Cork has been harvested from the cork oak forests in Portugal and other countries which border the western edge of the Mediterranean basin for centuries. The harvesting process is laborious, requiring skilled labor and decades of patience. Each cork tree must be approximately twenty years old before it can provide its first "virgin" harvest of cork bark, and it will be another nine years before it will be ready again to provide another harvest.

Fortunately, the stripping procedure is done with great care and the cork oak trees live for 160 to 200 productive years. Cork is truly a renewable and environmentally friendly resource.

First utilized centuries ago as wine stoppers, cork has matured into a key material in many industries including construction, high technology and fashion.

The unique and intrinsic qualities of cork are what make it superior to many synthetic would-be substitutes. In its several forms - natural, composition, granulated and cork/rubber - cork's many inherent attributes can not be found in any other single source, making it an essential element for many purposes.

We invite the reader to review the following comprehensive article about cork to gain a greater appreciation for the material: Cork: Properties, Capabilities and Applications from International Materials Review, 2005, Vol 50 No. 6 pages 345 to 365