Plastipak Holdings: A Plastic Business

The Young family still owns and has been operating Plastipak since its inception in 1967. The business specializes in the manufacture of plastic containers and other packaging products, supplying them to big names like Kraft Foods and Proctor & Gamble.

It was Bill Young who created the company out of the water delivery business of his parents. His idea was meant to address the challenge of their family enterprise in terms of containing water in five-gallon jugs. The container, when filled with water, would likely weigh around 50 pounds. This is where his innovation came in and he was able to make the most out of plastics.

After the business was bought by Beatrice Foods in 1973, the family continued working on the enterprise as if it’s still their own. Bill Young was made regional director and around this decade, he was able to cut a deal with their first major client, Pepsi. At that time, they were already manufacturing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Some time around 1979, the company experienced some difficulties and of course, the Young family was quick to buy the business back from Beatrice Foods.

With the Young family back in control, they were able to significantly make the business grow. To make room for the expansion of their business, they launched a new company, Whiteline Express. This subsidiary is a trucking service established in 1983 and has been providing the business the much needed cost saving transportation service. Two years later, the business made an acquisition that would expand the support of the business to the Chicago and Wisconsin Markets. This asset was the Buffalo Don’s Artesion Wells. The business has also made several acquisitions, pushing their revenue to swell up to $2.3 billion.

Through constant innovation and experiments, Plastipak was able to create better containers to replace those heavy 5-gallon water jugs. Now, they are the go-to name for companies in need of ready supply of plastic containers for production lines.