Celebrating 125 Years Of Aluminum Manufacturing: Portfolio of products enhances merchandising in-store
D&W Fine Pack, a leading source for food packaging products, was created in 2010 through the combination of four nationally recognized packaging companies: CM Packaging Group, Dispoz-o Products, C&M Fine Pack and Wilkinson Industries. As the company prepares to celebrate 125 years of Aluminum Manufacturing via CM Packaging, Progressive Grocer asked Gary Rehwinkel, President and CEO of D&W Fine Pack, to discuss how D&W’s history, including acquisitions it has made, exemplifies its commitment to the high-quality packaging solutions and outstanding customer service it offers grocery retailers today.
Progressive Grocer: D&W has been described as a small company with a large portfolio. How has the way you’ve grown given you the ability to offer such a variety of packaging products?
Gary Rehwinkel: CM Packaging, which we acquired in 2011, traces its history back to Chicago Metallic, a company founded in 1898 in Chicago to make baking packaging for the food processor and foodservice industries. 1958, Chicago Metallic relocated to a 34-acre site in suburban Lake Zurich, Illinois.
In 2011, D&W (owned by Mid Oaks Investments) acquired CM Packaging Group, a subsidiary of Chicago Metallic Products, which manufactured rigid plastic and aluminum containers for the grocery industry.
The product lines the acquisition added to our portfolio complemented our existing offerings and advanced our strategy to be a national supplier of foodservice containers and other packaging products. Today, D&W has offices in seven locations throughout the US and manufactures over 1600 aluminum and plastic thermoformed products in our Lake Zurich location. Outside of Lake Zurich, we manufacture plastic thermoformed and injection molded packaging as well as cutlery, kits, and straws, giving us one of the most extensive product offerings in the industry.
PG: What are some of the products especially pertinent to grocery retailers?
GR: Our wide array of grocery containers can accommodate a wide variety of food products — salads, produce, meats, hot and cold prepared foods, baked goods, or specialty items. That means stores can merchandise their bakery, deli, prepared foods and produce in a way that keeps contents fresh and secure from the store to customers’ tables. Features including easy-close lids, a stackable design, and divided compartments make prep work easier and consolidate critical shelf space, too.
With our packaging, stores can showcase any product, promote their signature brands, and generate impulse sales. One example is our extensive line of pie pans with over 150 different sizes ranging from 6 inches to 12 inches in diameter.
PG: Can you customize options for grocers interested in proprietary packaging?
GR: Engineering capabilities are unparalleled in the industry. Each customer has the opportunity to sit with our team of engineers to design custom products that meet their specific needs. We can help customize their packages to include embossed branding — and we don’t require huge minimum order quantities. For example, we can customize our tooling and equipment to produce pie pans to fit a customer’s specific carrier plate dimensions for their automated filling lines. We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver high quality products with below industry standard lead times.
➤TO EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE OUR PACKAGING CAN MAKE IN YOUR STORE, VISIT dwfinepack.com.