Apex Plastics buys Juice Merchandising Corp.

Apex Plastics is taking over a longtime distributor of its bottles serving the freshly squeezed juice market in the Midwest.

Brookfield, Mo.-based Apex finalized the purchase of Juice Merchandising Corp. in early September, in conjunction with the retirement of its owner, Bill Bushman.

Apex has been supplying high density polyethylene, and later PET, bottles to JMC customers since 1997.

The purchase consolidates the manufacturing and marketing of the bottles under Apex control.

The purchase of JMC now allows Apex to take over the direct sale of the bottles to grocery stores that offer freshly squeezed juice as well as distributors serving those stores.

"It was a line of business that had been doing well and a partnership that had been working," Apex President Damon Neff said.

Apex currently provides HDPE bottles in 8-, 16-, 32- and 64-ounce sizes as well as a 59-ounce PET version. Plans are to expand the PET line to include the other smaller sizes as well, and Apex hopes to have samples ready for customers to consider by the end of October.

Apex produces and sells about 300,000 bottles per month to JMC customers within about a 400-mile radius of its base. Major markets include the Missouri metro areas of Kansas City and St. Louis, and Neff said his company expects to push the geographic service area out a bit more under the new ownership structure. Chicago could be one new market for the company.

Apex Plastics is owned by PCE Inc., a private firm that includes blow molding, injection molding and profile extrusion operations. Other PCE companies include HTI Plastics and Lincoln Plastics, both in Lincoln, Neb.

Apex is absorbing the marketing functions to its grocery store customers through efficiencies by its current staff, the president said.

JMC sells to both directly to stores as well as distributors that then provide the containers to stores, Neff said.

Apex ranked No. 98 in Plastics News' most recent survey of North American blow molders with sales of $6.6 million.