Amorim announced the launch of Naturity and Xpür, technologies designed to remove detectable TCA from natural corks and to create a new segment of micro-agglomerated stoppers, respectively. Extensive bottling trials with various wineries have yielded exemplary results in measuring the treatment's impact on cork performance, with additional third-party validation trials to be conducted as soon as possible with the Geisenheim Institute in Germany and the Campden & Chorleywood labs in the UK. Another development announced is Amorim's Xpür technology, developed to expand the non-detectable TCA performance for micro-agglomerated stoppers. Xpür improves upon the conventional supercritical CO2 application developed several decades ago, reengineering and upgrading the concept with 21st-century technology. Amorim's new, innovative take on the system uses only 25% of the energy and just 10% of the CO2 previously required. Furthermore, Xpür achieves results of TCA reduction levels to 0.3 ng/L in treated micro-agglomerated stoppers, while leaving the physical-mechanical properties of cork intact. As a result, Amorim's range of micro-agglomerated corks features the highest possible percentage of cork and do not require additional chemical solutions to maintain cork's natural properties, namely the all-important compressibility and expansion rates. Xpür will be employed in the treatment of technical stoppers Neutrocork Premium and QORK – the latter employing an innovative binding agent made using 100% polyols from vegetable origin, and which is expected to reduce the amount of single-use plastic stoppers in the world by several million units.
Tracing its roots back to the 19th century, Corticeira Amorim, SGPS, S.A. has become the world's largest cork and cork-derived company in the world, generating more than EUR 985.5 million in sales to more than 100 countries through a network of dozens of fully owned subsidiaries. With a multi-million Euro R&D investment per year, Corticeira Amorim, SGPS, S.A. has applied its specialist knowledge to this centuries-old traditional culture, developing a vast portfolio of products, solutions and materials that are used by blue-chip clients in industries as diverse and demanding as wines & spirits, aerospace, automotive, construction, sports, architecture and design.
Net sales by business unit break down between Cork Stoppers (75.9%), Composite Cork (12%), Floor and Wall Coverings (9.1), Insulation Cork (1.6%) and Raw Materials (1.4%).
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Portugal 6.8%), EU excluding Portugal (61.8%), Other European countries (2%), the United States (16.4%), America excluding the United States (6.5%), Australasia (5.1%) and Africa (1.4%).
Corticeira Amorim, SGPS, S.A.'s responsible approach to raw materials and sustainable production illustrates the remarkable interdependence between industry and a vital ecosystem - one of the world's most balanced examples of social, economic and environmental development.
CORTICEIRA AMORIM, SGPS, S.A. 
