Rookies on a roll

“This will be a world class plant when we get done.” This is the boast of Salim Boulos, President of Trinpak Packaging Co Ltd as he talked about the company’s phenomenal growth and its surprising capture of TIDCO’s “Rookie Exporter of the Year” Award recently. He added, “We have not reached the goals we set for ourselves. We just got started. Can you imagine therefore when we are chugging along at full steam. We are in business for a little more than a year, so we are still fine tuning our operations.” Talking to Business Day in a small, cramped office at Lot 9 of the  O’Meara Industrial Estate, Salim took delight in describing how quickly the company had mushroomed and kept the competition on its toes. The short history is that the businessmen, with an eye for entrepreneurship, took possession of an old, unused factory shell — Which had been lying abandoned for something like 15 years — and actually begun assembling machinery in March last year. Limited production kicking off in May.

“We shipped our first 40-foot container load of product in early June. We have not looked back since,” said Salim proudly. With a payroll of 15 today, Trinpak, continues to forge ahead and expects to double its employee count in the next three months, moving to about 100 by the end of the year. Current operations are conducted in 20,000 sq ft of covered space, with planned office space of an additional 2000 sq ft. Negotiations, he said, are almost complete for the acquisition of the adjoining property, which will add a further 40,000 square feet to the holdings. Trinpak’s core business, according to Salim, is contract packaging of automotive chemicals such as brake fluid, coolants, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, windshield washes and battery water. It also produces its own brand  under the name, Supreme. At this point in our interview, Chehade Boulos, Salim’s father and chairman of the company came into the room apologising profusely for his inability to be in at the start. He was on the line getting his hands dirty as he assisted in solving a production line snag.

At 67, and still full of energy, Chehade explained his involvement in the business. He is no stranger to manufacturing. He was involved in establishing the National Canners plant close by on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, a short distance away from Trinpak. He left Trinidad for the United States in the late 70s and lived in Houston, Texas for 23 years before returning to Trinidad to set up his new plant. “I came back to Trinidad because this is my home and I am very happy that I came back I enjoy doing business in Trinidad. At my age, I still work 18 hours a day and I feel good. We encounter few obstacles and the island is positioned strategically to serve our needs.” “Our major markets are the Caribbean, Central and Latin America and Trinidad and Tobago has an excellent freight service. We have had no shipping problems,” he added. Referring to his company’s recent recognition as “Rookie of The Year,” Boulos Snr., said, “I am very proud, very pleased to have won the award. It was great and it has given us the impetus to move forward.”

Salim’s reaction to winning the award was expressed this way, “I feel a sense of pride. When I realise that we’ve only been in business for a little more than a year and to gain this kind of recognition, really makes me feel great.” While at this stage, it cannot be regarded as a multi-national company, Trinpak’s vision, as articulated by its principals, seems headed in that direction. Right now it has a production facility in Trinidad and a warehousing and distribution facility in Miami. Trinidad is also the corporate headquarters of the company. The Arima facility has five automatic filling lines and has the capability to custom blend products in small or large batches. The filling machines are all stainless steel and can package almost any type of product, from an eight-ounce bottle right up to 55 gallon drums. Six plastic blow-moulding machines can custom make any type of bottle to fit any customer’s needs. Responsibilities for the company’s operations are basically divided into two. Chehade snr manages the local facility – the production line, while Salim, who lives in Miami, handles all the sales and contracts, purchasing and logistics.

While it may seem that Trinpak’s business is mostly dedicated to the export market, Salim reminded that the labels for all the products manufactured in Arima are produced locally. “As a matter of fact, we spend close to (TT)$6 million a year in getting labels produced in TT and these meet the standards prescribed by the United States packaging industry.” Asked what generated the idea for such a plant in TT, Salim said, “We’ve been involved in the automotive industry for a long time and saw the demand for such a plant.” “Our research also determined that TT was the place to set up this operation, since it was ideal for distribution.” The Arima plant is the only such facility in the Caribbean and there are only three companies in the United States, doing exactly what Trinpak does. “Right now we ship two to three 40-foot containers to the US every month. Based on our projections we forsee this moving up to 200 containers by the end of 2005, stated Salim.

He added that his company, at present was the number one supplier of brake fluid in Jamaica. It also controlled 65-70 percent of the markets in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. But while at this time the focus is on exports, Salim insisted that Trinpak would soon be looking to the local market for business to the tune of at least $1 million a month. Salim is in full support of the government’s plan to establish an ethylene-glycol plant, which products can be used in the production of anti-freeze. Salim is of the view that  the local production of base oil  can be used to produce various engine oils. “Trinidad is a beautiful country and we have a great name internationally. There are some 8000 to 10,000 Trinidadians living in Houston and if you see how they get together. I only wish that could happen here, Salim said.