Sabaté Diosos has established an Italian subsidiary, Sabaté Italia , for the sales of its cork division products.
Situated in Calamandrana, Asti, Sabaté said that the division, which is subject to Italian law, would be responsible for the distribution of the Sabaté and Altec closure brands on the Italian market.
The new unit is a joint venture between Sabaté Diosos (80 per cent) and the Italian firm Paolo Araldo, the agent and distributor for barrelmaker Seguin Moreau in Italy, and a longstanding partner of the Sabaté group.
The local cork finishing will be sub-contracted to a local company, Belbo Sugheri.
Sabaté said that the immediate aim of establishing the division in Italy was to develop its sales on the transalpine market, currently one of its priority markets for future growth.
"The setting up of Sabaté Italia should help the sales of the new Altec range, a natural cork-based closure, which with more than 3.5 billion bottles corked since its launch in 1995, is currently being enhanced by new products with varying levels of permeability," the company said.
Present in all world-wide wine-producing regions, Sabaté Diosos claims to be the only international group to offer a complete range of value added products and services to the wine market.