Based in the Chicago suburbs, MattPak, Inc. prides itself on satisfying its customers, embracing innovation, and investing in its people. After a devastating fire in 2008, the company quickly rebuilt itself through close-knit relationships to thrive as the successful co-packer it is today.

It started as a conversation between friends in 2001. Ted Kunach and Jeff Graham both had extensive experience working at co-packer Cloud Corporation before it was sold to private equity. (It is now a part of Mespack.)

"Chuck Cloud, the founder of Cloud Corporation, was the man who invented the water-soluble pouch machine back in 1962," says Jeff Graham, now vice president of sales and partner at MattPak. "He told me, 'Go create a market,' and that's what I did for these pods in the 1990s."

Ted Kunach, now president and partner at MattPak, had a knack for building and rebuilding machinery, taking after his father. In his youth, Kunach would visit, (and help move pallets), in the factory where his dad worked.

"He could make any machine whistle, sing, and dance, and he'd make the most intricate parts for the machines," says Kunach. "I just watched the machines and was fascinated by them."

‘Let’s make some pouches and pods’

Combining their experience, Kunach and Graham had a solid foundation to start a new venture together.

“Ted can fix any machine or find any machine to buy,” says Graham. “And we can provide pouches and pods to many companies.”

MattPak uses a high-speed rotary style drum machine it designed and built to produce single-fill pods for both liquid and powder products.When they left Cloud, the two got to thinking. “How difficult can it be?” Graham recalls their conversation at the time. “It will be fun—let’s start our own company and make some pouches and pods.”

Those formats—water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) pods and single-serve powders in paper, film, or foil sachets—remain the core of MattPak’s co-packing operation to this day.

The partners leased a building in Franklin Park, Ill., and began assembling equipment for their new business. MattPak’s first big contract was packing instant potatoes in stand-up pouches for Idahoan Foods, one that helped the co-packer build its first PVA filling machine. Naming the company after Kunach’s then toddler son, Matthew, in 2001, MattPak was born. 

Trial by fire 

By the mid-2000s, the operation was taking on contracts to produce pods for major detergent and household cleaner brands as well as pouches and sachets for food brands. But not long after MattPak’s seventh birthday came a devastating setback.

In June 2008, a fire, ignited by a chemical reaction in a laundry booster product, destroyed a large part of the facility. The fire brought the MattPak team closer together: Kunach remembers how MattPak’s employees worked to salvage what they could.

“We rebuilt from scratch, using the support of our industry partners and the hard work of our team,” Kunach says.

One of MattPak’s largest customers even offered space in their plant to help keep the co-packer’s operations running as the company rebuilt itself—an unusual move that attests to the strong relationships MattPak had built in a short time.

“They didn’t charge us anything. They just said, ‘We need you to keep packing for us, so come use our space,’” Kunach recalls.

To keep product rolling during the rebuild, MattPak also outsourced some jobs to other co-packers, but those contracts would return to MattPak once it was back on its feet. “We didn’t lose a single customer—in fact, we even gained new business during that time,” Graham says.

MattPak’s horizontal form/fill/seal pouching machine packs crushed pepper in single serve sachets.By August 2009, MattPak was fully operational back in the original facility, stronger than ever. “We didn’t just rebuild, we expanded,” Kunach explains. “We went from 20,000 to 50,000 square feet, adding new production lines and building a second floor to accommodate more equipment.”

Today, MattPak’s commitment to its customers lies at the heart of its success (the company’s motto is “Excellence in Contract Packaging”).

“We go above and beyond for our customers,” Kunach says. “If we can’t do a job, we’ll point them in the right direction. That’s why they keep coming back.”

Pods and powders 

The co-packer has two main production processes: one for water-soluble pods and the other for powders in sachets, with each side representing approximately 50% of the business. Each production room is enclosed with its own air handling system to avoid cross-contamination.

For the water-soluble pod side of the business, MattPak uses custom, in-house designed and built high-speed rotary style drum machines that produce single-fill pods for both liquid and powder products. These pods are typically used in laundry detergents but have many other applications.

Liquid or powder products for the pod lines are gravity-fed through a hopper, with powders screened via magnet. As product enters MattPak’s custom filling machine, two rolls of PVA are fed to form the pods. One roll is vacuum-formed to become the cavity and the other for the lidding. The two rolls are filled with a single-serve portion before being sealed using water, heat, and pressure. The roll is cut in the machine direction before the pods move into bulk lined cases and then on to two Formic robotic palletizers.

On the food side, MattPak handles a variety of products including sweeteners, spices, seasoning mixes, instant coffee, hot chocolate, grated cheese, and drink mixes. All products run on horizontal form/fill/seal pouch equipment from either Bartelt, R.A Jones or Cloud, which fill pouches or sachets using either intermittent or continuous motion.

Innovative applications 

Graham shows samples of MattPak’s work on a pod and pouch project for WD-40 Company.Beyond detergent and professional cleaning products, MattPak already packs proteins for health and fitness stores in edible, water-soluble pods. The company is also exploring edible, water-soluble pods for drink mixes.

"We're looking to move into hot cocoa and drink mixes, where you drop a pod in your water bottle instead of tearing a pouch open and pouring," Graham says.

One of MattPak's most notable innovations combines its two fortes in a single package: a pod-within-a-pouch design. MattPak collaborated with Brook + Whittle for the Degreaser and Cleaner from WD-40 Company in a flexible packaging format. The product is packaged in stick pack-like pods that dissolve when mixed with water in any pre-existing bottle sprayer. "You just drop the liquid pod into your sprayer, shake it up, and you're good to go," says Michael McCann, MattPak's inside sales manager. “The pouch and pod combo eliminates the need for full bottles of liquid.”

MattPak also hopes to expand further, venturing into sustainable packaging solutions that use more bio-based materials when the time is right.

Keeping good workers 

Another key to MattPak’s success is its strong company culture. Employees are treated like family, and management—led by co-owners Ted Kunach, Jeff Graham, and Matthew Kunach—fosters open communication and employee development. “They are always walking the floor, talking to employees, and listening to their ideas,” says McCann.

Another key to keeping good workers at MattPak has been an emphasis on promoting from within. “Many of our managers and team leaders started out running lines and working in the plant and now they’re managing operations,” Graham says.

Looking to the future 

The company is undergoing another major expansion: an annex that will run new production lines to meet growing demand. They are also expanding stand-up pouches with zipper capability.

MattPak will also venture into an ESG social audit for the first time next year. “It’s the next thing coming, and our customers want these audits,” says Graham.

Matthew Kunach—the company’s namesake and today its operations manager—looks forward to the future but says there is also a deep sense of pride in the work MattPak is doing today.

“It’s pretty cool walking in here every day and being able to see your name on the door and know that you’ll keep it growing for years to come,” he says.