17 June 2009
MEMBERSHIP EXPANSION PLUS STEADY GROWTH FOR COPAPHARM IN 2008
Pharmaceutical packaging alliance Copapharm has shown steady organic growth during the turmoil of world markets over the last year – and has increased its members and the scale of its operations at the same time.
Copapharm reports a total turnover of 301.5 million euros for 2008, up by 2.5% from a total of 294.2 million euros in 2007.
At the same time, BellWyck Packaging Solutions has joined the alliance as an associate member, which means that Copapharm now has North American coverage, adding to its extensive European base. BellWyck is a Canadian packaging specialist, formed from the merger of leading heathcare and cosmetics packaging companies Bellshire and Van Wyck Packaging. BellWyck’s annual turnover is 60 million Canadian dollars (37.6 million euros) and it employs 250 people.
On 18 December 2008, the Copapharm Board elected a new Chairman, with Dr Daniel Keesman of August Faller KG taking over from Bruno Chorzelewski of Storey Evans. In early 2009, Dr Keesman became one of the managing partners of Germany-based Faller Group, following Dr Herbert Jochum, who has retired. Faller is one of the key companies within the Copapharm alliance.
In 2008, two of Copapharm’s Spanish members, Nekar and Icesa, merged to form Nekicesa, whilst previous UK member Storey Evans became part of MY Healthcare and left the alliance. French member Packetis has also appointed a new CEO, Mr Philippe Declerck. Philippe Declerck (Packetis), Daniel Keesman (Faller) and Mauro Marchi (Palladio/Zannini) now form the CE Board.
Daniel Keesman commented on the long-term aims of Copapharm:
“We intend to capitalise on our advantage of ‘thinking across borders, acting local’, where we can provide customers with a single point of contact for global purchasing, combined with local knowledge, fast response times and excellent, integrated service.”
Copapharm Europe companies specialise in producing cartons, leaflets, labels and associated services for leading pharmaceutical and healthcare customers, including a number of multi-national pharma companies. Last year Copapharm, which employs 2360 people, produced 6.17 billion cartons, 4.1 billion leaflets and 1.98 billion labels.
Copapharm’s member companies are Faller (Germany), Packetis (France), Palladio and Zannini (Italy, Ireland and Serbia), Goldprint (Belgium), Nekicesa (previously Nekar and Icesa), Pans and Cartonplex from Spain, plus new member BellWyck Packaging Solutions (Canada). They have a total of 20 manufacturing sites across Europe, in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Serbia and Spain, plus two main dedicated packaging sites in Canada. These companies work closely, both individually and collectively, with pharmaceutical manufacturers to supply a range of packaging and labelling solutions. Together, they have a total capacity of 8.1 billion folding carton units, 4.8 billion leaflet units and 3 billion label units across the world.
Further information on Copapharm is available from the Copapharm website at www.copapharm.com, by emailing info@copapharm.com or by telephoning Sylvia Wieloch on 0049 6732 93 63 52.
ENDS
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