Berlin Packaging

Berlin Packaging is a leading global supplier of packaging, closures and related services to manufacturers, fillers and brand owners in a wide array of industries, including the beverage, food, personal care, pharmaceutical, household care, industrial, and coatings sectors. In 2016, Chicago, Illinois-based Berlin Packaging reported sales in excess of $1.2 billion.

In addition to its mainstream rigid packaging products, the firm offers packaging and supplies for laboratory environments as well as packaging systems for transporting hazardous and temperature-sensitive goods. It also provides custom packaging design, consulting, and financing services.

At the end of 2016, the firm had 35 sales offices across the United States and Canada as well as more than 75 dedicated or third-party warehouse locations. Through its Bruni Glass operations, Berlin Packaging also has sales and warehouse locations in Italy, France and Spain.

Berlin Packaging was formed in 1988 when lawyer Andrew T. Berlin joined his father in purchasing Alco Packaging, a longtime Chicago-based container company, which was renamed Berlin Packaging. Alco earned $69 million in annual sales at the time, and its roots trace back to 1898, when Riekes Container was founded, a firm purchased by Alco in 1975.

In 2000, Berlin Packaging acquired Knap-Pac Containers, a wholesale provider of industrial and personal care packaging.

In 2003, it purchased Freund Container, a packaging, closure and industrial-supplies distributor, maintaining it as an operating division.

In 2010, the firm acquired two companies: All-Pak Inc. of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, a supplier of rigid packaging products and services, and Continental Packaging Solutions, a multinational supplier of glass and plastic containers and closures headquartered in Chicago. Both companies were merged into Berlin’s larger packaging business.

In 2012, Berlin Packaging acquired two more companies: Lerman Container, a Connecticut-based packaging supplier, and United States Container Corporation, a California-based packaging distributor focused on industrial applications. Again, both companies were merged into Berlin’s overall enterprise.

In 2015, the company made another two acquisitions: Vivid Packaging, a Cleveland-based packaging supplier, and Diablo Valley Packaging, a $125 million supplier with an emphasis on glass packaging.

In 2016, Berlin Packaging acquired Bruni Glass, a leading manufacturer of premium and specialty glass packaging for the spirits, wine, food, and gourmet markets. At the time, Bruni had sales of $150 million across 7,000 customers and 100 countries. This acquisition significantly expanded Berlin's presence into Europe as well as adding locations in Canada, the United States and China.

...
Wikipedia