Cork as a central element
As the name suggests, Corkart is all about cork. ‘In 1987, my father founded TexCork, a family company whose core business included high-quality cork-based textiles and paper. After his management studies and an international passage in Spain for German company Homag, Gonçalo returned to the family business in Portugal in 2008. "From TexCork, Corkart emerged in 1998. Actually, Corkart is the umbrella production company and our subsidiaries supply the raw materials." So Corkart is actually a network of companies with complementary activities.
In the late 1990s, Corkart started producing floating cork flooring with an innovative click system. The production of vinyl flooring and vinyl tiles (since 2008) with an integrated underlay made of cork has since become Corkart's core business. The company also offers separate cork underlays and a number of supporting products. Just think of maintenance products and a repair kit.

Corkart also has the capacity to produce and supply cork components to other industrial flooring companies. ‘Our ambition is to further evolve Corkart as a full-fledged brand globally,’ he says.
The production area of the Vendas Novas plant is over 25,000 m², and Corkart has the capacity to produce over 2 million m² of different floors every year. Corkart floors are distributed in over 30 countries, mainly in Europe. ‘What typifies our company is local production in Portugal. This allows us to keep our finger on the pulse in terms of quality and minimise risks," says Gonçalo. Corkart has around 175 employees who are mainly active in the production hall.

SPC flooring produced in Europe
SPC stands for ‘stone, plastic, composite’ and refers to a type of flooring that consists of several layers including a strong and rigid layer in the middle. Whoever says SPC flooring says Asia in the same breath. It is true that most SPC flooring is produced in countries like China. Even when Corkart decided to include SPC flooring in its range in 2017, the Portuguese company initially started importing from Asia.

‘However, Corkart is a real production company and soon we invested in the necessary machinery to produce SPC flooring ourselves,’ Gonçalo explains of the switch to European production in 2021. ‘Moreover, the in-house production process offers the advantage that you can exercise more control on quality, respond more flexibly to changes and, above all, add your own touch to a product," says Gonçalo.

The Corkart CEO refers to the cork sheet that forms the backbone of the Corkart SPC floor. ‘The cork underlay provides the necessary support but also has soundproofing properties. On top of that comes the rigid core, the decor film and the wear layer," continues Gonçalo who points out that the production of SPC floors in Europe is rather a rarity.
One of the major strengths of an SPC floor with a cork underlay is its excellent value for money, its water resistance as well as its smooth application in large (commercial) spaces. ‘Thanks to it’s composition the SPC floors let virtually no water through,’ says Gonçalo.

Sustainability as a driving force
What expectations does Corkart have for the future? ‘Our SPC flooring segment currently accounts for 30% of our total sales. Our expectation is that this share will increase further. Our expectation is that SPC flooring will become our main segment, with other cork-derived products as additional (but important) business,’ says Gonçalo, stressing that SPC flooring opens doors to new markets.

However, the decisive factor par excellence that will determine the success of SPC flooring will be sustainability. ‘SPC is a growing market segment, but sustainability will be the defining factor par excellence. Customers are becoming smarter and more critical, asking targeted questions about the origin of products,raw materials and sustainability of the production." At Corkart, they have well understood this market demand. The company collects installation residues from other floors and reprocesses them into new SPC floors. In addition, Corkart is strongly committed to recyclable PVC projects.
‘We want to develop Corkart into a premium brand that gets global recognition. However, numbers are secondary to the way we produce,’ is how CEO Gonçalo reinforces the sustainable philosophy.

Portugal, young entrepreneurs at the helm
Corkart's headquarters and production site are located in Vendas Novas, an hour's drive from Lisbon. We also like to ask Gonçalo about his views on Portuguese entrepreneurship in general.
What typifies a young Portuguese entrepreneur? ‘The Portuguese are known for their solid education and good work ethic. There is life before and after the financial crisis in 2011, though. Because of this crisis and several additional crises afterwards, the number of jobs in the public sector fell. This made people, especially young people, realise that it was best for them to take matters into their own hands, and many set up their own SMEs. Investment in the real estate sector, among others, is booming."
Gonçalo Neves himself is a fine example of a driven entrepreneur who embraces a local anchoring while keeping an open and ambitious view of the rest of the world.