CME Awards Program
Hall of Fame
Bruce Berry (Winpak Ltd.)
Bruce Berry’s career in the packaging industry dates back to 1971 in Montreal. Graduating from Sir George Williams University, now Concordia, in 1969; he followed this with a brief stint playing hockey in Europe while attending the University of Grenoble in France. Returning to Quebec, Mr. Berry joined the newly-formed plastic division of Smith & Nephew, a multinational pharmaceutical company, where he headed up its sales and marketing department. Shortly thereafter, he became the North American agent for Wipak Finland, today’s sister company to Winpak. In 1975, the Finnish conglomerate decided to bring its technology to North America and chose Winnipeg as its base of operations. In 1976, Mr. Berry started with Winpak Ltd. as its Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Although he has the bragging rights of being the first employee of the firm, his predecessor as CEO, Bob Lavery, signed on at about the same time; initially as a consultant and a year later as an official member of the Winpak team. Thus the birth of Winpak.
During Mr. Berry’s tenure with the company, he has been instrumental in establishing its sales and distribution network throughout North America. In 1994 he assumed the position of President, Winpak Division and in 2003 became the Chief Operating Officer of Winpak Ltd. On January 1, 2004 Mr. Berry was appointed President & CEO of Winpak Ltd. Throughout Mr. Berry’s 40 years at Winpak, he has had significant influence on the firm’s ongoing success, growing market share and raising revenues and profits. Winpak is committed to the manufacture of high-quality packaging materials and equipment. The firm’s customers use Winpak packaging products primarily for the protection of perishable foods, beverages and healthcare applications. Today, Winpak products are sold in every province in Canada and every state in the United States, as well as numerous countries beyond the borders of North America.
Winpak still maintains its head office in Winnipeg and operates ten production facilities. Four of these are in Canada, with two in Manitoba, one in Quebec and one in Ontario. There are five in the United States, three in Illinois, one in Georgia and one in California. More recently, the company opened a production site in Mexico. Winpak Ltd.’s 2014 annual revenue was US $786 million, with an after tax profit of US $78.4 million. It employs approximately 2,200 people, whom Mr. Berry applauds as being the true reason for the firm’s success. Winpak is a shining example of “made in Manitoba” products on the world stage and is acknowledged as a strong contributor to the community.
When Mr. Berry is not devoting all of his efforts to Winpak, he can be found enjoying leisure time at Lake of the Woods, with his wife Joyce, who has supported him throughout his entire career. He is the proud father of two sons and two grandchildren; all currently residing in California. When Mr. Berry achieves his personal goal of seeing Winpak’s revenue surpass the US $1 billion plateau, he looks forward to retirement and spending even more time with family.