Private equity firm Graham Partners has purchased food packaging manufacturer EasyPak LLC, a thermoformer based in Leomister, Mass., that offers containers made from 100 percent recycled materials.
Increasing demand for sustainable packaging and consumer preferences for on-the-go meals made EasyPak, a privately held business, an attractive investment for Newton Square, Pa.-based Graham, according to a Nov. 20 news release. Terms were not disclosed.
EasyPak is "differentiated in its ability" to provide post-consumer content in packaging, the release says, as well in its advanced manufacturing capabilities and history of innovation. The company had estimated sales of $10 million in the most recent year, according to Plastics News latest ranking of North American thermoformers.
Founded in 2004, EasyPak developed a brand of packaging called EcoPak that is manufactured using sheet processed from recycled PET bottles, according to the company website. The sheet is made from at least 50 percent post-consumer material, and the packages are certified to meet all Food and Drug Administration requirements.
EasyPak also makes amorphous PET trays for meat and fish, and a wide variety of clear PET clamshells and containers for deli produce, herbs, berries and baked goods. The company offers APET meat trays made from 100 percent post-consumer PET that have a patent-pending, honeycomb-like structure "to capture and hold juice and liquids even when inverted," according to the company.
Graham plans to partner with EasyPak's leadership team to maintain product development and improve efficiency. The business employs about 70 at thermoforming plants in Leominster and Kalamazoo, Mich.
"EasyPak is a strategic fit for the Graham portfolio due to our historical packaging expertise and related industry focus," Adam Piatkowski, managing principal at Graham, said in the release. "The company has strong overlap with Graham's packaging industry experience and end market overlap with other Graham portfolio companies in the natural foods industry."
The leadership teams have identified ways to scale the business, according to Marco Barbier, who co-founded EasyPak with Hector Echaniz.
"Graham's history uniquely qualifies them to assist us in growing our company; we are looking forward to collaborating with the Graham team and tapping into their industry and operational resources to enhance and grow EasyPak," Barbier said in the release.