IN Brief:
- Sabert is pushing organic growth six months after acquiring Colpac.
- Recent launches include PFAS-free Pulp Ultra and faster-assemble paperboard platters.
- Investment is focused on manufacturing capability, systems, and multi-channel delivery.
Six months after completing its acquisition of Colpac, Sabert Corporation Europe has set out a growth plan aimed at increasing the scale and profitability of its global business, with product development and operational investment positioned as parallel priorities.
Colpac, a UK manufacturer of paperboard food packaging based in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, joined the group at the end of July 2025. Sabert says the combined organisation is targeting faster organic sales growth across established product ranges, supported by bespoke design capability for major food brands and a continued focus on service through direct relationships and distributor channels.
“This growth ambition is matched by a clear focus on profitability, operational excellence, and capital discipline, ensuring the business grows in the most resilient and sustainable way,” says Alex Noake, Managing Director of Sabert’s European business area.
Product development is framed around shifting compliance requirements, particularly for food contact materials. Sabert has highlighted Pulp Ultra, a moulded-fibre format made from more than 95% bagasse fibres and described as having no intentionally added PFAS, alongside a paperboard platter range with newly developed lids designed to reduce assembly time. The packaging group has also signalled further development across paperboard, pulp, and plastics, with an emphasis on maintaining functional performance while reducing environmental impact.
Those launches sit against an accelerating European regulatory timetable on packaging design, recyclability, and chemicals of concern. The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is due to apply from August 2026, and includes provisions that restrict intentionally added PFAS above defined thresholds in food contact packaging, raising the bar for coatings and barrier technologies across fibre-based formats used in chilled food-to-go, hot food-to-go, and delivery applications.
Sabert and Colpac are also using the first quarter trade-show calendar to present the combined portfolio. The companies are due to exhibit together at Packaging Innovations and Empack at the NEC in Birmingham on 11 and 12 February, where Sabert says it will show ranges spanning foodservice and food manufacturing markets, including Deli2Go and bespoke paperboard formats. Sabert has also pointed to recent third-party recognition for Pulp Ultra, which it says has won a Green Apple Award at national silver level in the Paper & Packaging category.
Operationally, Sabert says it is making targeted investment across its supply chain, manufacturing capabilities, and systems, with business functions aligned to a single global strategy to support scale while maintaining service levels.
“We believe that the strongest results are achieved where there is a shared focus on building sustainable growth together, with our colleagues all working towards a common goal,” says Andrew Grimbaldeston, Sabert’s European Commercial Director.
The company has left the door open to further portfolio expansion where there is a strategic fit, positioning the Colpac acquisition as a template for adding capability and reach without disrupting customer delivery.
