Jean-Luc Leblond, VP Sales & Marketing at CTL Packaging USA

2016 will stand, without a doubt, as a pivotal year in the history of this company created in 1964, with the passing away last August of Juan Celaya, its owner/creator (and still involved in the company), who died at the age of 96. The firm that employs 750 people and has four production sites is now run by the Juan Celaya Foundation. Juan Celaya was indeed a most unusual character who managed to settle his Company, in a little more than fifty years, as the third European producer of plastic tubes with a production capacity that now exceeds 700 million units. A tireless entrepreneur who always made the right industrial choices, the last one in 2013, when he decided to invest in a new patented technology IML (In Mold Labeling), and to launch this new product, first in the United States by building a brand new plant with three production lines in Charlotte, (North Carolina).

Three years later, the decision was made to double the production capacity on the historic site of the Basque Country and then to increase it threefold by also installing three new lines in the French factory in Vichy.

The ESTube, a small revolution

"The ESTube is truly a small revolution, explains Jean-Luc Leblond, VP Sales & Marketing at CTL Packaging USA, both in terms of technical and marketing results but also in terms of supply. The printing quality is outstanding and decorative and graphic possibilities are endless for our customers, but on top of it, this technology also enables short delivery deadlines. Just imagine the saving in time, space and flexibility for our customers: we store their decorated films and produce their tubes according to their needs in real time! Note that minimum delivery orders are of 5000 units and that the tube is made of a single-material (the skirt, film, head and cap are made of polypropylene)! As for formats, with this technology they range from 35, 40 and 50 mm in diameter (30 to 265ml). The main markets targeted are skincare and body care but also some make-up lines. We can also fit the tube with a range of airless spray & lotion pumps that allow, in addition to precise dosage, using this packaging upside down, which is an increasingly popular feature among consumers."

In addition, the ESTube is now customizable. "With the HP Digital Offset technology performed in-house, our customers have the possibility to number each of their tubes for their Limited Editions, to have a unique QR Code on each tube to guarantee full traceability, or to launch Augmented Reality applications without compromising on their finishing," concludes Jean-Luc Leblond.