A New Year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year!

A new year provides many of us the opportunity to make changes to ourselves and our lives. It
is the perfect time to start fresh and make those changes that we've spent the last year avoiding. So, in the world of cork, what can one do? Of course, it all depends on you and what you want to do but here are some ideas that will help you and our earth.

1. Start recycling your wine corks. Jelinek Cork wants your recycled wine corks and, if you're a community group or another not for profit organizations, we'll pay you for them. Recycling this already "green" product helps keep our landfills from filling up. For more details, visit: http://jelinek.com/article_38.htm

2. Continue to support the natural cork industry. Myths about cork shortages or cork tree extinction or even that cork trees are being cut-down to make cork products are causing a lot of harm to the Mediterranean region where cork forests thrive. Without the cork forests, these biodiverse areas will die off causing the demise of hundreds of plant, animal and bird species. Read more about this myth here: http://jelinekcork.blogspot.com/2008/04/myth.html

3. Cork your home. Cork is natural, sustainable & environmentally friendly. It is anti-allergetic, insulative (sound and temperature) and warm. Its decorative, comfortable and easy to care for. Cork can be used on many surfaces - cork flooring, cork wall coverings, cork ceilings. Support our earth and use cork.

Happy New Year!

Cork Gifts???

As the holidays quickly approach, some of you may still be looking for the perfect gift. Perhaps you're looking for something ecologically friendly or how about something fashionable and ecologically friendly? Even better, how about something functional, fashionable and eco-friendly? Regardless of who you are shopping for, there is bound to be something for them made primarily from cork.

Here is my top ten list (in no particular order) of items made from cork that would make great gifts:

1. Jean Cristoff Cork Handbag -- Beautiful, elegant and eco-friendly (and of course, functional!). What better bag to use than this?
2. Cube ottoman or bean bag chair upholstered in cork fabric -- or how about a set of cork pillows. Cork fabric is durable, washable and stain-resistant.
3. Set of cork coasters all personalized with the name of your host/hostess/teacher/co-worker or how about "New Years Eve Celebration! Welcome 2009!"
4. Yoga mat made of cork for the Yoga enthusiast on your list. An ecological yet functional gift.
5. Bringing a bottle of wine to a party? How about a cork bottle bag to go along with it?
6. For the home wine maker, what about a bag of personalized wine stoppers? You decide what goes on the cork and we'll print it for you.
7. Fishing floats for the fisher on your list.
8. For the orchid lover, how about natural cork bark. Orchids attach themselves to the bark and thrive. Each piece of bark is unique and creates a natural display.
9. For the person who has everything - how about a cork umbrella! Yup - they exist and they work beautifully.


10. The perfect floor - cork! The new Comfort Finish Cork flooring line is stained and sealed with natural vegetable oil! A truly ecological floor.

Happy Holidays!

Jelinek Cork Group participates in "Girls Night Out"

Jelinek Cork Group was delighted to participate in the annual West of the City event "Girls Night Out". This event, held on November 26, 2008 in Oakville, Ontario, was well attended with over 900 ladies all eager to browse the shopping bazaar. Many local retailers participated in this festive event by setting up fun and interesting booths. Retailers offered a wide variety of tempting products and services ranging from belly dancing lessons, jewelery and fancy socks to cork products from the Cork House. At the Jelinek Cork booth, the new Jean Cristoff collection of ladies handbags, weekend bags and executive lap top bags made their first official appearance. The reaction to the collection was fantastic. The ladies just loved them and couldn't believe the stylish bags were made of cork. For more information on the Jean Cristoff product line, visit our online catalog.

Team Building in Slovakia

Entry By: Jaromíra Císařová of Korek Jelínek spol. s r.o.

The Czech company Korek Jelínek s.r.o. and her daughter company in Slovakia, Korok Jelínek spol. s.r.o. have decided to improve their interrelationships, get fitter and learn more about cork by organising a teambuilding trip to Slovakia.

First day was spent in the town of Nový Smokovec in High Tatras. Originally created as a curative settlement, the first where patients could be treated through the entire year, it became the most luxurious spa of its period. Gradually tourist services were added with a skiing centre for less demanding skiers.

From Novy Smokovec, which is 995 meters above sea level we continued to Zbojnická Chata, situated in Velká Studená dolina (Great Cold Valley) in the High Tatras. Year-round open chalet offers lots of opportunities for hiking, climbing and skiing. It was a real challenge for most people having to climb to 1960 meters above sea level. The accommodation was great fun, as we had a big room in the attic to share between about 17 people. As you can imagine no one got much sleep, apart from the snorers!

The next day, the weather changed for the worst. It has rained most of the night and it was foggy and wet. The climb down was as difficult as going up, as we had to be careful not to slip on the wet stones and snow (in the higher altitudes). But we managed it without harm.

After this, we decided we deserved a bit of pampering and went to a big thermal resort in Poprad. This modern town of forty-four thousand inhabitants south of the High Tatras is a centre for tourism and leisure and the main gateway to this mountain range. We spent almost 3 hours of pure bliss there and recuperated a little from all of the climbing.

Our last stop was at a village of Mala Trna in the Trebisov region, near Hungary border. We were accommodated at Penzion u Macika, whose owners are winegrowers of the famous Tokaj wine. We enjoyed a presentation about cork, mainly cork stoppers.

We enjoyed a wine tasting evening where we had the chance of tasting many Tokaj wines. The tasting took place in a cellar situated in an underground tunnel cut out of the volcanic tufa rock. We found out some interesting things about Tokaj wine, for example The Duke of Transylvania, Frantisek Rákoczi II, sent his own six putno wine to Louis XIV, who termed it "Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum" - "Wine of Kings, King of Wines." In the 18th century Tokaj wine became famous as a medicine for healing anemia and nerve illnesses. Tokaj was also the favorite drink of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Voltaire, and Goethe. Beethoven and Schubert dedicated songs to it.

Overall, we all had a really good time and hope our next adventure is as good as this one.

FOR ARCH exhibition, Prague, Czech Republic

23. – 27. September 2008

Over a thousand exhibitors took part in a showplace bigger than 25 000 m2 at the 19th Annual International Building Exhibition, FOR ARCH. One of the exhibitors was Korek Jelínek s.r.o., who introduced heat cladding system with the use of cork panels. More and more people who are building new, or want to insulate their existing house, are choosing cork, which is not only a purely natural product but also an excellent insulator.

The booth offered not only cork insulation panels, but a whole range of other cork products like cork floating floors, wallpapers, chippings, etc. The booth was a big success and reappeared at the exhibition Dům a bydlení (house and living) in Liberec, Czech Republic, on 9 – 12 October.

It was great to see so many people interested in cork products. People said they wanted something natural and ecological. And that’s what cork is, a brilliant all round product. It still amazes me at how many uses cork has and I hope that the cork industry will continue to flourish.

Jelinek Cork Group Faces the Challenges of Rising Freight Costs

Jelinek Cork Group products continue to be shipped throughout the world at record levels. Transportation costs have always been very important but never more so then in these challenging times of rising fuel and energy costs. These costs directly effect the final product costs. Although Jelinek Cork Group has always been mindful of finding the best possible freight rates - whether by ships, planes, trains or trucks - we have never been more vigilant then today. The experienced Jelinek Cork Group freight team works closely with the transport industry to find the best freight costs and service levels to meet customer demands.

Sonny Jelinek observes a container vessel
carrying Jelinek products to countries far and wide.

Interesting Uses for Cork #2

As discussed previously there are many uses for cork beyond the traditional. Here is another interesting use: Cork for bodies. Yep - you read it right, cork is used for certain procedures with human and animal bodies.

1. For taxidermy purposes, corks (typically tapered) are used to plug holes.
2. Again, in taxidermy, cork bark is used to mount small animal displays.
3. In body piercings, corks are used to fill the holes created by the piercing so they don't heal closed.
4. Also in body piercings, corks are used to prevent the needle from piercing places that shouldn't be pierced (ie. nose piercings).

Cork is also used to replicate bodies.
1. Cork grain is used to fill mannequins and dolls
2. Duck Decoy bodies are often made of cork. Cork floats and the natural texture of cork adds to the character of the decoy.
3. Cork fabric can be used in place of leather or other fabrics to cover a doll or mannequin, giving a unique look.