In many ways, supermarkets and households are ground zero for economic and environmental upheavals. It’s there we decide what to buy, consume and throw away. “You just walk into a grocery store, and you see all our packaging,” says Winpak vice-president and chief financial officer Scott Taylor. That includes shelves with meat, cheese, bacon, cat food, yogurt lids, condiment containers and much more. About 90% of the company’s sales are to the food and beverage industries.
Taylor delivers a rapid-fire timeline. Winpak IPOed in 1986 and then made five key acquisitions from 1988 to 1997. Growth since then has been almost all organic, although in 2019, the company bought New Jersey–based Control Group for US$42.2 million to diversify into pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Financially, Winpak has grown steadily, and profits have exceeded US$100 million over each of the past six years. That included strong results during COVID-19. Consumers started cooking more at home and ordering in more, but Winpak’s airline, restaurant and hotel businesses cratered.