Beverage packaging: 100PercentCork.org launches campaign to show consumer preference for real cork

-- Packaging Digest, 6/11/2010 12:38:30 PM

100PercentCork.org launched a pledge drive at the Sustainable Brands 2010 conference today to reinforce Americans' preference for natural cork for their wine.

"Natural cork embodies sustainability like few other products, so this conference is the ideal venue to launch the campaign," said Peter Weber, executive director of the Cork Quality Council, one of the campaign's supporters.

100PercentCork.org is already rapidly gathering momentum. The campaign is on track to sign up more than 10,000 fans for its Facebook page before the conference's last session on Thursday.

Meanwhile, cork supporters are taking the 100 Percent Cork Pledge. Pledges will be collected in petitions to major wine retailers and winemakers to strongly urge them to increase their offerings of wine closed with natural cork.

"U.S. wine drinkers and winemakers overwhelmingly prefer cork over synthetic stoppers for its uniquely rich tradition and unmatched technical performance," Weber said. "However, there are also powerful environmental reasons to choose cork."

Cork is recyclable, biodegradable and creates a commercial incentive for the sustainable stewardship of the Mediterranean cork oak forests, which trap carbon emissions while providing one of the world's richest ecosystems.

"Choosing cork over artificial wine stoppers is a small but easy step to show that you care about your planet and your wine," Weber said. "In addition to its own environmental and technical advantages, that simple cork in the top of a wine bottle sustains vast cork forests and a way of life that stretches back more than 400 years."

SOURCE: 100PercentCork.org

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