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With great curiosity, Heimtextil received the world premiere of the first bedding collection produced with cork-a-tex yarn by Têxteis Penedo.
Fabrics made from cork yarn are already a palpable reality in home textiles, and very advanced negotiations are taking place in the sense of some of the well-known players in sneakers and the automotive industry to become customers of fabrics with cork fiber.
More than ten years ago, the idea of producing a natural yarn for textiles from industrial cork waste aroused. “During the eight years of product development, we had a lot of challenges and studies to solve the problems that arose. In particular, due to cork differences, once the final product had to be homogeneous.”, recalls Xavier Leite, CEO of Penedo.
With all the puzzles solved, the consecration came when cork-a-tex, developed in partnership with Corticeira Sedacor, was distinguished by Techtextil with the innovation award in the “New Product” category.
Curiously, this award was in the 2019 edition of Techtextil, the last one held last week in Frankfurt, which took place simultaneously with Heimtextil – where Penedo shone with the first collection of final products produced from innovation, awarded three years ago.
In a joint venture with Sedacor, Penedo manufactures cork yarn, later woven by Riopele. The cloth, affirms Xavier Leite, was already approved by several brands. Moreover, Penedo has an ongoing partnership with JFA from Guimarães to produce cork-a-tex rugs.