DIRECT PACK CRANKS UP PRODUCTION BY 40% AT ROCKINGHAM PLANT

Food packaging player Direct Pack Inc (DPI) is expanding its manufacturing capabilities in Rockingham, North Carolina and, as a result, will also increase its workforce by 50% compared to autumn last year.

With help from a $400,000 (€339,000) grant from the state department of commerce, DPI – a subsidiary of privately-held management company PMC Global Inc – has added 5,200 square metres of space and manufacturing lines allowing it to increase output capacity by over 40%.

The company, a leader in sustainable, full circular, thermoformed plastic, says the space will help “to meet the heightened demand for food packaging” that it is seeing. That is no surprise given that among the biggest winners of the pandemic were the supermarkets and online grocers, while demand for take-out containers from restaurants has also increased.

Direct Pack moves to non-stop production

The North Carolina plant has evolved into a 24/7 operation, with plans in place to bring additional equipment and precision tooling online in the second half of the year. “Expanding our manufacturing operations in Rockingham is an important part of our continued business growth,” said general manager Craig Griffith.

Direct Pack’s Rockingham facility opened in 2017 and now employs 125 people. It produces a variety of food packaging containers, from salad bowls to custom packaging for hot and cold fresh food applications.

As part of the company’s ‘2028 Vision’, DPI is expanding its recycling facilities of PET thermoformed packaging, so it can be used over and over again. It is also migrating all customers’ packaging for cold food to the highest post-consumer recycled PET mix possible.

Join us at SIAL Paris as exhibitor Join us at SIAL Paris as visitor