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Advertorial: Premium cork producer at cutting edge of technological achievements

The company boasts a fully vertical production process, individual TCA screening technology for natural cork stoppers – Onebyone® – and the Sara Advanced® system, a technology that uses thermodynamic combination to deliver a sensory uniformity to all our natural cork range, achieving effectiveness levels of 99.66%.

Further to these accomplishments Masilva is setting up Neotech®, focused on eradicating TCA from cork granules for technical corks. A new, more than €7m investment in technology and capacity expansion for technical corks will increase annual production capacity to 400 million micro-agglomerated cork stoppers throughout 2021. To support this production capacity, an additional 6,000sq m expansion of its technical cork production unit is reaching its final stage of construction.

Neotech® – key features and modus operandi

All granules come from carefully selected raw materials at the also newly expanded raw material centre, now 100,000sq m, located in the heart of Alentejo, in Alter do Chão.

This granulate is treated with fluidised bed technology for molecular interaction with the gaseous substance:

• The gaseous flow goes through and involves each cork particle in perfect uniformity, thus creating conditions for rapid mixing, turbulence, and sterilisation

• Highly optimised TCA removal to ND levels

• No mechanical intervention

• The granules are transported through a process of vibration

• The natural elastic memory of the granules is preserved

• Consistency of the granules through treatment

• Homogenous efficiency in all cork granule sizes

• The consistency and natural appearance of the granules is preserved without cellular structure destruction

• Ecological and sustainable

• No chemical solvents

• Use of controlled pressure and steam

Neotech® – advantages

• Elimination of granule layering

• Greater consistency in the performance of the natural features of the cork

Improved physical properties of the granules

• Supported with cutting edge quality control requirements, Neotech® is technology fitted to answer to winemakers’ expectations. The motto for the Neo corks will be: “A cork stopper tailor made to fit your wine.” With different OTR (Oxygen Transfer Rates) available and non-detectable TCA guarantees, Masilva has once again listed its performance within premium levels of customer needs and services.

About Masilva

Masilva is a premium cork producer, founded in 1972 by its executive president, Manuel Alves da Silva, and located in the heart of the cork industry in Santa Maria da Feira. The core business of the group is the manufacturing of premium natural and technical cork stoppers to supply the global wine industry. With a solid financial structure, continuous investment in innovation and technology, and a customer-oriented policy, Masilva has become a synonym of excellence in the cork business. In 2020 Masilva generated more than €80m in sales for more than 5,000 customers, in more than 40 countries around the world. The group has four production units in Portugal and seven finishing units abroad (Portugal, Spain, France, China, Australia, EUA, Chile and Brazil), having in its structure more than 310 collaborators worldwide. Over the past seven years, Masilva has shown an average 10% of annual growth.

“The Neotech® system was developed as an answer to market demand and tendencies, demonstrating our ambition of pursuing perfection by obtaining neutrality and TCA eradication in the full range of Masilva’s product portfolio. The world is facing difficult times, but our aim remains the same – having the determination to guarantee state-of-the-art technologies to our customers”

José Silva (CEO)

• Cork
• TCA
• Masilva
• Neotech®
• cleaning
• granulate
• granular