Investing for the future

Investing for the future while keeping today's challenges in mind

Jochen Michalski, President of the Harv 81 Group, in an interview with Drinks Business

In a long interview with Drinks Business, Jochen Michalski, president of Portugal's second largest cork group, Cork Supply, says that just thinking about the short term is not good enough.

Some of the topics covered during this conversation were the investments in recent years in the acquisition and renovation of new production units, as well as the difficulties caused by Covid-19, war, and inflation

Although there is growth and opportunities, there are also challenges – and energy is the major one. However, fortunately, the company had already begun to replace gas with biomass in its factories, taking advantage of the by-product of its production of technical cork closures.

“We are also installing photovoltaic panels in all our Portuguese production units, which will reduce our energy consumption by 25%,” says Jochen Michalski. “We didn't do it because we predicted gas or energy price increases; we did it for sustainability.”

Sustainability is a core concept that Jochen Michalski says the company has been investing in for over 25 years “even before it was called sustainability. ”And it's not just about energy; it's about people and also product development.

“Today, our Harvesting for the Future sustainability strategy focuses on three Ps: planet, people, and product, and what we as a global company can do to contribute to these three key areas,” says Jochen Michalski.