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The JPS Cork Group, made up of the companies Jorge Pinto de Sá and Sedacor, celebrates its hundred year anniversary this June, establishing itself as an example of longevity and innovation in the cork sector.
“Throughout these hundred years, our journey has been marked by many achievements, difficulties and challenges that have tested our capacity for adaptation and resilience,” says the group’s current Chairman, Jorge Mendes Pinto de Sá, quoted in an announcement.
Among the achievements, is the Techtextil Innovation Award for Cork-A-Tex Yarn in 2019, in the new material category. “It was the first time in history that a Portuguese project won this prestigious world award,” Albertino Oliveira, Commercial & Marketing Director, told T Jornal. The project, led by Sedacor, also included the collaboration of Têxteis Penedo, CITEVE and the University of Porto. This led to the creation os a company – CORK-A-TEX- NEW GENERATION YARNS, in Guimarães.
“Sedacor is the Portuguese cork company that has intervened the most in the fashion sector. Never before has a company in this sector innovated so much so that we can have more cork in the textile sector,” he emphasises. “Six of the ten awards we’ve won have also been in the textile sector, some of them in the InovaTêxtil awards,” he adds.
Sobre a parceria do grupo com a fileira Albertino Oliveira diz ser para manter, quer na área dos têxteis-lar, estofaria ou vestuário. “Não só em forma de fio, mas também em tecidos”. A verdade é que o próprio site já tem uma área dedicada à moda e ao ecodesign.
In the future, JPS Cork Group wants to maintain its “successful partnerships with the textile sector”. “We’re looking forward to some big news soon, especially in the area of transport, which will involve leading companies from the textile sector,” he says.
He concluded by saying that the group will continue to be a driving force for progress. “We will continue to strive to ensure that other strong areas in Portugal are leveraged by a product as noble as cork, and that they differentiate themselves on the international market. We want to create value for the most varied industrial areas. It’s a huge endeavour for a 100-year-old company to continue to innovate, but we will continue to leave our comfort zone.”
The history of the JPS Cork Group began in 1924, in a small factory in Paços de Brandão by Jorge Pinto de Sá. It currently occupies an area of over 100,000 square metres, spread across Santa Maria da Feira, Ponte de Sor and Guimarães. Its future is assured not only by the current second generation, but also by the third and fourth generations who are already active.