New York’s First Cork Stopper Recycling Initiative Partners with New York City’s Premier Wine & Food Festival to Promote Environmental Benefits of Cork
New York, NY, 2024 – The Cork Collective, New York’s exciting new sustainability initiative focused on cork stopper collection and recycling, is proud to announce an environmentally-focused partnership to promote the sustainability of real cork closures at The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival’s 17th annual edition this October 17-20, 2024 in Brooklyn, New York. The festival is presented by Invesco QQQ (NYCWFF).
Established with the collective goal of raising awareness of the environmental benefits of cork, the Cork Collective and the NYCWFF will be executing a groundbreaking cork recycling program across the entire 4-day event. As the official sustainability partner of the festival, the Cork Collective will provide festival-wide recycling bins to consumers, participating talent, and wine and spirits sponsors across all events.
The Cork Collective will support the NYCWFF’s sustainability efforts with on-site education to demonstrate cork’s versatility and value in powering a circular economy that repurposes stoppers into materials that can keep significant amounts of CO2—retained by all natural cork stoppers—sequestered for decades, while also contributing to eco-friendly community projects. Cork is a 100% sustainable and renewable material that comes from oak trees that are never felled, and cork products can be given a second life through reuse, upcycling, and regeneration, making it one of the world’s great sustainability stories.
Upon completion of the festival, the Cork Collective will use recycled cork stoppers to help resurface neighborhood playgrounds and tot lots, benefiting children by creating vibrant communal spaces through sustainable design across New York City.
“We are honored and excited to be showcasing the power of cork stopper recycling at the vibrant, future-focused New York City Wine & Food Festival. Rockwell Group helped found the Cork Collective because we believe in cork’s transformational power and versatility, and we are always looking for ways to support the hospitality industry and New York City’s public realm. Guests at the festival will have the opportunity to experience the power of this project first-hand,” says Rockwell Group Founder and President David Rockwell. “The Cork Collective looks forward to making connections within the wine, spirits, and restaurant industries to expand our reach in more cities.”
“This year’s festival is our most exciting yet, with more than 80 events across four days. We’re especially thrilled to add the Cork Collective as our first-ever sustainability partner. The hospitality industry is proud to be a leader in reducing its environmental footprint, from packaging and food sourcing to energy savings and waste reduction. A circularity initiative like the Cork Collective is a critical piece of the puzzle and we’re proud to introduce them to our festival partners and guests.” – Lee Schrager, NYCWFF Founder & Director, Chief Communications Officer, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.
“As a restaurant owner, the NYCWFF has long been my favorite event of the year and a place where I’m inspired by innovations in and out of the kitchen. I’m honored to be part of the Cork Collective, which is taking a much-needed stance against waste in our industries. It’s inspiring to know we can make a difference with this daily collection ritual of corks that would otherwise be tossed in the trash—instead, they’ll be turned into products that will beautify the city I love and call home.” – Melba Wilson, Restaurateur and Owner of Melba’s Harlem.
Cork Collective received generous support for its presence at NYCWFF from 2×4, the award-winning global design consultancy; New Project, the Brooklyn-based fabrication studio, and Eventscape, an architectural fabricator based in New York and Toronto.
An initiative fueled by the expertise and passion of its founding partners—Rockwell Group, Amorim, BlueWell, and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits—the Cork Collective launched its pilot program in New York this summer with a city-wide collection program in partnership with restaurants and hotels, with the goal of scaling up to a nation-wide program over the coming years. Cork Collective’s high-profile partners include New York’s top restaurants, hospitality groups, and personalities including Melba Wilson (Melba’s), Simon Kim and Victoria James (Gracious Hospitality Management: COTE Korean Steakhouse and COQODAQ), John Ragan, President of USHG Restaurants and Master Sommelier, and José Andrés (José Andrés Group); Mattos Hospitality and Marlow Collective; and leading hotel companies such as Marriott International and Four Seasons.
Working with the Cork Collective, NYCWFF will have the opportunity to educate wine lovers about the circular potential of cork stoppers to retain CO2, as well as their potential to be reused, upcycled, and regenerated to minimize waste. Along the way, the festival will illustrate the small, but highly impactful ways that wine drinkers can become climate heroes through the simple act of recycling natural cork closures.
For more information and to purchase tickets for the festival, go to https://nycwff.org/tickets-events/. 100% of the Festival’s net proceeds will continue to support God’s Love We Deliver, the New York City metropolitan area’s only provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling for individuals living with severe illness.
To learn more about the Cork Collective, or to inquire about joining the cork collection program, visit https://corkcollective.org. You can also follow the initiative on Instagram @corkcollective. For questions about the Cork Collective, please contact Leah Isenberg of Colangelo & Partners at lisenberg@colangelopr.com.
About Cork Collective
Cork Collective is an initiative fueled by the expertise and passion of its founding partners—Rockwell Group, Amorim, BlueWell & Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits—and is dedicated to transforming cork waste into valuable resources, showcasing its versatility and circularity. Cork is harvested from the bark of cork oak trees, making it a 100% natural and renewable resource. This sustainable material regrows, allowing for repeated harvesting without harming the trees. Through partnerships with restaurants and hospitality venues, the Cork Collective collects and recycles wine corks, turning them into eco-friendly projects. Its initiatives not only reduce waste, but also support community projects like playground revitalizations and sustainable design solutions.
About Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival
The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Invesco QQQ is hosted by God’s Love We Deliver with 100% of the Festival’s net proceeds supporting New Yorkers facing severe illness. Over the past 16 years, the Festival has generated more than $14.8 million in net proceeds for its charitable causes. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the exclusive provider of wine and spirits at the Festival. BizBash has named the Festival the #1 Food & Restaurant Industry event in New York for 10 years in a row. More information on the Festival can be found at nycwff.org. Follow @NYCWFF on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and on TikTok at @NYCWineFoodFestival.
About Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the world’s preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol, building brands for moments that matter. The multi-generational, family-owned Company has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, as well as brokerage operations through its WEBB Banks division in the Caribbean, Central and South America. In 2024, Southern Glazer’s was recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity and America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women. Southern Glazer’s urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @sgwinespirits.
