a high level of consistency in both cork quality and cleanliness."
1 Reference: Wine Institute - www.wineinstitute.org
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