Evansville packaging company lands strategic investment, primed for growth
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
An Indiana supplier of food-grade containers and packaging is building on what it calls a period of significant momentum with a “meaningful” investment from the co-founder and former CEO of Dallas-based JM Bullion.
Evansville-based ePackageSupply secured the investment from Michael Wittmeyer, though the specific dollar amount remains undisclosed. As a result, Wittmeyer has joined the company as managing director with the goal of scaling the company’s digital capabilities.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Wittmeyer said the investment stems from meeting ePackageSupply CEO Paul Saunders about nine months ago.
“The reason I wanted to invest is that I loved what Paul had built from an operational, sales, finance, HR perspective; I felt like every single piece was there except what I really loved doing, which is all the e-commerce website, digital marketing pieces,” he said. “So I feel like it was a great opportunity to buy into what was already in a really awesome, well-run company and then be able to come in, work on something I really enjoy, layer my stuff on, and see it really quickly pay dividends, which we’re already seeing.”
ePackageSupply is a subsidiary of Evansville-based Ridgecrest Holdings LLC and was founded by Saunders in 2020.
The company said it ships more than 3 million containers per month to more than 6,000 businesses nationwide, including food distributors and co-packers, as well as small manufacturers and emerging consumer brands.
Wittmeyer said in the short-term, he is working on boosting the company’s search engine optimization and Google paid search efforts, with which he has a lot of experience.
“There’s quite a lot of traffic out looking for the products we sell, and [the company] historically has, I would say, done an okay job getting in front of them, but there’s a lot of quick wins we’ve been able to put in place,” he said.
Additionally, Wittmeyer said the company is working on a revamped website that will provide a friendlier B2B buying experience for customers, including self-service bulk ordering, custom labeling and design tools, and a wider selection of eco-friendly products.
Saunders said because the company has been in a strong financial position for several years, he wasn’t looking for an investor or partner. However, he noted that the company was in a position to boost its digital operations, and Wittmeyer came along at the right time.
“E-commerce and digital at certain points took a back seat to…what was required first. In the last 24 months or so, we’ve really shored up our ability and capability on the operation side,” Saunders said. “And now I’ve got a great partner, who I’ve really enjoyed getting to know, whose capabilities and experience compliment ours very well and frankly, is just a very good, hard working person.”
The company recently opened a $15 million distribution facility in Warrick County that it shares with sister company eLuxury.
Saunders said ePackageSupply currently employs about 60 people and is getting primed to make a “significant announcement and investment” in the region, though specific details were not provided.
Looking long-term, Saunders said he wants ePackageSupply to be a disruptor in the industrial, commercial and residential consumable packaging space. Wittmeyer says there is massive potential for growth in the market.
“It’s a very, very deep market, just the category we’re in right now, but it’s also a very broad market with a number of product categories we haven’t even touched yet,” he said. “Our customers need a lot more products than we currently sell. So we know that with Paul’s supply chain expertise, we’re going to be able to move into more of those categories. If I had to say, ‘What would success be if we’re looking at five or 10 years?’ I really think this could be a company that’s in contention to do $1 billion of revenue annually.”