NEW YORK & MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Dispensing (IDC) (ticker OTC:IDND) has announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with ALPLA Group, a multinational packaging company headquartered in Austria with annual revenues of approximately $4.5 billion. As the first stage of the strategic alliance, IDC is in the process of transitioning its manufacturing platform to ALPLA’s injection molding plant in Toluca, Mexico, which will begin producing The Answer® tap in early Q1 2021.
In the near-term, ALPLA’s large-scale production facility will improve The Answer®’s costs and margins, increasing its attractiveness to customers and retailers. Going forward, ALPLA’s manufacturing scale and expertise will provide IDC with considerable opportunities for price-elasticity to support growth well into the future.
In addition to these significant supply chain improvements, IDC has teamed up with a synergistic partner with strong capabilities to support IDC in multi-faceted ways. One of the largest global suppliers of plastic bottles and closures to the food & beverage and consumer goods industries, including many IDC potential customers, ALPLA has a presence in 46 countries, with 181 manufacturing sites and 7 R&D centers. The companies will collaborate to market IDC’s flexible packaging solutions around the world, leveraging IDC’s award-winning innovation and aseptic foodservice vision with ALPLA’s global sales force and relationships.
The companies will also work together to improve and extend IDC’s existing intellectual property, as well as develop new product offerings. New products are likely to become commercially available in 2021.
In addition, as things progress the IDC-ALPLA strategic alliance will jointly evaluate a future manufacturing platform to support growth, including eventual manufacturing in key local markets, resulting in reduced freight and duties, faster response time, and greater direct customer engagement.
While COVID-19 slowed or temporarily shut down the global foodservice industry, IDC’s team has worked during the hiatus to improve its supply chain and strategic positioning, culminating in the ALPLA relationship. The pandemic has forced foodservice companies to re-think existing business models and practices, and IDC believes that in a post-COVID world, The Answer® and its safety features (microbe barrier, minimal surface exposure) will prove more important, if not indispensable, to foodservice operators everywhere.
“We are very excited to be working with ALPLA and honored by its comprehensive commitment to our innovation,” said Pepe Martinez, IDC’s CEO. “We have emerged from this difficult period with a reset that puts us on a strong, solid footing going forward, fortified by a partner with world-class manufacturing, marketing, and R&D capabilities and broad industry relationships. We listen to our customers. They have acknowledged The Answer®’s superior performance in terms of food safety; they have also told us that supply chain improvement represents the biggest opportunity for IDC sales acceleration, which we have resoundingly addressed. While 2020 has been a challenging transitional year, we have emerged from it stronger and more competitive than ever before and have very robust expectations for 2021 and beyond.”
“We look forward to produce this innovative aseptic tap in collaboration with IDC in our plant in Toluca and additionally to bring in our capacities, market understanding and technical expertise as part of a strategic alliance between the two companies,” said Walter Knes, Global Sales Director Injection Molding & Pharma at ALPLA.
About IDC
A flexible packaging R&D company targeting the global food & beverage industry, IDC (www.idcinnovation.com) has created and commercialized a cost-effective dispensing system that keeps aseptic liquids shelf-stable through its entire dispensing cycle without recourse to refrigeration or preservatives. IDC’s core product, The Answer®, the world’s only aseptic tap, is the key to unlocking the “untapped” and potentially multi-billion-dollar aseptic foodservice market. Leveraging this innovation and its strategic partners, IDC offers a uniquely safe, large-format aseptic package for foodservice venues around the world. Underscoring the power of this innovation, in May 2019, The Answer® received the WorldStar President’s Award Gold Medal as the world’s most significant packaging innovation, cutting across all packaging categories. The Answer® bested over 2000 original entries from over 60 countries, many from the world’s leading multinational food & beverage and packaging companies.
About ALPLA Group
Founded in 1955 and headquartered in Hard, Austria, ALPLA (www.alpla.com) produces plastic bottles, closures, and injected molded parts for a wide range of industries, including food & beverage. A world leader in the development and production of plastic packaging solutions and employing 20,900 people worldwide, ALPLA’s global reach extends to 181 plants and 7 R&D centers in 46 countries. While steeped in tradition as a family owned business, ALPLA is always looking toward the future, using the latest technologies and seeking innovative solutions, while maintaining a strong commitment to sustainability and recycling.
