Celebrating 125 Years Of Aluminum Manufacturing: Portfolio of products enhances merchandising in-store
Progressive Grocer: D&W has been described as a small company with a large portfolio. How has the way you’ve grown given you the ability to offer such a variety of packaging products?
Gary Rehwinkel: CM Packaging, which we acquired in 2011, traces its history back to Chicago Metallic, a company founded in 1898 in Chicago to make baking packaging for the food processor and foodservice industries. 1958, Chicago Metallic relocated to a 34-acre site in suburban Lake Zurich, Illinois.
In 2011, D&W (owned by Mid Oaks Investments) acquired CM Packaging Group, a subsidiary of Chicago Metallic Products, which manufactured rigid plastic and aluminum containers for the grocery industry.
The product lines the acquisition added to our portfolio complemented our existing offerings and advanced our strategy to be a national supplier of foodservice containers and other packaging products. Today, D&W has offices in seven locations throughout the US and manufactures over 1600 aluminum and plastic thermoformed products in our Lake Zurich location. Outside of Lake Zurich, we manufacture plastic thermoformed and injection molded packaging as well as cutlery, kits, and straws, giving us one of the most extensive product offerings in the industry.