SANTA ROSA -- As the TricorBraun WinePak division relocates early this month to a much larger, automated Export to InDesignwarehouse in Solano County, its St. Louis-based parent company said it acquired wine container competitor Trilogy Glass and Packaging, Inc. of Santa Rosa.
Folding Trilogy into TricorBraun WinePak expands the division to 111 North Bay employees and $120 million in annual sales. TricorBraun WinePak was ranked No. 2 on the Nov. 14 Business Journal list of top wine bottle suppliers with 62 North Bay employees. Annual sales are nearly $100 million. Trilogy was ranked No. 4 with 49 employees. Together, the division is the largest North American supplier of containers and packing supplies to the wine industry, according to the company.
"Bringing Trilogy Glass and Packaging into the fold was an easy decision," said Keith Strope, chief executive officer of TricorBraun. "Both companies operate from a ‘customer first’ perspective. We have very similar cultures,” said . “This is a move that benefits the customers from both organizations."
Trilogy owners Rick Miron and Greg Windisch said the acquisition will greatly expand the company they started eight years ago.
"Having expanded capabilities -- particularly the repacking operation in Northern California and an expanded financial base -- are a real plus," said Mr. Windisch.
They started Trilogy in Petaluma 2004 and expanded it significantly in a relocation to Santa Rosa in 2006.
This acquisition has effectively doubled TricorBraun WinePak’s sales force. The division has offices in Northern and Southern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
As the Business Journal reported in November, the division's base of operations is moving from Benicia to Fairfield, picking up more than 65 percent in additional warehousing space. The new warehouse includes a $2 million repacking system designed to automatically transfer wine bottles from 8-foot-high stacks of pallets to individual wineries' custom, 12-bottle cartons.
St. Louis-based TricorBraun (www.tricorbraun.com) is one of the world’s leading suppliers of rigid packaging and components, primarily for personal care products, cosmetics, health care, and the food and beverage industry. Annual sales are nearly $1 billion. Before the latest acquisition, the company had 521 employees in more than 40 locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Asia.
