Raleigh, NC. - May 2007 - Nomacorc – the worldwide leader in the synthetic wine closure segment – has rapidly responded to their growing global market with the installation of more extrusion and printing equipment and the expansion of their research and development organization.
MANUFACTURING - New, state-of-the-art extrusion capability as well as several new high speed printers have recently been installed in Nomacorc’s corporate headquarters in the U.S. as the company expands its capacity to satisfy growing demand for its products throughout the world. In addition to new equipment, Nomacorc is upgrading its U.S. plant to optimize through-put and efficiency.
The U.S facility services global and regional wineries in North America, South America, Australia and South Africa. Nomacorc’s Belgian location which services Europe has recently added extrusion capacity, transitioning the facility from a finishing and distribution operation to a complete production center able to meet the demands of Nomacorc’s rapidly expanding European winery and retailer customer base. These production upgrades in both facilities will also support Nomacorc’s continued expansion into other regions of the world. The synthetic segment, currently representing 20% of the total wine closure market, is expected to grow to 35% share by 2010.
Nomacorc’s VP of Global Operations, Nagib Nasr who joined the company in 2006, sees these changes as the natural progression of a high growth business. “As our market share continues to grow, we have accelerated our investment in machinery and people which allows us to expand capacity to meet anticipated customer demand. Our growth in the European market has consistently outpaced forecast which necessitated the decision to accelerate the transition of our Belgium facility to a full scale production operation. These changes will allow us to meet the expectations of our customers in Europe and worldwide.”
PERSONNEL - Nomacorc also announces the addition of two eminent specialists to its industry leading research and quality teams. Dr. Stephane Vidal who joins the company as Oenological Research Manager brings an impressive resume of ground-breaking research in biochemistry and oenological research. Following completion of his PhD from the INRA in Montpellier, France and post doc studies at the AWRI in Adelaide Australia, Dr. Vidal joined the prestigious Inter Rhône laboratory in Orange, France in the capacity of department head. Reporting to Dr. Olav Aagaard, Director of Global Research, Dr. Vidal will be focused on the continued expansion of Nomacorc’s research in the area of post-bottling chemistry and the role of the closure in oxygen management and wine preservation.
Also reporting to Dr. Aagaard, Dr. Denis Sergent joins Nomacorc in the capacity of Oenological Support Manager. Dr. Sergent obtained his Diplôme d’Oenologue from the University of Bordeaux. After working as an independent consultant in Bordeaux as well as for the ICV in Brignoles , he joined Lallemand SAS in Blagnac, where he was responsible for technical service and application development within France and Switzerland for the Fermented Beverage Business Unit. Dr. Sergent will provide oenological support to Nomacorc’s quality and new product development initiatives.
Nomacorc’s VP of Quality and Technology, Malcolm Thompson, welcomes the new team members stating “Stephane and Denis will add further expertise to our global R&D team who continue to lead the industry in research in the role of oxygen and closure selection on wine development. Our investment in the expansion of our R&D team demonstrates our ongoing commitment to work with the industry to continue to advance the development of closures that meet the varied needs of winemakers around the globe.”
Nomacorc is the world’s leading manufacturer of synthetic wine closures. The company’s portfolio of products are manufactured with patented co-extrusion technology that provides consistent, predictable oxygen management. As a result, Nomacorc has been chosen to protect billions of bottles of the world’s most recognized wines worldwide. Manufacturing in the U.S. and Belgium, Nomacorc’s associates strive to provide the highest level of service to customers on six continents.
