France sits at the heart of Europe and is the sixth largest economy in the world. It is a founding member of the European Union.
LINPAC is the market leader in the manufacture of plastic film for the food industry in France, and the country’s largest producer of returnable transit packaging (RTP) equipment. The business’s core strengths are its specialist expertise, and its willingness to innovate and invest in new ways to add value for customers.
LINPAC Allibert and LINPAC Packaging (the production of plastic food packaging and film, and RTP and storage tanks, respectively) are the Group’s two core divisions operating in France, although LINPAC Ropak’s products are also sold in the country – as they are throughout Europe. LINPAC Allibert has its worldwide headquarters at Nanterre, near La Défense, in Paris, and the Group employs 1200 people in France.
LINPAC acquired France-based Allibert in 2006 and immediately merged it with its own RTP operations to form LINPAC Allibert. Allibert’s origins can be traced back to 1910, when Joseph Allibert founded a factory for the shoe industry in Monestier de Clermont, while LINPAC Packaging’s French business was established by the Group in 1976 as a manufacturer of foam trays and plastic films for the food industry.
LINPAC Packaging operates manufacturing facilities for plastic films at Pontivy in Brittany, and foam (EPS) packaging products at Tarascon in Provence. LINPAC Allibert has plastic packaging injection moulding and extrusion facilities at Gaillon in Upper-Normandy and undertakes rotational-moulding at Prunay, south west of Paris. These locations are supported by offices and distribution facilities extending nationwide, as well as into neighbouring Belgium (Nivelles).
Principal items manufactured by the Group in France include EPS trays for food products (both barrier and/or absorbent), PVC and barrier films, rotationally moulded storage tanks, and plastic RTP equipment.
LINPAC Packaging’s Pontivy facility has become a European centre of excellence for the production of packaging film. Recent investments in the plant have included a seven-layer film extrusion line to produce sophisticated barrier lidding film for meat packs. As a result, Pontivy’s products are now exported across Europe and beyond.
Through LINPAC Services, LINPAC Allibert also offers a wide range of support services for RTP – including asset management, washing and repair, and lease/rental schemes.
RFID and bar code solutions are also provided by LINPAC Services – which incorporates the two business units specialising in this area, Intellident and Ident.