Respected Catalonian cork producer enters the U.S. market
March 31, 2016, Girona, Catalonia and Napa Valley —- Daryl Eklund has been named U.S. Sales Manager for the cork company Parramon, according to an announcement by Jose Santos, Director of Sales, and Francesc Parramon, CEO, of Parramon Exportap. “We are delighted to welcome an experienced wine industry veteran like Daryl to our team,” Santos and Parramon said. Eklund will lead the company’s new sales efforts in the U.S.
Eklund has over 20 years of winemaking experience with stints at Trefethen, Conn Creek, Stags Leap and St. Andrews (now Luna). He also offers a wealth of glass and cork packaging experience including ten years managing the US subsidiary of the industry’s biggest cork producer. He has a degree in Fermentation Science from UC Davis and is a former officer of the Napa Valley Wine Technical Group and the Natural Cork Quality Council. He looks forward to utilizing this background to introduce Parramon’s products to both small wineries and large-scale producers. “We see an opening in today’s market for a smaller, nimble, quality-first producer like Parramon,” Eklund explains.
Founded in 1956 in Girona, 62 miles northeast of Barcelona, Parramon sells to more than 800 customers in 13 countries.
Parramon is the most innovative cork producer in Europe. Examples of the company’s cutting-edge competitive advantages are its development and application of the first practical laser printers, “Digital Eye” optical sorters which include laser probes for internal flaws in addition to standard anti capillary treatments and the use of Mylar packaging for all shipments. Parramon is the only cork producer to use lasers to ‘brand’ all corks with winery logos and graphics, insuring much greater detail and perfect quality in the finished product. Parramon purchases only the highest quality wood from Catalonian forests and is the only company to fully cure its wood for a full 12 months prior to use in making top grade natural corks and the Microtech composite cork.
