Updated — Berry Plastics Group Inc. is changing its name and adopting a new logo in a move that is both a nod to the company's past and a look toward the future.
The Evansville, Ind.-based company will become Berry Global Group Inc. April 13, and is already using the new logo.
Changes, which include a new set of company values and mission statement, have been in the works since last fall when Tom Salmon became chief operating officer in anticipation of succeeding Jon Rich as CEO in February.
“For those of us who have been with the company for a while, it really represents who we are today. It's just a fresh, clean look,” Salmon said in a telephone interview from Geneva, Switzerland, where the company unveiled the moves April 3. “You have to look at it comprehensively between the name change, the mission and the core values.”
Berry now has 90 domestic and 41 international locations is looking to follow customers to different parts of the world as they continue to expand. But the company will not grow for growth's sake, the CEO said.
“The majority of our business resides in North America. It's incredibly important to us. It's always going to be an incredibly important region to us. But we also have to make certain that we've got the ability to deliver value internationally as well. And that is definitely aspirational for us. We're going to be very smart about that. We're going to do that in a methodical, measured way. But our end customers expect it,” Salmon said.
A 2015 acquisition of nonwovens maker Avintiv Inc., with operations in 14 countries, helped broaden Berry's international geography.
“There is opportunity where customers want to take advantage of those core values that Berry represents. We feel that our business has to reflect the opportunities that exist in other regions of the world. We're going to be prudent in evaluating those opportunities and making certain that it makes sense for our end customers but also our shareholders,” Salmon said.
Virtually all of Berry's products use plastics “in one way or another,” Salmon said, and the CEO does not believe eliminating the word “plastics” from the company's name will have any impact.