U.S. firm buys Trivium Industries
After about four years of operations, Trivium Industries is leaving Welland.
The bio-plastic bottle manufacturer on Jan. 1 was purchased by an American-based competitor, which is consolidating the Welland operations into its existing U.S. factory, said Trivium Industries founder and chief executive officer David D’Angelo.
“Unfortunately, our Welland plant will be closing and moving to the U.S.,” he said.
Since starting operations at its 459 Prince Charles Dr. S. location, the small local company has been manufacturing 100 per cent organic, compostable and biodegradable bottles and containers made from plants and corn, used primarily for beauty, beverage and agriculture products.
He said Trivium’s bottles were used by many local companies, as companies producing wellknown global hair-care, juice and food brands.
Through its efforts, D’Angelo said the company helped “lead the way in offering more environmentally friendly packaging alternatives, and forced many of our competitors to think differently about the materials they are using to package consumer products.”
During the past year, he said, Trivium started “winning some big accounts and we got a lot more attention from some competitors, mostly from the U.S.”
D’Angelo said he wasn’t initially interested in selling the business, instead hoping to continue growing in the city.
However, while producing the bio-plastic bottles, the company had also recently branched out into the development of fully recyclable plastic wine bottles that include a barrier to protect the wine they contain from oxidization for up to 18 months.
The plastic wine bottles were not part of the deal to acquire the company.
Selling the rest of the business, D’Angelo said, will allow him to focus on developing a new manufacturing business based on producing those wine bottles “and some other things we have in the pipeline that we’d like to develop under a new company.”
Although closing Trivium Industries meant parting ways with the 10 full- and part-time employees who worked there, D’Angelo said he hopes some of them will continue working with the new business when it opens.
“We’re still about six months away from actually opening a facility, but we’re working with some really large wineries here in Canada to get this into the market and really solve some of the needs in airlines and stadiums.”
D’Angelo is grateful to the city and the community for the support provided to his company, “which helped our company grow and thrive in our industry.”
He said he has been working with Welland economic development officer Dan Degazio to make plans for the new business a reality in the city.
“We love this city and I am a big advocate to encourage companies to locate in Welland,” he said.
Meanwhile, the former Trivium facility, which also houses the offices of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, was recently purchased by a neighbouring company that plans to expand its operations.
Although D’Angelo can’t identify the business that purchased the building because the deal is still being finalized, he is pleased that it’s “not going to become a vacant building.”