100% Cork | Produced by Nature. Preferred by Winemakers
January 30, 2015 by Rita Gonçalves
A recent survey conducted by Conecta and Ibope studied the consumption habits of wine consumers in the city of São Paulo.
The research reveals that consumers consider the importance of the wine’s “closure” to be proportional to the quality of the wine. The study shows that “a cork closure is a value-adding element of the product. If a wine is sealed with a cork closure, consumers perceive it as a higher quality product when compared to a wine with a different type of sealing, such as a plastic closure or a screw cap.”
Even if cork sealed bottles are more convenient for the younger generation, most regard cork sealed wine as a higher quality product. So much so that, according to the study, “consumers are willing to pay an extra R$ 13.00 to R$ 15.00 for a wine sealed with a natural cork closure. Consumers believe that natural corks help preserve the wine’s taste.”
The higher social classes attribute more value to this factor. “The A class, for example, which consumes finer wines and drinks more frequently, associates a cork closure with more quality and charm. The sound that the closure makes on its release from the bottle is much more appealing than that of a screw cap. 80% of the respondents believe noble wines require a natural cork closure.”
Sustainability is another relevant topic for 50% of the respondents. “There is a growing trend concerning environmental awareness among the population. Cork is a natural, non-polluting and renewable resource. It is the bark of the cork oak, a type of oak which is abundant in Portugal and southern Europe, and its extraction does not require this noble tree to be felled.”
The study encompassed 407 people from the A, B and C social classes of São Paulo. Its main objective was to identify the consumer preferences for a specific type of wine bottle closure. Two thirds of the respondents declared having bought wine in the two weeks before the survey. And two thirds also consume wine on an average of once a week.
