| ABOUT Jelinek Cork Group For more history/updates/product news, visit the Jelinek Cork Blog. Jelinek Cork Group (JCG) is over 150 years old. Today it is one of the oldest continually active cork companies in the world. It remains a privately owned, fifth generation family run company headquartered in Canada with subsidiary warehousing, office, and/or production facilities in various countries around the world. JCG ships cork products to over thirty different countries each year.  Jelinek Cork Group was founded in 1855 in the province of Bohemia within the former Austro-Hungarian Empire but known today as the Czech Republic. That area of the world was known then, as it is today, as the capital of world beer consumption. Cork stoppers were supplied by Jelinek to the leading breweries of the world when beer bottles were still sealed with natural corks. Distilleries and wineries quickly learned the advantages of using natural cork in sealing their own bottles and Jelinek Cork was soon also supplying these two industries, as well as the cosmetic, spice, and food markets with their stopper requirements.
During the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the communists in 1948, Jelinek Cork was nationalized and the Jelinek family escaped to Canada to find freedom and a new start. The new North American company was started and prospered throughout Canada and the USA and began expanding into other countries. In 1989, with the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the ousting of the communist regime, Jelinek Cork Group re-established a division of JCG in Eastern Europe and today also have facilities in both the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.
Over the years Jelinek Cork has introduced new and exciting products to vastly different market areas. The automotive industry and engine parts (gaskets, carburetor and level gauge floats), specialty components (for musical instruments, batteries, sporting goods and shoe trades), industrial goods and building products (decorative floor and wall coverings, acoustical, anti-static and insulating materials) as well as numerous products for the stationery and home improvement markets are but a few of the more important industries being supplied by the Jelinek Cork Group throughout the world today. JCG is solely dedicated to the promotion, production and distribution of all cork products. The group specializes and works only with cork – from the forest level to the final product – making JCG perhaps the most innovative cork company in the world. Recognition of Responsibilities Over the years, JCG has participated in a number of conservation
initiatives related to the cork industry. These initiatives always
have the same objective … no pollution, no wastage of raw materials,
and recycling whenever possible. For example, JCG is a primary participant
in an innovative environmental program called Bag-a-Cork which involves
the collection and recycling of used cork bottle stoppers. The Bag-a-Cork
initiative is the first of such in North America. Jelinek Cork Group promotes the use of environmentally friendly, sustainable and renewable products in the construction industry. The company fully supports the initiatives of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Rating System. Learn more about Jelinek Cork and the LEED rating system. Research and development, environmental preservation, quality control, customer service and value may all be a cliché but are the true testimonial of the company’s 150 years in business. The JCG motto holds steadfast: “If you like nature, you will love cork” and the company’s belief in the environment remains equally strong. Its line of cork products are all manufactured only “from trees that go on living”. |
