Founded in 1957 by Johan Andresen Snr. the entrepreneur invested in the vision of Norwegian engineer Christian August Johansen to bring the Pure-Pak carton license to Europe from the US and to build Pure-Pak filling machines.
Merger of dairies & juice producers
Today Elopak has developed and expanded to more than 30 countries with over 40 offices including 11 manufacturing plants and three Pure-Pak associates, and operates in over 80 markets.
Niels Petter Wright, CEO, Elopak, said during its growth over the last 60 years Elopak has revolutionized the functionality, convenience and shape of the Pure-Pak carton alongside developments in filling technology and systems.
“The landscape of the industry since Elopak was founded in 1957 has changed almost beyond recognition with the widespread merging of dairies and juice producers. With the many regional or smaller concerns consolidated with the major players, came new and different demands for packaging suppliers,” he said.
“Increased volumes, new delivery requirements and product innovation has been met by Elopak’s development at every level of packaging, from processing standards, food science, logistics and pack concepts.
“One of the major challenges has been the industry trend for merging and amalgamation. In response to this, we centralized production to meet the wider market demands of an ever-changing customer base, and extend into new geographies.
“Retailer power and the trend for co-packing has brought further challenges and the need to improve efficiency of filling systems and provide more convenient, attractive and cost efficient packaging technology.
Sustainable carton
“To answer the growing global environmental demands on the industry, Elopak has collaborated with its partners, customers and competitors to increase the use of more sustainable and recyclable materials and resources throughout the complete supply chain.”
Its range of carton packaging includes ‘The greenest Pure-Pak carton ever’ - a virtually 100% renewable carton using second generation renewable PE, made of European-sourced biomass.
Wright added, as an example of collaboration it introduced a Roll Fed aseptic packaging material into the European and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) markets in 2013.
Available in various 1 litre and portion pack configurations, the material is produced in several Elopak locations, including a state-of-the-art facility in Denmark featuring an EloChrome coating line and slitting equipment.
“As the company continues to diversify, alongside its core Pure-Pak carton business, it sees more growth and opportunities over the next few decades for the beverage packaging industry with new markets emerging,” he said.