Testimony by Benoît Ramet, sales manager for the subsidiary Elemental Container.
Can you tell us about yourself and your job for Tournaire in the USA?
Hi, I’ve been working for Tournaire for 20 years. More precisely for our American subsidiary where I’m in charge of marketing and sales development for North America.
In the United States we go by the name of Elemental Container. We act as distributors/agents from our warehouse in New Jersey. Our task is to offer service close at hand, to be attentive to what our clients and prospects say and enable them to benefit from Tournaire’s expertise. We also have to gather information in the field and pass it on to the parent company to be used to develop products for tomorrow.
What are the specific features of the American market for packaging?
As regards industrial packaging I would describe the American market as “conservative”. Our job is to make our industrial aluminum bottles better known and explain how they can overcome many problems, particularly for sensitive and hazardous materials.
Distribution plays an important role in the American market, even for quite large volumes. The notion of service is very important. To give you an example, we have a certain number of clients for whom we repackage each bottle in UN boxes.
What client needs do you respond to most often?
I would say speed. On one hand in product delivery and on the other hand in answering queries and providing various documents. The distributor’s job is to offer service. This is what we are there for: making things easier for our clients. We are the intermediary between the manufacturer who needs to produce in optimal conditions, and the final client who needs flexibility.
What are your most typical markets?
The first is that for essential oils and flavorings, which need perfectly hermetic packaging to contain odors and protect the products from light which tends to break them down. I could also mention the market for laboratory solvents that, among other things, need high-performance closure systems to seal in these often-volatile products.
Finally I would take the example of automobile primers that harden on contact with water and need high-performance packaging to exclude humidity and maintain their integrity.
What are Tournaire’s specific assets in this market?
Tournaire distinguishes itself in the North American market thanks to the physical presence provided by Elemental Container. That allows us on one hand to offer high-quality service with very short lead times and on the other hand to make all the Tournaire ranges available so as to respond in the best possible way to all the specific needs of our clients.
General-purpose distributors tend to be opportunistic and sell what they have in stock, whereas we take a much more long-term view with particular attention to understanding our clients’ markets, which enables us to propose the most appropriate solution.
How do you see the future for the packaging market in the USA?
If we reason in volume terms, the current economic context in the United States allows us to be optimistic. If we talk about the market for industrial packaging – our market – I don’t expect any major changes in the short term. On the other hand I believe that the increasing need we have to ensure the recycling of all types of packaging should benefit aluminum which, let’s remember, can be recycled indefinitely.
Benoît Ramet, Sales manager
