Contract Packaging March/April 2021

T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N F O R T H E C O N T R A C T PA C K A G I N G A S S O C I AT I O N

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CP/CM Industry Booming New report shows that after a short pause at the start of the pandemic, the CP/CM industry has come roaring back. Meanwhile, changing supply chain and innovation paradigms are reshaping the industry. p. 8

4 Confidentiality: Little secrets make the difference

5 Food co-packer expands into retort cartons

6 Free closures for two start-ups 14 CPA Virtual Experience keeps industry connected

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Contents VOLUME 17, ISSUE 1

MARCH/APRIL 2021

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EDITORIAL Anne Marie Mohan EDITOR

mohan@packworld.com

ART Dave Bacho CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kathy Travis ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR

AUDIENCE & DIGITAL David Newcorn SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL AND DATA Elizabeth Kachoris SENIOR DIRECTOR, DIGITAL AND DATA Jen Krepelka DIRECTOR, WEBSITES & DIGITAL DESIGN STRATEGY

ADVERTISING Wendy Sawtell VICE PRESIDENT, SALES • wsawtell@pmmimediagroup.com Ron Levinson, SALES MANAGER • rlevinson@contractpackagingmag.com Lara Krieger PRODUCTION MANAGER • lkrieger@pmmimediagroup.com Kelly Greeby SENIOR DIRECTOR, CLIENT SUCCESS & MEDIA OPERATIONS Alicia Pettigrew SENIOR MANAGER, PRODUCT & REVENUE STRATEGY

PMMI MEDIA GROUP Joseph Angel PRESIDENT, PUBLISHER Sharon Taylor DIRECTOR, MARKETING Amber Miller SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Bea Greany BRAND OPERATIONS MANAGER Sarah Loeffler DIRECTOR, MEDIA INNOVATION Janet Fabiano FINANCIAL SERVICES MANAGER Lloyd Ferguson FOUNDING PARTNER

6 Two Better-for-You Brands Get Free Closures for a Year

Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade and Simply Soupreme are the lucky start-ups awarded with 0.5 million free bottle closures along with insights into their businesses in this second annual competition.

8 CP/CM Industry Booming, but Watch Out for Headwinds

New report shows that after a short pause at the start of the pandemic, the CP/CM industry ‘has come roaring back.’ Meanwhile, changing supply chain and innovation paradigms are reshaping the industry.

PMMI MEDIA GROUP 401 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611 PHONE 312/222-1010, FAX 312/222-1310 • CIRCULATION FAX 312/222-1310 E-MAIL info@packworld.com • WEB www.packworld.com PMMI The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies 12930 Woodgate Dr., Suite 200, Herndon, VA 20170 PHONE 571/612-3200 • FAX 703/243-8556 • WEB www.pmmi.org

Contract Packaging magazine is published for the Contract Packaging Association.

For information on association membership, contact Paige Jarvi, 571/287-6818, pjarvi@contractpackaging.org, or visit www.contractpackaging.org.

EDITORIAL CONTACT Have a question or an idea for an article? Contact Anne Marie Mohan, Editor, 312/961-9904. Contract Packaging magazine prefers to receive press releases by e-mail. Send to mohan@packworld.com.

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DEPARTMENTS

2 Forefront 3 CPA President’s Letter 4 Brand Owner Insight 5 Industry News 14 CPA News 16 Membership Directory 19 Products 21 Ad Index

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Forefront

Pivots Made During Pandemic ANNE MARIE MOHAN, Editor Describing 2020 as “wild,” “unprecedented,” and “challenging,” Darryl Logan of Keller Logistics Group, Charles Weinberg, of MSI Express, and David Gray, of GreenSeed, respectively, shared similar tales in CPA’s Virtual Experience, “Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adapting, Learning and Preparing for Long-Term Impacts.”

Their common experiences, included greater volumes of core SKUs coming from CPG customers, a need for greater dexterity, speed, and process adjustments, and heightened labor challenges.

Here is a snapshot of what was discussed:

Logan: “In addition to all the other challenges that 2020 brought to us, we decided to take on an acquisition to expand our co-packing footprint and bought a business in Cincinnati. I am really proud of the way that we responded to the COVID crisis, and we as a leadership team coalesced around that problem, met frequently, and developed and delivered policies to the organization. It was just an extraordinary year in terms of the work that we had to do to respond to keep the boat afloat and continue serving our customers’ needs.”

Weinberg: We got some new business opportunities as a result [of the pandemic]—beverage manufacturers, for example, looking for a new co-packer because existing co-pack partners weren’t able to staff

up or meet the demand. We were able to go into our cache of used equipment and rebuild it to add capacity in our facilities.

We were able to bring up an additional dozen production lines to help meet the demand in the matter of several months.”

Gray: “We had to do a lot of guerrillatype tactics to keep labor coming into the building and to try to stay stave off higher turnover. We spent a lot of time stoking the fire of employee morale, to try to make it the best place to work that it could be.”

Hear more of what they had to say by accessing the webinar at www.contractpackaging.org/virtual-events. CP

mohan@packworld.com

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President’s Letter

CPA Opportunities in 2021

BY MARK O’MALLEY, CPA President Happily, 2020 is in the rear-view mirror. While COVID-19 is still creating impacts, we can see some improvements and opportunities. Many of my conversations with fellow CPA members have been positive and optimistic. So far, 2021 brings several efforts that are beginning to take shape and bring results.

At the top of our list for 2021 is the first-ever CPA Virtual Experience! This series of virtual sessions is ensuring our members, along with the whole contract packaging and manufacturing industry, remains connected. While CPA members can attend for no charge, we invite all industry professionals to attend. More information can be found at www.contractpackaging.org/virtual-events.

Each year CPA looks for and recruits members who show initiative and a desire to serve the industry they support. These folks are asked to be part of the CPA leadership team through a nomination process and elections by the CPA membership. If elected, directors serve on the CPA Board for a two-year term. Directors are asked to provide leadership and make decisions regarding important issues on CPA’s activities, operation, and direction.

This year we will elect four board members. I want to thank all these folks for their willingness to serve the association.

• Dan Altman, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Delkor Systems, Inc. • Gregory Frazier, Director of Sales, Frazier & Son • Nikki Johnson, Marketing Director, Domino Amjet Inc. • Tom Landry, President, Allegiance Staffing • Jaclyn Norono-Rodriguez, Director of Sales, BCI Packaging • Jerry Thompson, President, CTI Packaging & Fulfillment We are also excited to announce Packaging Prosperity, a new virtual workshop specifically designed for leadership teams interested in growing and prospering in today’s highly competitive landscape. This unique offering is being provided by CPA partner Effective Performance Strategies (EPS). This two-hour interactive workshop will cover these topics in detail and specifically relate them to your organization’s and leadership team’s strategy and execution. It provides tools to cope with preparing your organization to adapt and thrive through change. More importantly, it will teach your team to improve quality, productivity, and skills so your organization can really thrive.

When it comes to education, our current portfolio includes packaging, machine operation, and now the basics of what is a contract packager and contract manufacturer (CP/CM). We are excited to partner with Nulogy to grant our members complimentary access to Nulogy University, an online educational training

platform. Together, we are empowering CP/CMs with practical and remote shop floor best practices and technology training.

Nulogy University also provides visibility into employee training with user-friendly reporting capabilities. Learn more about this new educational offering at www.contractpackaging.org/ education/nulogy-university.

Our much-anticipated 2021 State of the Industry report and Executive Summary are now available. This year’s report has been expanded and now features sections on M&A and machinery trends. The new 2021 State of the Industry Report is a benchmark study that includes sections on: • Defining the food/CPG industry by scope and revenue • Industry CAGR 2020–2025 by sector • Industry consolidation trends • Customer views on the changing marketplace • The current labor market and widening talent gap • Demographics on size, company age, locations, and revenue • Sustainability trends Every CPA member receives the Executive Summary at no cost and is entitled to the full report at a discounted price. We will be featuring the data in several presentations and events over the next few months. Check out the CPA website to get more information. (See the related article in this issue, beginning on page 8.)

Lastly, we look forward to the show venues opening so we can reunite with our members and the industry in-person. Look for us at: • SNAXPO 2021, August 22-24, 2021, Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, N.C. • Natural Products Expo East, September 23-25, 2021, Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia • PACK EXPO Las Vegas, September 27-29, 2021, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Once again, it is a privilege to lead such a prestigious and dynamic association. As president and long-time member, I see the future as being very bright and abundant with opportunities.

I look forward to working with all of you in 2021 and wish you all the best in this new year. CP

Mark O’ Malley is President/CEO of Paket Corp., www.paketcorp.com.

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Brand Owner Insight

Confidentiality: Little Secrets Make the Difference ROBBY MARTIN Contributing Editor Much has been made of our work-fromhome world over the last year. There has also been much made of how we communicate with one another. Perhaps this is because, like the email explosion of the 90s, our online, on-screen, bad-connection, “You’re-onmute” world has more opportunity for miscommunication and misunderstanding than ever. We’ve been given glimpses into homes, home offices, beach condos, and more as so many people have learned to work from “where they are.” How many of us could now recognize a co-worker’s pet if we saw it running down the street?

Well, regardless of our times, and how they are a-changin’, many aspects of great business relationships remain intact. As a reminder, we have been discussing great relationships and what affects them in our continuing series in Contract Packaging magazine, including: • The provision for SAFETY • The power of TRUST • The purpose of HONESTY • The place for NEGOTIATION • The price of “SKIN IN THE GAME” • The protection of the BRAND • The promise of CONFIDENTIALITY As we again return to our discussion about great relationships in the contract packaging/contract manufacturing (CP/ CM) world, we reach the end of our list as the subject of confidentiality comes up next.

The Promise of CONFIDENTIALITY Confidentiality? In today’s world?

Really? It has been said that “There is

nothing new under the sun.” If that’s true, and knowing we now have so many ways to learn things about others, can we really expect confidentiality? There are more sources than ever before for gathering intel, observations, and information. Moreover, you don’t have to look far or long in the journals and trade publications, not to mention observations made on the trade show floors, to begin to understand a lot about who is up to what…and where…and when… .

So, is it really worth talking about confidentiality at all? Well, of course it is!

We just need to consider what that may need to look like in a relationship with a CP/CM partner (or for your Consumer Packaged Goods customer if you are a CP/ CM partner). I’ll make a couple of arguments here, and maybe they can at least provide some conversation fodder around your conference tables (or in your online meetings)!

In my 35-plus years in industry, I have found the following two things to be true: 1. Secrets about big things don’t stay secret. They just don’t. No matter how hard economic development professionals work to maintain confidentiality, once a new facility is announced, a lot of information is let out for public consumption. This is true in CP/CM partnerships; it just happens a little bit slower. Eventually though, people with an interest can, and do, learn about where that new set of products is being produced, who installed the equipment to produce it, or whether there are plans to add to the capacity for producing it. While these “feel” like secrets, they’re not really all that secret. I’ll also submit that they are not really all that important, either. Why? Well, let’s talk about truth #2…

2. Secrets about little things can stay

secret, and secrets about the little things are the difference makers! Little secrets are the key to where competitive advantage is found. Little secrets are how one company makes something work better, or work at all, when others continue to struggle to do so. Little secrets can be the difference in why or how someone makes a cost and profit model work while others abandon a proposition altogether. You may not sweat the small stuff, but you probably don’t want to talk about it, either!

When it comes to confidentiality, we all seem to align to the need to protect information that is exchanged between parties. But perhaps we should be open to just how we protect information.

Maybe we should be careful to craft our confidentiality paperwork, and our expectations, in a way that leans into the relationship instead of inhibiting it. There should be, and I maintain that there usually is, room for trust, honesty, and even negotiation in a healthy relationship.

Maybe a conversation about what the big things are and what the little things are can feed the relationship instead of putting confidentiality in a position to threaten the relationship.

As we wrap up our series on solid relationships, perhaps we need to approach confidentiality with some of these other attributes in mind. I believe doing so will allow us to build confidentiality into a relationship. Building in confidentiality won’t eliminate the need for Non-Disclosure Agreements and clauses.

But, it could make them much simpler in the long run, especially when we’ve built the whole relationship on mutual benefit, value, and understanding.

Robby Martin is Engineering Specialist for Bush Brothers & Company.

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Industry News

River Run Foods Adds Retort Carton Capabilities River Run Foods, a co-packer for food products in Northumberland, Pa., has expanded its capabilities to include filling and packaging in Tetra Recart® cartons from Tetra Pak. River Run has more than 100 years of combined experience filling high-acid foods, like tomato-based sauces, into jars. The new retortable carton category expands its existing product and capacity offerings. The Tetra Recart has an 80% lower carbon footprint and provides significant weight and space savings compared to steel can and glass jar alternatives, offering River Run’s customers a more sustainable option for their food product packaging.

“Looking to the future, we know trends like sustainability and online grocery will only continue to accelerate,” says Roger Hoffman, CEO of River Run Foods. “By investing in Tetra Recart, we can offer brands, retailers, and foodservice providers an environmentally sound, e-commerce-ready package for their products, from beans and vegetables to soups, sauces, and pie filling.”

With the recent addition of the Tetra Pak R2 filling machine, River Run can now package its full range of products in Tetra Recart Mini and Midi cartons in 200-, 340-, 390-, 440-, and 500-mL sizes.

“This new installation at River Run

Foods allows more brands to take advantage of all that Tetra Recart has to offer,” says Jeff Fielkow, President and CEO of Tetra Pak U.S. and Canada. “With River Run’s proven experience and success in tomato-based sauces, vegetables, and more, we’re looking forward to some exciting new products hitting the U.S. market in Tetra Recart.” CP

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Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade & Simply Soupreme

Two Better-for-You Brands Get Free Closures for a Year Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade and Simply Soupreme are the lucky start-ups awarded with free bottle closures along with insights into their businesses in this second annual competition.

H

ealth and wellness continue to lead entrepreneurial innovation in new food and beverage products, so it’s no surprise that the products from the two winners of Silgan Closures’ second annual Free Closures for a Year (FCFY) contest fall into this category. The first, Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade, is a preservative-free beverage made from organic fruits, alkaline water, and cane sugar; the second is Simply Soupreme, a line of cold-pressed, plant-based, readyto-sip soups.

Winners of the FCFY contest will receive a choice of up to 500,000 Silgan stock closures over a 12-month period, as well as free consumer insights on their product from Datassentials SCORES. As A.J. Miller, Director of Marketing for Silgan Closures, explained when the contest was launched in 2019, FCFY was initiated to promote Silgan’s stock closure program while giving fledgling brands a hand-up with their ventures.

“The stock closure program caters to

start-ups because it lets them purchase small/case quantities of closures,” he said. “We came up with FCFY because we recognized that start-ups tend to struggle with credit and the ability to purchase ingredients and packaging as well as pay for a co-packer before they start selling products. The contest is intended to make it a little easier for them.”

The first winner, Ga.-based Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade was founded by

s ‘Chef Sidnee,’ creator of Ga.-based Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade launched her start-up with a lemonade stand the age of five.

Sidnee’s Homemade Lemonade is a preservativefree beverage made from organic fruits, alkaline water, and cane sugar.

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“Chef Sidnee,” who launched her company with a lemonade stand at the age of five, after graduating from Pre-K. Funding for the enterprise came as the result of donation requests sent by Sidnee to family and friends. The product was introduced in July 2016 at her church’s annual bazaar.

Now a registered small business, Sidnee’s sells the lemonade at festivals and events in the Atlanta area and at Savi Provisions, a neighborhood retailer of locally sourced organic foods. A portion of the profits go toward community organizations like Toys for Tots and to Sidnee’s 529 college savings plan.

The lemonade is available in five fruit-infused flavors, in 16-oz, 0.5-gal, and 1-gal containers. The 16-oz size uses a stock plastic 38-mm Silgan linerless snap cap with a single plug that features a tamper-tail tamper-evident safety band in three colors—yellow, red, and blue—to differentiate the flavor variations.

Says Sidnee’s mom, Sherri Rushing, the caps are easy to apply, which is a big advantage, as the lemonade is bottled by hand in a shared church kitchen. She adds that Sidnee’s sources the bottles and caps through Restaurant Depot. Sidnee’s settled on the specified cap after Sidnee reached out to another lemonade brand she saw at retail to learn where they got the yellow caps they were using; they put her in touch with Silgan.

Of winning the FCFY contest, Rushing says, “We weren’t entrepreneurs when Sidnee started her lemonade stand, so having Silgan partner with us to help us offset start-up costs and think about how to market different flavors with consistent branding is a wonderful opportunity.”

The second winner of FCFY, N.J.-

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Morrison

Simply Soupreme comprises a line of coldpressed, plant-based, ready-to-sip soups.

based Simply Soupreme, was founded by personal chef and wellness coach Jackie Greene when she noticed her clients often skipped meals in favor of constant snacking. As a healthy, on-the-go alternative, Greene launched a line of plant-based soups made from locally sourced ingredients that are gluten-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, and organic where possible.

“The all-natural, cold-pressed product represents a shift away from highly processed, canned soups,” she says.

Greene chose PET juice bottles for the product, which is available in Carrot Ginger,

Raw Cucumber, Beet Thyme, and Tomato Basil, “because they [the bottles] are clean and attractive,” she says. “Our soups are like a juice cleanse, but tastier and less painful. It can be consumed warmed or chilled, and it won’t make you cold or tired.

We wanted our packaging to convey that.”

Love Grace Foods co-packs the Raw Cucumber variety, while the rest are prepared in a commercial kitchen, and all four receive High Pressure Processing (HPP) at Dora’s Naturals. Compatibility with the HPP process was the main driver in the selection of the bottle closure. “We

needed a cap that would seal, wasn’t going to expand, wouldn’t pop, and was easy to fill,” says Greene. “Our Silgan stock closure is tamper-resistant and has a great seal, especially for our pour level and HPP processing.”

For the 12-oz PET soup bottle, Simply Soupreme is using the 38DBJ, a 38-mm linerless screw cap with a single plug and three-lead thread and a J-style tamperevident safety band, sourced from Jersey Bottle Supply.

“Moving from food concept to a consumer packaged goods product is quite a learning curve,” Greene adds. “Closures and containers are a big part of the user experience, so connecting with a company like Silgan to help guide you through the process is a real advantage.”

Learn more about the annual competition at https://freeclosuresforayear.com/. CP

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State of the Industry Report

CP/CM Industry Booming, but W New report shows that after a short pause at the start of the pandemic, the CP/CM industry ‘has come roaring back.’ Meanwhile, changing supply chain and innovation paradigms are reshaping the industry.

ANNE MARIE MOHAN, Editor

D

espite the colossal challenges faced by businesses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the contract packaging/contract manufacturing (CP/CM) industry in North America is one market that met those challenges and is alive and kicking. In fact, it’s bounding forward at a growth rate that’s “rarely seen outside a Petri dish.” That’s according to Carl Melville, COO of The Melville Group, whose firm produced the recently released sixth edition of CPA, The Association for Contract Packagers and Manufacturers’ State of the Industry Report.

“This is a great time to be in our industry,” says Melville. “In spite of probably the biggest shock to our economy, certainly since the Great Depression, our industry has done phenomenally. After a very brief pause, it has come roaring back.”

According to the report, the CP/CM industry is forecast to grow at a 10.2% CAGR through 2025 to reach $121 billion in revenue, up from $67.5 billion in 2019.

That number is slightly down from the 11.9% projection made in the last report (2017/2018), but still twice the rate of those industries it serves. “Our industry has been around a long time, and it’s continuing to experience double-digit growth,” says Melville. “I think we should celebrate that.”

However, he cautions, while celebrating these numbers, CP/CMs also need to be aware of a number of industry headwinds—some resulting from the pandemic, some exacerbated by the pandemic, and some that had already begun

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gaining steam pre-COVID-19. Among them are the expanding value chain, SKU rationalization, repatriation rates, the era of upstream sustainability, and labor cost differentials/labor shortages.

Along with these issues, the report also covers (among many other things) the short- and long-term effects of COVID-19, the status of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, and packaging equipment statistics, which were provided by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (see sidebar on facing page).

Business, M&A activity thriving As defined in the report, CP/CMs are companies that provide contract packaging, contract manufacturing, and secondary packaging services for food and Consumer Packaged Goods companies. It does not include private-label producers. The report covers CP/CMs in North America (the U.S. and Canada) and includes input from 150 industry insiders—i.e., industry practitioners, CP/CM owners, CEOs, executives, customers, and vendors. To these insights, The Melville Group added qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary research.

As noted, the CP/CM industry continues to exhibit significant growth, despite the turbulence caused by the pandemic.

“This was a very essential business last year, and CP/CMs, for the most part, have done incredibly well,” says Melville. “We’ve added a lot of value to the economy. We’ve kept the food supply open, and we kept it

safe. We should all be very proud of the work we’ve done in food and CPG, as well as in delivering PPE and all the other things our industry has done.”

M&A activity, which had been setting new records every year for the previous 10, took a pause in early 2020. As Melville relates, the bond market froze up during the early days of the crisis, but as the year progressed, M&A activity began to pick up in a big way. In fact, Q3-2020, saw a $1 billion deal. “New co-creation happens for every big merger that occurs, and there are still more folks entering the space,” Melville adds.

According to M&A information provided by investment banking firm Blaige & Company, there is almost $1 trillion of capital sitting on the sidelines ready to be invested. Melville clarifies that this isn’t just for the CP/CM industry, but this includes several sectors of which the CP/ CM is one. Continued industry consolidation through M&A will have a transformative effect on the industry, he says, with significant impacts on the supply chain, investments, and how customers interact with suppliers.

“As these larger and larger platforms form, as they’re taking company A, B, and C and making company X, and then combining that with company Y to create an even larger organization, the value propositions for customers are changing,” says Melville.

“The number of services a customer can receive from a given provider changes, and the scope of that supply chain continues to enhance the value chain.”

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ut Watch Out for Headwinds North America Equipment Investment by CP/CM Industry,

by Equipment Type, 2019 (USD Billion) 18.0% 3.6% 3.8% 4.1% 4.4% 7.9% 9.1%

Others Closing Wrapping & Bundling Palletizing Cartoning Form, Fill & Seal

13.6% 14.9%

Bottling Line Case Handling Labelling Decorating & Coding

20.5%

Filling & Dosing

2019

PMMI Provides Equipment Data

As part of the 2021 State of the Industry Report, PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, contributed information on the use of packaging equipment by CP/CMs. The information comes from PMMI’s 2020 report, “Contract Packaging and Manufacturing Packaging Operations, Trends and Challenges.”

Demands for turnkey services and innovation grow Being able to provide customers with more services along the full supply chain will be an important differentiator, as one of the headwinds discussed in the report is how customer expectations continue to grow. Among the reasons cited are budget cuts, changes within legacy food companies, and small, upstart firms looking for a more expansive suite of services.

every area. “Brands are continuing to grab for innovation with both hands anywhere they can find it,” says Melville. “These are some of the larger, more successful companies in the country and in the industry, but they’re under incredible pressure from the channel—be it e-commerce or grocery retail—to produce innovation. They are looking for innovation anywhere they can find it, and CP/CMs are already a source for that.”

These include innovations in product, packaging, materials, processes, equipment, formulation, and business and financial areas. Says Melville, “Brands are looking toward their suppliers and saying, ‘Not invented here is dead on arrival. So bring me some packaging innovation. What can you do for me that I can’t already do for myself?’” According to the report, customers value process innovation above all else.

They are looking to CP/CMs to present them with ways to do things better than they can themselves, either on a cost, quality, volume, or speed-to-market basis, and they’re looking for capabilities or equipment that they don’t have or that don’t have the same constraints as their equipment.

“The brand relationship, now even with the largest food companies, has become much more strategic, sophisticated, and tightly bound,” Melville says.

The impact of SKU rationalization and repatriation

These growing expectations present both a challenge and an opportunity. According to Melville, the biggest challenge for a CP/CM is not just how to serve those needs, but also how to serve them without adding to their cost structure. “As you know, the kiss of death for a CP/CM is to become their customer. Then it becomes almost impossible to adds value,” he says.

Customers are also increasingly looking for innovation from their CP/CMs in nearly

Another headwind covered in the report is the emergence of large-scale SKU rationalization, forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Explains CPA Executive Director Ron Puvak, “That [the pandemic] was the first time in history brands have been able to reconcile a lot of SKUs, and say, ‘Look, we just can’t produce these anymore, the volumes aren’t high enough.

We need the capacity for other things.’ All of the large beverage folks as well as the food people have had to rationalize their

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3/22/21 10:11 AM

State of the Industry Report CP/CM Post-COVID Sentiments

23% 3%

“My firm will emerge stronger following the COVID pandemic”

11%

16%

47%

Strongly Disagree

Agree

SKUs, which has had a big impact. And of course, part of this is because people have reverted back to trusted brands and comfort foods—give me the basic Cheerios, give me the basic cornflakes, those kinds of products—and that’s driven up their capacity and those needs.”

Puvak believes SKUs will creep back up, as “innovation continues to be the lifeblood of these brands,” but they probably won’t return to pre-pandemic levels. “It’ll be more controlled, probably rationalization in volumes of a particular market or product, but no, we’re not going to have six rows of cornflakes on the shelves forever,” Puvak says.

What does this mean for CP/CMs? Short term, it has resulted in lost business, as CP/ CMs often handle a brand’s “long-tail SKUs,” as Melville refers to them, or incremental brand extensions that make up a small percentage of a brand’s volume. These are the products brands moved away from during the pandemic to focus on their core products.

However, also as a result of COVID-19, CP/CMs were the beneficiaries of a tremendous amount of new business resulting from the increased volumes of product required to meet the needs of consumers

10

Disagree

Strongly Agree

who were staying at home. While Melville notes that some of those projects will eventually be brought back into the food companies from which they came, he says that most CP/CMs believe this repatriation of product will happen slowly—a trend supported by The Melville Group’s research. “So a lot of the projects that were liberated, for lack of a better term, into the CP/CM channel may not be going back into those legacy food facilities, and that’s excellent for our industry,” he says.

The era of upstream sustainability Sustainability—which was, in the 2017/2018 CPA report, a “check-the-box item”—is way beyond that now, according to the 2021 report. Says Melville, in the past, data showing an interest in sustainability at the supply chain level by CP/CMs and their customers just wasn’t there. “But this time around, it was a sea change—it was a really big deal,” he says. “It’s an item that’s getting investment and attention.”

Today, CP/CM customers are asking their providers hard questions related to their supply chains, such as questions on ethical sourcing audits, how wastewater is treated,

Not Sure

how close they are to zero landfill, and their energy use—the last two of which were found to be the biggest categories.

According to the report, 70% of those CP/ CMs questioned said that customer interest in sustainability initiatives have increased and will continue to become more important in the years ahead. For those CP/CMs who have a sustainability story to tell, they believe this will be an important differentiator.

However, says Melville, greenwashers need to be careful. He adds, “They always needed to be careful, but I would say even more so in this era because customers are now paying closer attention to this, and the numbers bear this out.”

Another aspect of sustainability CP/CMs need to look at is their ability to work with new packaging materials and formats.

Increasing demands by consumers for more sustainable packaging—e.g., lighter weight, recycled-content, recyclability, new materials, etc.—as well as potential Extended Producer Responsibility and packaging-related legislation are prompting CPGs to make significant changes in their packaging. While CP/CMs may not be making decisions about these changes, their ability to adapt their equipment and

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State of the Industry Report processes to handle the new packaging will be important to their success.

Labor challenges are here to stay Pre-pandemic, CP/CMs were increasingly challenged by a lack of available labor.

COVID-19 drastically escalated that problem, the report shows, with employees reluctant to work in factory environments where they may be exposed to the virus.

When asked if they believed the labor shortage was temporary and will improve

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in 2021, 51% of CP/CM respondents strongly disagreed, 39% disagreed, and 4% agreed. The number of respondents who strongly agreed: zero.

Coupled with the labor shortage is expense of labor. Labor arbitrage—or the fully loaded cost of a legacy food company employee versus a CP/CM employee in a similar role—used to be a huge Delta, says Melville. “That number continues to approach zero,” he says. “It’s not there yet, but as it approaches zero, CP/CMs lose one of the biggest levers they have.”

With COVID-19, CP/CMs were also forced to pay bonuses and hazard pay.

“And sometimes, some of these things stick,” says Puvak. “I don’t think hazard pay will stick, but definitely bonuses and things like that for performance may.”

Not only is there a shortage of labor, but the industry talent gap is also worse than it ever was. Says Melville, “We’ve told a generation of folks that this isn’t the place for their career, but in fact, there are great careers in this industry, and we need to work on changing that.”

Some CP/CMs are working to change that, the report indicates, through initiatives such as apprenticeship programs.

Too address the labor shortage, CP/ CMs are using a number of recruiting strategies. These include greater use of temp agencies, increased advertising, more work in brand development, and increased social media spending. Also— and this is quite telling of the magnitude of the problem—in the 2017/2018 report, 12% of firms reported they were willing to loosen their hiring guidelines to recruit employees; in the 2021 report, that number rose to 48%.

Automation offers a solution

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12

LOOKING BACK. PRESSING FORWARD. ALWAYS INNOVATING.

Contract Packaging half 0321_SOIR.indd 12isl ad.indd 1

Traditionally one of the advantages CP/ CMs have had over their CPG customers has been their flexibility to quickly pivot to new projects through the use of mostly manual operations. But COVID-19 and the requirements for social distancing challenged this lever as well. Says Melville, “Social distancing—this is one I heard repeatedly when doing research for the report. ‘We had 12 people on a

3/9/2021 9:02:33 AM

CP M A RCH/A PRIL 2 02 1

3/23/21 7:09 AM

THE COVID EFFECT: SHORT TERM n

Spikes/Panic Buying/ Out of Stocks

n SKU

n

n

n

Decreased Repatriation Rates

n Exacerbated

Rationalization

n Trusted

BUILT TO FILL. BUILT FOR LIFE.

LONG TERM

n

Brands/Comfort Food

Foodservice CMs Hard Hit/ Pivoting

n

New Projects/Increased Volumes

n

Labor Shortages

Just built better...

Accelerated Automation Investments

READY TO SHIP

Revisiting the JIT Revolution (Just in Case?)

Customer Oversight Practices

n Food-flation

n Pause

in Product/Package Innovation

line, now we can only have six. So what do we do? Do we extend the line into space we don’t have? Do we reconfigure the floor? Do we cut speed by 50%?’”

This challenge, coupled with the labor shortage and the end of labor arbitrage is driving a growing number of CP/CMs to implement downstream automation. But labor issues aren’t the only drivers. The adoption of automation in CP/CM environments is also being driven by customer pressures for a wider variety of products, advancements in the flexibility and ease of programming of the equipment, developments in collaborative robots, or “cobots,” and lower costs.

Those packaging machines that offer high-speed changeover flexibility and easy wash down, as well as cobots that are adaptable and easily programmable are ideal for the CP/CM environment.

“Automation growth is surging in the CP/CMs,” says Puvak. “And it’s not just the larger, more prolific CP/CMs—it’s across the board, because people are beginning to realize they can’t rely on the workforce like they used to, and they need to have this more flexible workforce. And that’s kind of a way to look at automation—it’s a flexible workforce.”

Report confirms a bright future ahead CPA’s 2021 State of the Industry Report

could not have been undertaken at a more pivotal time. It captures the tumult of the COVID-10 pandemic and the short- and long-term impacts on the CP/CM industry. Says Melville, “I think it’s critical for people to understand that there will be changes to this marketplace in the way we operate going forward. Don’t expect that everything will go back to where it was two years ago.”

But despite numerous headwinds, “compared to where we thought we might be in the darkest days of March [2020], the next five years look extremely bright,” Melville says. “As opposed to our legacy customers, we’re opening new facilities, both brown and greenfield at a significant clip, M&A money is continuing to pour in, and brands are continuing to demand new things from CP/CMs, and they are rising to the occasion.

“We’re a very creative industry, and we will solve the labor problem, both the cost and the availability problem.

And automation is one way to do it. It’s a problem, but I know we will overcome it, and most CP/CMs are quite bullish on their long-term ability to do so.” CP The CPA 2021 State of the Industry Report is available for purchase for $995 for current CPA members; $1,995 for non-members. More information is available at contractpackagingreport.com.

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3/22/21 9:40 AM

CPA Virtual Experience Covers Trends, Connects Industry During this crucial time for the contract packaging and contract manufacturing (CP/CM) VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE industry, CPA, The Association for Contract Packagers and Manufacturers is hosting virtual sessions to provide the latest trends, topical information, and more, directly to you wherever you are.

The CPA Virtual Experience series kicked-off with a session in January 2021—“State of the Industry 2020: The Untold Story”— that focused on the CPA 2021 State of the Industry report. During this session, attendees learned about the trends and growth patterns the CP/CM industry has experienced over the last year due to COVID-19 and also saw a glimpse of what we might expect in the future (see related story beginning on page 8).

In February 2021, the second session in the virtual series, a CP/CM panel discussion, featured thoughts from CP/CMs on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees heard how the panelists adapted and learned throughout the pandemic, and how they are preparing for long-term impacts.

More CPA Virtual Experience sessions to come There’s still so much more to experience! Don’t miss these upcoming CPA Virtual Experience Sessions: “CPG/Brand Panel Discussion – Utilizing your CP/CM network during COVID: What you learned, how you’re preparing for the future,” March 16, 2021 at 2 p.m. EST • Session Panelists: Anheuser-Busch, Ocean Spray, Clorox, Niagara Bottling • Session Moderator: Carl Melville, founder and Chief Marketing Officer, The Melville Group • Gift Sponsor: Delcor • Session sponsor:

“Economic Trends: Today, Tomorrow and the Future,” April 20, 2021 at 2 p.m. EST • Speaker: Euromonitor • Moderator: Ron Puvak, Executive Director, CPA • Gift Sponsor: Lako Tool • Session Sponsor:

14

“The Story Behind the Temp Agency,” May 18, 2021 at 2 p.m. EST • Speaker: Tom Landry, President, Allegiance Staffing • Moderator: Patty Dodson, VP, CPA • Gift Sponsor: PAC Contract Services • Session Sponsor:

“Panel Discussion: A Growth Strategy in a Post-COVID World,” June 15, 2021 at 2 p.m. EST • Panelists: Tom Blaige, Mac Brands, Bellwether Food Group, Deborah Ginsberg • Moderator: Ron Puvak, Executive Director, CPA • Gift Sponsor: CPA, The Association for Contract Packagers and Manufacturers • Session Sponsor:

Those who register for the full series now through June will automatically receive recordings of all past sessions. More information can be found at www.contractpackaging.org/virtual-events.

CPA and Nulogy Partnership Brings Online Training to CP/CMs We recently announced our partnership with Nulogy, a leading provider of agile supply chain solutions. This partnership will grant CPA members complimentary access to the educational resources of Nulogy University, a proprietary online training platform for CP/CMs. CPA members who participate in the Nulogy University Program will receive: • Comprehensive Training: Efficient contract packaging, manufacturing, quality, and software training for all team members and new hires at a contract packager or manufacturer’s company, which includes assessments and certification upon completion of assessments.

• Reporting Tools: Reporting tools to help track the learning progress of all team members while helping efficiently plan and prepare training for new hires.

• Customized Training: Ability to upload an organization’s own training materials into the platform in order to use

CON T R AC T PAC K AG I N G M A RC H/A PR IL 2 0 2 1

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Association News

Nulogy University to quickly and remotely administer and track all training materials to employees.

To take advantage of this exciting new CPA Member-exclusive perk, visit www.contractpackaging.org/education/nulogy-university.

CPA Bolsters Value Prop Through Partnerships Recently, CPA has fostered relationships with multiple companies to offer additional benefits to CPA member companies. They include the following: Eric F. Greenberg: The law firm of Eric F. Greenberg, P.C., represents clients at every level of the food and drug development, manufacturing, distribution, and packaging industries.

The firm represents clients from across the U.S. and around the world. Each CPA member company receives a half-hour session with Greenberg, who can provide information on food and drug regulatory law with an emphasis on packaging and labeling issues, general business, and commercial litigation.

YRC Freight: CPA has partnered with YRC Freight to offer CPA member discounts on freight services. YRC’s dedicated Time Critical service with customer-defined delivery dates and times ensures that shipments move through the company’s fastest network and are handled by a dedicated team from start to

finish. When projects are complicated by short timelines, Time Critical provides a customer guarantee and the proactive notifications needed for customers to feel secure in their shipments.

YRC offers fast, flexible solutions to fit customers’ business needs—from just-in-time inventory strategies to ensuring port arrivals to meet sailing schedules.

SGS: SGS, the world’s largest certification body, with more than 200,000 customers globally, is offering to help CPA members navigate the complexity of Quality and GMP standards and certificates needed to operate in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and medical device industries. Questions may span the selection, design, implementation, training, certification, and maintenance phases of certification.

Blaige & Company: Thomas Blaige is offering his expertise in M&A exclusively to CPA members. Each CPA member company receives a complimentary one-hour session with Blaige, who has more than 30 years of transaction experience in CP/CM M&A. Blaige & Company covers five CP/CM markets, each having its own dynamics, trends, and successful strategies.

For more information about these exciting offerings and everything else that CPA membership has to offer, visit www. contractpackaging.org/membership. CP

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Membership Directory

Advertisers in this issue are in bold face Associate members in this issue New members in this issue Ë

For in-depth searches on individual members’ capabilities, visit www.contractpackaging.org Aaron Thomas Company, Inc. www.packaging.com Aaron Bacon (714) 894-4468

CCB Packaging www.ccbpackaging.com Brad Canfield (319) 378-0114

ËDOLCE AMORE

ADCO Manufacturing

ËChippewa Packaging

Dominion Liquid Technologies www.dltdelivers.com Charlie Cain (513) 272-2824

Allegiance Staffing

Clysar LLC

Econo-Pak www.econo-pak.com PJ Wiebel (570) 296-0350

APAK Packaging LLC www.apak-pkg.com Jorge Revelo (847) 566-9595

CMG Plastics

EMCO Chemical Packaging www.emcochem.com Randy Schwab (847) 767-2201

Asiapack Ltd www.asiapack.com Valentin Janson (852) 2735-1163

CRI, Inc. www.crind.org David Lemanski (715) 559-0015

ËEmerald 66 Enterprises LLC

Assemblers Inc. www.assemblers.com Randy Shaw (877) 273-6259

CTI Packaging & Fulfillment www.ctipack.com Jerry Thompson (847) 968-4855

ePac Flexible Packaging

Associated Packaging, Inc. www.associatedpackagingpro. com Lynn Jacob (248) 855-0106

Cup Pac Packaging, Inc. www.cuppac.com Jodi James (815) 624-7060

Exact Packaging Inc. www.exactpack.com Steve Dawkins (217) 214-6049

CWS Contract Packaging www.cwspackaging.com Justin Parker (607) 206-8695

FasPac Packaging, LP www.faspacllc.com Matt Davis (972) 831-8300

DAMRON Packaging & Logistics Group www.damronplg.com/ Tony Cort (773) 826-6000

FoxconnTechnology Group www.foxconn.com Rolf Henn (804) 328-5267

www.adcomfg.com Mike Alagna (888) 608-5946

www.allegiancestaffing.com Tom Landry (281) 355-9222

ËAssured Edge Solutions www.aes-roc.com Daniel Rao (585) 545-4372

BCI Packaging www.bcipackaging.com Jaclyn Norono-Rodriguez (636) 875-5268

www.chippewapackaging.com Michael Steele (507) 931-5510 www.clysar.com Joan Current (563) 259-3271 www.cmgplastics.com Jens Duerr (908) 310-3735

Bluegrass Packaging Industries, Inc. www.bluegrasspackaging.com Ellen Waddle (502) 425-6442

Delkor Systems, Inc.

Bonded Pac LLC www.bondedpac.com Jon Hayward (704) 517-0286

www.desiccare.com Shannon Omlor (702) 405-4260

16

www.delkorsystems.com Dan Altman (651) 348-6700

ËDesiccare, Inc.

www.dolceamoreny.com Marcello Arpaia (917) 681-1438

www.emerald-66.com Charles Colon (405) 303-6008

www.epacflexibles.com/ Noral Greenstein Biondi (844) 373-0136

Frain Group

www.frain.com Chris Frain (630) 889-5732

Frazier & Son

www.frazierandson.com Jillian Kniffen (936) 494-4040

GH Guenther Huettlin Manufacturing Inc. www.ghmanufacturing.com Kim Egan (613) 961-8860 Herkimer Industries www.herkimerindustries.com Scott Riffle (315) 225-2385 Higley Industries www.higleyinc.com Lance Hummel (616) 902-2969 Hood Container Corporation www.packagingunlimited.com Parick Broderick (513) 236-5807 IBR Packaging LLC www.ibrpackaging.com/ Dave Christensen (888) 829-6509 Influence Manufacturing www.influancehaircare.com Robin Simpson (336) 348- 1565

Inland Packaging

inlandpackaging.com Kimberly Young (608) 787- 5800 Integrated Re-Pack & Logistics www.integratedrepack.com Dennis Monday (540) 434-9102 Keller Logistics Group www.kellerlogistics.com Bryan Keller (419) 785-3219 Kleen Concepts www.kleen-concepts.com Grant Russell (480) 515-5576 Komplete Packaging Service www.kpak.com M. Kamal (214) 252-8105

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Lako Tool

& Manufacturing, Inc. www.lakotool.com John Bialecki (302) 218-1499 Mahani Enterprises LLC www.shrinkfilm.com Peter Quercia (973) 665-8333 Manna Foods, LLC www.mannafoods.us Matt Hetrick (717) 675-2262 Maple Mountain Co-Packers www.mmcp.co/ Rob LeBaron (801) 960-3387

Matrix Packaging

Machinery www.matrixpm.com/ Marc Wolf (262) 268-8300 Matt Pak Inc. www.mattpak.com Jeff Graham (847) 451-4018 Maverick Packaging, Inc. www.maverickpackaginginc. com DeAnn Devenney (574) 264-2891 Mid-Continent Packaging, Inc. www.midcontinentpkg.com Steven Epstein (580) 234-5200

MSW Packaging www.mswpackaging.com Chris Nutley (812) 537-2331 Namar Foods www.namar.com Deborah Mitchell (562) 531-2744

ËNature's Distribution

www.naturesdistribution.com Jeff Saller (801) 899-2007

Nercon Eng. & Mfg., Inc. www.nerconconveyors.com Debbie Hoff (844) 293-2814 New Caney Beverage www.ncbeverage.com Jorge Ulloa (210) 216-3777

ËNovalent Limited www.novalent.com Scott Perry (210) 216-3777

NP Food Service Sales, LLC www.npfss.com NP Food Service Sales LLC (630) 443-1770

Nulogy Corporation www.nulogy.com Wendy Phua (416) 204-0427

Pac Contract Services Michael Treb (513) 292-3551

Minimus Products LLC www.minimusproducts.biz Paul Shrater (805) 376-6352

PacMoore Products, Inc. www.pacmoore.com Taylor Moore (513) 400-6022

Miracle CS Industries www.miraclecsindustries.com/ Marcus Clark-Scott (585) 300-5527

Pak Technologies, Inc. www.paktech.com/ David Greif (414) 406-4733

Morrison Container

Peoria Production Shop www.peoriapros.com Dan Laturno (309) 683-0700

Handling Solutions www.morrison-chs.com Dustin Lee (708) 756-6660 MSI Express www.msiexpress.com Charles Weinberg (219) 764-1521

Performance Packaging of Nevada, LLC www.pplv.co Robert Reinders (702) 240-3457

Plastic Packaging Technologies, LLC www.plaspack.com Angie Taylor (913) 596-9096

Select Brands, LLC. www.select-brands.net/ Tuffer Weidner (417) 863-0404

PMI Kyoto

Sigma Services Corporation www.sigmasvs.com Liz Nesbit (847) 388-3040

Polypack, Inc.

SourceAmerica www.sourceamerica.org David Brent (571) 421-8716

www.pmikyoto.com Branko Vukotic (847) 437-1427 www.polypack.com Brian McCann (727) 578-5000

Printpack

www.printpack.com Scott Mitchell (678) 758-6364

South Atlantic Packaging www.southatlanticpackaging. com Pat Grantham (336) 774-3122

Priority Plastics, Inc.

Spec Enterprise www.specenterprise.com Dale Jenks (480) 828-2976

Protech Nutra, Inc. www.protechnutra.com Manuel Nunez (312) 246-1838

Sterling Contract Packaging, Inc. www.sterlingcpi.com Michael Collins (770) 638-8211

www.priorityplastics.com Steve Eglostein (336) 549-1563

ËPure and Gentle Inc.

www.pureandgentlesoap.com Andrew Hsueh (281) 733-7525 Quality Packaging / Pro Pac www.qualpac.com Dawna Whitner (972) 988-3888 Quality Packaging Specialists International www.qpsiusa.com Nick Johnson (717) 903-8116

Roberts PolyPro Inc.

www.robertspolypro.com/ Roy Tetreault (704) 588-1794

Steuart Custom Manufacturing www.minn-pack.com Ben Steuart (507) 272-8715

ËTaylor Prime Labels & Packaging Group www.taylor.com Bridget Bregel (855) 833-4143

The Lion Brewery www.lionbrewery.com/ contractbrewing Andrew Van Blargan (814) 935-1355 The Raymond Hadley Corp. www.raymondhadley.com Elliot Dutra (607) 725-4567

RRP Packaging www.rrp-mfg.com Jeff Freiburger (419) 666-6119

TNA North America Inc.

Ruspak Corporation www.ruspak.com Paul Mierzwa (315) 946-9777

Triangle Package

Scholle IPN

www.scholle.com Ryan Balock (708) 836-3641

www.tnasolutions.com Shayne De La Force (972) 462-6500

Machinery Co. www.trianglepackage.com Kim Magon-Haller (773) 889-0220

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Membership Membership Directory Directory Tripack LLC

www.tripak.net Matt Linz (513) 255-1958

Trividia Manufacturing Solutions www.trividiams.com Jen Cusick (603) 616-8636

Troystar Food Packaging www.tsfoodpackaging.com Justin Spiegelhoff (262) 763-9434 US Natural Group www.usnaturalgroup.com/ Hakan Johanson (727) 424-6677

ËValk Industries, Inc.

www.valkindustries.com Dale Waddle (423) 638-1284 Valley Food Systems www.valleyfoods.com Jeff Valley (800) 228-4053 VARC, Inc. www.varcinc.com Eric Filter (608) 637-3994

Viking Masek Global Packaging Technologies www.vikingmasek.com/ Danielle Ohl (920) 564-5051

Visstun

www.visstuncups.com Paula Piano (800) 401-2910 Wannemacher Tool Logistics www.wanntl.com/ Andy Wannemacher (419) 225-9060 World Contract Packaging www.worldcontractpack.com Barb Tillery (815) 624-6501 Xpress 360 Inc. www.xpress-360.com Larry Simpson (317) 291-2100

Zacros America, Inc.

www.zacrosamerica.com Zacros Customer Service (800) 890-1183 ZoRoCo Packaging Inc. www.ZoRoCoPackaging.com Jeff Floyd (208) 475-1864

Servo Filling Systems

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New Products

FASTER DELIVERY TIME Foodservice Cup, Spoon-in Lid  New products include 500-mL/17.5-oz R7 cup and Spoon-In P2™ paper lid  Cup is easy to fill on pint equipment; uses same lids as industry-standard Pint-R6  Cup is available in double-poly cold cup material, paper hot, and microwavable paper  Lid is offered in grab-and-go 5-oz T5 and 8-oz T8 sizes  Lid features wooden spoon held in place by paper locking insert and ships in one assembled piece Visstun, www.visstuncups.com

Hot-Melt Tape for Recycled Cases

48” Rotary Accumulation & Unscramble Table • 10 Business-day delivery advantage

• New streamlined design creating flexibility in floorspace usage • Call for new pricing of 48” rotary accumulation or unscramble table

Contact Us for Details

www.nerconconveyors.com 844-293-2814

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 HP 535 heavy-duty hot melt packaging tape has been specifically designed for sealing recycled corrugated cases, including 100% recycled corrugated  Features 3.0-mil thickness and 50-micron BOPP film backing to resist nicks and tears  Uses special adhesive formula that offers better initial tack, higher holding power, and longlasting seal for difficult-to-stick case substrates Shurtape Technologies, LLC, https://shurtapetech.com/

Entry-Level CIJ Printer  Videojet® 1280 Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) printer can print up to five lines, for batch codes, serial numbers, barcodes, and more  SmartCell™ service technology reduces manual maintenance by 95% versus the company’s legacy systems  Videojet Dynamic Calibration™ enables the printer to constantly monitor environmental conditions and automatically adjust jetting parameters Videojet Technologies Inc., www.videojet.com

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CONTR AC T PACK AGING M A RCH/A PRIL 2 021

3/18/21 1:31 PM

Ad Index

COMPANY/WEBSITE

PAGE

DO-IT CORPORATION www.do-it.com

5 12

HEAT AND CONTROL, INC. www.heatandcontrol.com MORRISON CONTAINER HANDLING SOLUTIONS www.morrison-chs.com NERCON www.nerconconveyors.com

7 20

COMPANY/WEBSITE PEORIA PRODUCTION SHOP www.peoriapros.com PROSYS INNOVATIVE PACKAGING EQUIPMENT www.prosysfill.com ROBERTS POLYPRO INC. www.robertspolypro.com RONDO-PAK www.rondopak.com

PAGE OBC

18 IBC 11

COMPANY/WEBSITE

PAGE

SIMPLEX FILLER COMPANY www.simplexfiller.com

15

SPAN TECH www.spantechconveyors.com

IFC 13

SPECIALTY EQUIPMENT www.specialtyequipment.co

STERLING CONTRACT PACKAGING INC. 19 www.sterlingcpi.com 2

TAISEI LAMICK USA INC. www.taiseilamick.com

Contract Packaging is a supplement to Packaging World® (ISSN # 1073-7367, a registered trademark of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. Packaging World® is published monthly by PMMI with its publishing office, PMMI Media Group, located at 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611; 312.222.1010; Fax: 312.222.1310. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL, and additional mailing offices. Copyright 2018 by PMMI. All rights reserved. Materials in this publication must not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. Applications for a free subscription may be made online at www.packworld.com/subscribe. Paid subscription rates per year are $200 in the U.S., $285 Canada and Mexico by surface mail; $475 Europe, $715 Far East and Australia by air mail. Single copy price in U.S. is $20. To subscribe or manage your subscription to Packaging World, visit Packworld. com/subscribe. Free digital edition available to qualified individuals outside the United States. POSTMASTER; Send address changes to Packaging World®, 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611-3789. PRINTED IN USA by Quad Graphics. The opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of PMMI. Comments, questions and letters to the editor are welcome and can be sent to: editors@packworld.com. Mailing List: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you would prefer that we don’t include your name, please write us at the Chicago, IL address.

A

G R E AT

WAY

TO

CARRY HOME A SIX-PACK Can Handle Solutions What makes you more upset than cans falling out of a carrier? Not much.

Roberts PolyPro’s dependable can carriers make it convenient to pick up and carry 4-packs and 6-packs without cans hitting the floor. The carriers hold cans securely and their easy release design makes removing cans hassle-free.

Roberts PolyPro can carriers feature two small retention tabs that when pressed allow for cans to be easily released. This eliminates the struggle of pulling cans from carriers that use a complete 360 degree plastic ring.

For more information, call us at 800-269-7409 or email robertspolypro@promachbuilt.com RobertsPolyPro.com

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3/19/21 9:15 AM

HIRE PERFORMANCE. HIGHER STANDARDS.

About Us

PPS HAS THE FOLLOWING CAPABILITIES:

History, Mission, and Growth Peoria Production Shop has been employing individuals with all types of disabilities for 80 years. As a not-for-profit, our motivation is jobs, not profits, which allows us to be responsive and competitive on many different levels. Peoria Production Shop is 100% self-supporting.

Our team at Peoria Production Shop (PPS) have listened to requests and based on feedback, we are expanding our business drastically to meet client’s needs. We invested in equipment, top talent, and most exciting and importantly, additional space to accommodate all of our growth.

During this time of uncertainty, our clients have found that although they had never considered outsourcing their projects in the past, due to the lack of talent and/or the high demands of unforgiving deadlines, Peoria Production Shop (PPS) has been able to support so many of our customers through these times and still keeping up with the extensive metrics required.

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• • • • • • • • • • •

Contract/co-packaging Contract Assembly Kitting Commercial Sewing and Fabrication Wrapping and Packaging Palletizing Services Bag Filling Bottle Labeling Cutting and Finishing Rework and Salvage Meeting Urgent Deadlines Contact: Lisa Timmerman 309-693-2000 ltimmerman@peoriapros.com

3/9/21 11:04 AM