Who doesn’t know Le Parfait jars? These glass jars that we find in our kitchens, with its metal closure and its famous orange seal. Owned by an American group since 2004, the almost century-old brand is back in its tricolor. On December 31, it passed into the hands of Berlin Packaging France, whose head office is located in Nice. This is one of the eight external growths that the French subsidiary of the American giant in the distribution of glass, plastic and metal packaging has operated over the past three years. This accelerated development aims to position the French distributor as one of the leading players in the glass packaging market for the food sector.
Opening up to the wine and spirits market
Born in 2011, the company, initially Italian, was bought in 2016 by the Chicago group. ” We were small then, half a dozen people for 3 million euros in turnover “says its current manager, Éric Citone. Six years later, Berlin Packaging France, whose scope of intervention covers France, the Dom Toms, Algeria and Tunisia, brings together 120 people, ” 140 by the end of the year “. It achieved a turnover of 82 million euros in 2021 within a broad-spectrum client portfolio, ranging from the small local olive oil producer to the Bonduelle juggernaut. In 2022, the distributor expects further growth with an expected turnover of 155 million euros. Growth driven in part by the four acquisitions made since last December, including Gerfran in Bordeaux, “ the largest distributor of empty wine bottles in France », and the Verrerie du Comtat, in Sorgues. The third takeover concerns Disco, in Cognac, specializing in bottles of… Cognac. The idea for the distributor is to open up to the wine and spirits market.
Open up to BtoC and internationally
The Le Parfait brand, for its part, opens up other prospects, particularly on the BtoC market where the distributor was previously absent and for export. ” It’s kind of the icing on the cakenotes the manager. With Le Parfait, we are setting foot in the consumer segment, hence the development, alongside the brand’s timeless jars, of new ranges based on Berlin products that we want to bring into the BtoC “. Eight new employees were therefore hired in Nice to develop the brand. ” We hope to recruit a dozen more by June 2023 “. Furthermore, he continues, we have concluded agreements with the brand’s suppliers who have committed themselves for ten years to manufacturing and assembly by hand, essentially in France. In this respect, a hundred people assemble some 90 million pots each year. ” 30% of Le Parfait’s turnover comes from export, 70% in France, the objective is to reverse the trend “, he says.
Open up to non-food
And for 2023, what roadmap? ” We continue “says Éric Citone. Without taking the time to digest. The distributor is indeed working on new targets for external growth in order to expand the activity of the French subsidiary to other market segments, excluding food, such as ” industry, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and perfumery “. Berlin Packaging France also intends to free itself from its mono-material positioning – in this case glass – to cover other types of products, in plastic and metal. ” The aim is to develop the Berlin Packaging France brand in all the group’s business segments by relying on its know-how developed in Europe and the United States. “.
Another priority is securing its sources of supply. ” In addition to rising prices due to energy costs, the market is suffering from a very significant shortage of glass. The priority subject at the moment is therefore to ensure that none of our customers find themselves in a situation of rupture “. A problem that the distributor had anticipated. ” In 12 months, we have quadrupled our French stocks “.