Huntington Beach’s InterTrade Industries Ltd., a maker of plastic packaging and foam products, is eyeing new business on the heels of a recent acquisition.
Late last year, the company acquired Plastic Concepts Inc. and its operations a few blocks from InterTrade’s headquarters.
Terms of the cash deal weren’t disclosed.
The buy more than doubled InterTrade’s manufacturing space to 58,000 square feet.
The company, which has about $10 million in yearly sales, bought Plastic Concepts as part of a diversification effort.
InterTrade makes a range of products. They include those hard-to-tear packages for headphones sold at stores, molds that secure jet windows and a foam field toilet for soldiers.
InterTrade’s sales have relied on military contracts, aerospace work and consumer goods packaging for years. Buying Plastic Concepts has brought new markets and expanded products, according to Niki Kopenhaver, executive vice president of operations for American Innotek Inc., the Escondido-based parent company of InterTrade.
“Broadening our customer base is very important,” she said. “We will not be dependent on one industry.”
The Plastic Concepts buy expanded InterTrade’s work in what is known as “thin gauge plastics,” the lightweight packaging that protects small electronics, makeup kits and other products sold at stores.
InterTrade had specialized in heavy gauge plastics, which are formed for pools, spas, hybrid vehicle charging stations and food and beverage equipment.
The company’s business now is more balanced, according to plant manager Jim Meyer.
Company Roots
Plastic Concepts was a family business started in 1972 and run by founder Horst Schulze. The company moved to Huntington Beach in 1984.
InterTrade’s roots in Huntington Beach go back to its 1975 founding.
All of InterTrade’s products are made in the U.S., a distinction its officials are quick to tout. Most of its customers and suppliers are in Southern California.
Sales are expected to grow as the company takes on some manufacturing from parent American Innotek, officials said.
InterTrade also hopes to regain some business lost to China in the past decade as logistical costs rise in that country.
“We anticipate a major shift from China back into this country,” said C.A. “Cass” Cassidy, American Innotek’s chief executive. “A lot of those companies are coming back this way.”
About 10% of InterTrade’s sales are global. Canada, Mexico and Israel are its largest markets abroad.
Rivals include San Fernando’s Gibraltar Plastic Products Corp. and San Diego-based Specialty Manufacturing Inc.
“We’re all vying for the same business,” Kopenhaver said.
Monthly product runs at InterTrade can be as small as five pieces or as large as 100,000. The most expensive products made at its Huntington Beach plant typically are $500 gaskets for jet windows.
The largest are the shells for electric vehicle charging stations made for Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf and other models.
Cardboard box lollipop holders are among its smallest items.
The company also makes heavy plastic carrying cases for spy drones that can fit in a soldier’s backpack.
Workers at InterTrade have to contend with the elements—an unusual concern in Southern California. Cooler winters and warm summers often warp the size of foam products, according to Kopenhaver.
“It ends up being more of an art than a science,” she said.
InterTrade employs 33 people in the county and expects to hire machine shop workers, operators, engineers and eventually managers as demand increases, according to officials.
The company also is eyeing more possible acquisitions to expand product offerings and build market share.
“We are continuing to look,” Kopenhaver said.
