Nick Novy is busy thinking about Korpack's next move. The company he founded in 2015 has been feeling the kind of growing pains most entrepreneurs could only dream of.
A few weeks back, Bloomingdale, Ill.-based Korpack was running out of room, with thousands of square feet of product crowding the floor. "We had forklifts doing snake patterns just to get around product and some pallets were getting hit," says Novy. "I knew if we didn't do something, quality would suffer, so we pivoted pretty quickly and found warehouse space down the street."
Today, Novy is focused on a product launch while keeping his existing brand clients happy, too. "The customer doesn't want to hear about problems. They just want to hit that button that makes things easy, and I think that's what we do for them."
An engineer's approach
Korpack's 145,000-square-foot facility, located just west of Chicago's O'Hare Airport, illustrates how a fast-growing, mid-sized contract packaging company can scale and evolve by leveraging the core strengths of its team.
"Korpack really began as a packaging materials supplier, handling design, manufacturing, and warehousing through third parties," explains Novy, who earned a degree in packaging science from Michigan State University.
Korpack’s 145,000-square-foot facility is located west of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.KorpackAfter beginning his career at Uline, Novy spent 13 years at a smaller packaging distributor, rising to vice president of sales. Viewing the market from his packaging engineering lens, he saw that engineering support for CPGs was lacking.
"Very few packaging engineers go into sales, and I didn't see anyone else providing strong support on the packaging engineering side," says Novy. "So it felt like there was something missing in the marketplace."
Korpack's rapid expansion
It's been quite a journey for a company that began as a one-man operation selling boxes and tape. Within just 10 months of its founding, Korpack had outgrown its original 18,000-square-foot space.
In just a decade, the company has built its reputation on problem-solving and adapting quickly to growth. Today, with 55 full-time employees and up to 250 temporary workers on two shifts, Korpack serves brands ranging from startups to large CPGs, offering packaging materials, contract packaging and kitting services, machinery sales, and even systems integration services. The company also uses 65,000 additional square feet in Carol Stream, Ill., for warehousing.
Korpack's venture into packaging machinery distribution began in 2017, followed two years later by co-packing work. Later in 2023, contract packaging work took off with anchor customers. That same year, Korpack added line automation and systems integration services for CPGs to its portfolio.
"We're aiming to be a full-service provider for everything in the packaging world," says Novy.
Custom is king
Korpack's one-stop shop approach is marked by an emphasis on custom solutions for its brand partners. Novy reports that Korpack adds value by building digital tools for customers including real-time data portals and dashboards, turnkey inventory and output reports, shipping and receiving visibility resources, and more.
With a focus on speed to market, Korpack has a 30-step onboarding process managed using project management software to move end-of-line packages from prototype to production in a week, combining supply chain planning, design work, and flexible manufacturing partnerships.
"If Costco wants a brand to prototype something in seven days and get finished goods in four weeks, we can make it happen," Novy says.
Strategic partnerships
Since 2023, Korpack has been a proud partner of Chomps, the brand of sugar-free, gluten-free high protein meat sticks.
The co-packing workflow involves manual counting and inspection, with workers placing pre-wrapped sticks into pouches.
On the day Contract Manufacturing and Packaging toured the facility, Korpack had just plugged in its new cartoner from IPG's Tishma Technologies brand.
Workers fire up Korpack’s new cartoning machine.Joseph Derr"We have a strong partnership with IPG, both on the material and machinery sides," says Novy. "IPG offers some really nice sustainable products, making the partnership especially valuable."
Korpack plans to automate their meat stick operation with bowl feeders and automatic premade pouching equipment.
After pouches pass through continuous band sealers from Florida-based QuantumPak, packs are inkjet coded with technology from Videojet Technologies and Markem-Imaje before being packed into cases and sealed with equipment from IPG. Products are then case coded with print-and-apply labels.
For end-of-line pack out, checkweighed cartons are loaded onto pallets that are later stretch wrapped automatically by Robopac equipment. Currently, case packing is done manually, but Novy's team is exploring automation options.
Black Rifle Coffee launch
Korpack came to the rescue for Black Rifle Coffee's launch of canned coffee drinks and energy beverages in slim cases for Costco. On the day of our visit, Korpack workers were repacking four-packs into 12-pack cartons. It's all about flexible delivery for brands. The Black Rifle team sees Korpack as a strategic partner that will help scale their operation and support their growth, Novy says.
"We have to build inventory ahead of time," says Novy. "Each retailer wants a custom pack-out."
To further boost its beverage multipacking efficiency, Korpack will soon add a variety pack cartoner.
Pivots and solves
Many of Korpack's best long-term relationships began with a rush job.
Seven years ago, Vital Proteins was outgrowing their supplier and had just landed a Costco contract. The partnership began with packaging materials and led to machinery integration, with Korpack outfitting Vital Proteins' Franklin Park facility with a wraparound case packer, robotic palletizer, automatic stretch wrapper, and pallet labelers.
When Vital Proteins—now owned by Nestlé—switched from plastic bottles to sustainable paper canisters, Korpack helped redesign their display cases and managed the complex transition.
The foundation of Korpack's rapid growth lies in understanding what major retailers truly need. Empty shelves mean lost revenue for their CPG customers, says Novy.
Workers re-pack work-in-progress pouches of Chomps.Joseph Derr"Everybody wants to get in the door with retailers like Costco, Sam's Club, and Walmart," says Novy. "But the retailers' biggest concern isn't whether your product is good enough—it's really, can you keep up with our volume."
This understanding has led to partnerships like Black Rifle Coffee's launch of canned beverages in custom configurations, where Korpack flexibly handled the re-packing requirements each retailer demands.
Meeting operational challenges
Contract packaging presents unique operational challenges, particularly managing workforce fluctuations and maintaining lot control, Novy explains.
"One of the biggest challenges is scheduling. You get a core group of workers and you don't want to lose them. If you ask for 200 people one week and then only need 50 the next week, there's potentially 150 people that find another job that second week and you can never get them back."
Korpack addresses this through partnership with a local staffing company that scales up and down as needed while maintaining workforce stability.
Lot control presents another complexity. While co-manufacturers might run three days straight on one lot, Korpack switches lots two or three times per shift per line, using comprehensive ERP systems and GS-1 barcodes to track part numbers, lot numbers, expiration dates, and quantities.
Quality focus
For Novy, quality is everything; Korpack's quality team grew from one person to five just in the past year.
"That's what we stand behind, that's our name, our brand," he says. "I would spare no cost to make sure that we're outputting a quality product."
2023 was a year of major milestones for Korpack's entry into end-of-line co-packing, the year it received its SQF certification and became a USDA-approved facility.
What's next
Modern contract packaging increasingly revolves around real-time information, and Korpack sees its digital solutions as just the beginning. The company is also exploring 24-hour operations, geographic expansion, strategic acquisitions, and possible new facilities in other regions of the U.S., while maintaining its commitment to quality.
"The traditional 'I'll get back to you later this week' responses no longer suffice," says Novy. "That's why Chomps came to us—they weren't getting that real-time data that they needed."
Could Korpack eventually grow into a co-man/co-pack operation? Many brands already approach the company thinking they are.
"A lot of companies come to us thinking we're a co-man—and not to say that we won't be there eventually—but if we have the right partner, there are endless opportunities," says Steve Dickman, director of contract packaging for Korpack, speaking from 20 years of experience in co-packing operations.
As Korpack grows, Novy is confident the dedicated team that built the company will continue to "disrupt packaging with speed, technology and trust" wherever they go, with a simple promise.
"At Korpack, we've got your data, we've got your product, and we're getting it out when we said we were going to."
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Korpack’s 145,000-square-foot facility is located west of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.Korpack
