Berlin Packaging is a supplier of packaging services based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its customers include companies in the beverage, food, personal care, pharmaceutical, household care, industrial, and coatings sectors. In 2017, Berlin Packaging reported a valuation of $2.6 billion and revenue of $1.3 billion. At the end of 2017, the firm had 30 sales offices as well as more than 75 dedicated or third-party warehouse locations across the United States and Canada. Through its European operations with Bruni Glass and Bruni Erben, Berlin Packaging also has sales and warehouse locations in Italy, France, Spain, England, and South Africa.
History
Founding
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 Packaging 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 Packaging in 1975.
Acquisitions
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 Packaging'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 Packaging'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 Packaging's presence in Europe as well as added locations in Canada, the United States and China. In 2017, Berlin Packaging extended its European presence with the acquisition of England-based H. Erben Ltd., a supplier of closures, packaging, and packaging equipment to the food and drink sectors. H. Erben Ltd. also brought locations in South Africa and California. The company was re-branded as Bruni Erben, a Berlin Packaging Company.
Milestones
In 1989, the firm established its Global Packaging Group, followed a year later by the formation of E3, a consulting subsidiary. The company announced its Berlin Financial Services subsidiary in 1991 and opened its Studio One Eleven package design and innovation studio in 1999. In 2014, the firm's Quality Division began offering consulting services. In 2007, Investcorp, a global asset management firm, acquired a majority ownership interest in Berlin Packaging. In 2014, Investcorp sold the corporation to Oak Hill Capital Partners, which acquired a majority stake. The transaction valued Berlin Packaging at $1.43 billion.
Structure
Product Lines
The firm designs, sources, inventories, and distributes stock and custom packaging, closures, dispensing systems, labels, shrink bands and other products. Its container lines include plastic bottles and jars, glass bottles and jars, metal cans and tins, pails and drums. Child-resistant, tamper-evident, and non-dispensing container caps are leading products in its closures line, while its dispensing systems include household and industrial trigger sprayers, lotion and treatment pumps, fine mist sprayers and foamer systems. The company supplies packaging to all end-markets, including food, beverage, wine, spirits, beer, pharmaceutical, cannabis, personal care, home care, auto care, and industrial packaging.
Operations
The company's operations are based on a PeopleSoft suite by Oracle. The system was installed in 2001, and Berlin received awards in 2006 and 2007 from CIO Magazine for their creative use of the tools. The company has upgraded the software numerous times, with the most recent major upgrade in 2012. In 2004, it became the first company in its sector to be ISO 9001 certified. It was re-certified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard in 2010. It also maintains Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism certification. The company regularly reports its on-time delivery performance of its packaging shipments. For every month since June 2004, Berlin has provided 99% or better on-time delivery from its warehouses. Berlin Packaging was profiled in The Human Equation, by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Pfeffer described its corporate culture as being particularly effective at recognizing the value of people and aligning management processes with business strategy.
Ownership
In October 2014, investment manager Investcorp completed the sale of Berlin Packaging to Oak Hill Capital Partners for $1.43 billion. Oak Hill is the majority owner with a significant minority stake held by Andrew T. Berlin. The executive management team also has ownership in the company. In 2017, the firm had a valuation of $2.6 billion.
