By Christina Alehem, Dieter Fuchs, Derya Kücükgöl, Peter Perskull

The new wine stopperThe new wine stopper

Cork oak, Quercus Suber

• The cork oak grows in the western Mediterranean region

• Portugal accounts for 50% of world’s cork production

• Cork is derived from the bark of the tree

• The oak has a life span of 200 to 250 years

• The virgin bark is cut when the tree is 25 to 30 years old

• After that the bark is harvested every 9 to 12 years

Introduction• Does a good wine need to have a natural cork stopper?

• Cork production cannot meet the demands of the industry, leading to a higher prize of cork

• Need to find an equivalent substitution to cork stoppers

• Existing alternatives: plastic stoppers, silicon and metal caps

• Have the disadvantage of preventing wine from breathing during maturation time in the bottle

Goal

We want to introduce a good alternative to cork with all it’s positive attributes but to lower

costs.

Characteristics of Natural Cork Stopper

• Elasticity

• Lightness

• Impermeability

Positive attributes

Negative attributes

• Cork taint in wine

• Increasing prize in the future

• It does not rotten

Characteristics of StrigoNovo

• Elasticity

• Lightness

• Impermeability

Positive attributes Negative attributes

• No cork taint in wine

• Low prize

• It does not rotten

• No natural cork

Plastic cylinder with plate

Grease-proof paper

Collagen and Laminin

Final productStrigoNovo

Collagen type IV from Danio revio

• Makes fine fibres

• Forms a natural barrier to cell migration

• Allows breathing

Laminin with its four binding-sites

Cellulose compared to heparin

Cellulose

Heparin binding-site of laminin

Expression SystemEasySelectTM Pichia Expression Kit by Invitrogen

• Pichia pastoris is a methylotrophic yeast

• Methanol can be used as sole carbon source

• Promotor is induced by methanol

• High expression levels (up to 12 gram/litre)

• Product secreted

• Adaptable to fermentation (to 10.000 litres)

• No CO2 incubators or tissue hoods needed

• Licence needed

Positive aspects of StrigoNovo

• Grease proof paper is already culturally accepted

• The paper absorbs a little bit of wine

• StrigoNovo can be produced everywhere

• StrigoNovo will not cause a cork taint

• The paper is brown

• Brown, granulated plastic cylinder

Industry Segment Value in Euro (000) per year

Wine Stoppers €1.000.000

Floor & Wall Coverings € 300.000

Expanded Agglomerated Cork € 100.000

Other Products € 100.000

Total Cork Products €1.500.000

Worldwide cork production is estimated to be

slightly less than 13 billion wine stoppers per year.

Source: The Natural Cork Quality Council http://www.corkqc.com/cqcsurve.htm

Test market

StrigoNovo is primary intended for middleclass wines which constitute ~70% of the total wine market.

The initial test markets will be in Switzerland, Sweden and probably the USA.

We think that the population in these countries are more susceptible for changes regarding wine, compared to Italians, French or Spanish.

•Extraction Characteristics 57%

•Physical Appearance 19%

•Wine absorption 10%

•Physical Dimensions 10%

•Natural Materials 3%

Consumers view on stoppersaccording to an American survey

Source: The Natural Cork Quality Council http://www.corkqc.com/cqcsurve.htm

GANTT-schemeProject planning

Research

Small scale production

Pilot production

Full scale production

2 years

Marketing

5 years4 years

Budget in SEK/year

Personal24%

Material24%

Equipment46%

Marketing6%

Other costs that need to be considered

Production• license fees• manufacturing sites• maintenance

Marketing•consult

Patent• lawyer• application

The total cost is predicted to be SEK 8,500,000 per year

Financial aspects

Total costs per year: SEK 8.5 million

Total costs in 4 years: SEK 34 million

Estimated price of StrigoNovo: SEK 2 / piece

Winning per stopper: SEK 0.75

Annual market: 13 billion stoppers

0,35% of the market covers the cost of the research

Patent

• “StrigoNovo”

• Size minimised cellulose binding laminin

• Concept of StrigoNovo-construction

Summary

• StrigoNovo shows great similarities to cork

• StrigoNovo offers a cheap alternative to cork

• StrigoNovo does not cause cork taint

• StrigoNovo can be produced all over the world