Company Milestones
Our History in Packaging
1963
Crawford Packaging was established in 1963 as Crawford Packaging Materials Ltd., by Mr. Dick Crawford. Operating from Crawford’s apartment and utilizing warehouse space at Flannagan’s in London. The company came to life in east London.
After a few moves made as the result of growth, in 1978 Crawford expanded their facility to a 20,000 square foot warehouse in London launching an era of growth in the Industrial Packaging Business.
1981
Crawford Packaging was sold to Mr. Clarence Covey.
The company experienced strong growth in the industrial and automotive markets
1990
A period of continuous growth and product line expansion for Crawford Packaging.
Experiencing continuous growth and product line expansion the company once again made a move, this time into a new state-of-the-art facility on Page Street in London.
L & E Paper was acquired. This gave Crawford an operation in Barrie, Ontario and expertise in the food service packaging sector.
2009
Crawford introduced RGD Mape Flow Wrappers to the Canadian market. Backed by expertise from Italy and Spain these flow wrappers quickly became the market standard for flow wrapping produce.
2010
Lions Shipping Supplies was purchased in 2010 increasing the Crawford presence in the GTA market.
2011
Provincial Paper & Packaging was purchased. This again increased GTA presence and changed operational abilities with the addition of a Distribution Centre in Mississauga.
Crawford re-brands to Crawford Provincial.
Star Packaging Equipment was purchased. This provided technical sales expertise and in-house Service Technicians for packaging equipment installations and service.
2013
John Ashby was named President of the Company and Clarence Covey stepped back to take on the role of Executive Chairman.
An external Board of Directors was put in place to guide the company’s continued growth. Clarence Covey, Marty Schieck and John Ashby are shareholders of Crawford.
Indapac was acquired which added to the growing GTA customer list and also provided increased expertise in core packaging product lines.
The company moved into a new Distribution Centre in the GTA. The Brampton facility on Walker Drive boasts a state of the art packaging equipment showroom and demo facility, service shop, conference centre and warehousing facility.
Platinum Award – Sigma Stretch Film, in appreciation for outstanding growth and support.
Trailblazer Award – Balpex, for outstanding continuous growth year over year.
2014
Distribution Centre was opened in Laredo Texas to serve the Produce Packaging Market customers in southern border states and in Mexico.
Dedicated sales professional was hired to service the U.S. and Mexican Produce market.
New equipment line introduced; Sorma, produce packaging specialists. Supply sources were expanded to world class suppliers in England, Israel and China.
The Equipment and Service Division continues to grow in size and capability. The division under the leadership of Marty Schieck completes the design and implementation of its first custom made equipment.
Crawford files its first ever patent to protect its innovation in stretch wrapping.
Distributor of the Year – Wulftec, for #1 in sales in Canada of Wulftec stretch wrappers
Exceptional Performance – Polyair, in appreciation for exceptional growth and support.
Trailblazer Award – Balpex, for continuous growth year over year.
Member of the Year – Balpex, for outstanding member performance, voted by Balpex Industrial Suppliers.
2015
Patented innovation goes into Beta testing in a Fortune 100 company.
New equipment line introduced; Packaging Automation from the U.K.; experts in tray sealing technology.
Arctic Packaging Waterloo was acquired which complements Crawford’s geographic presence. This acquisition is Crawford’s 4th acquisition in six years as part of an aggressive growth plan.
2016
Crawford Provincial re-brands to Crawford Packaging.
Crawford Packaging establishes GrowPack, Crawford’s produce division.
Crawford Packaging welcomes Stuart Jackson, as Vice President of Produce Packaging.
Arctic Packaging becomes Crawford Packaging and adds an office and warehouse location in Waterloo, Ontario.
Crawford Packaging hosts the Packaging Performance Expo.
2016 Member of the Year – Balpex, for outstanding member performance, voted by Balpex Industrial Suppliers.
Best in Sales 2016 – Sealed Air
2017
Crawford London starts construction on new addition to the office space.
Crawford Packaging establishes new strapping equipment partnership with Reisopack.
Crawford Packaging launches new company website.
Crawford Packaging and IPG install the first semi-auto water-activated tape case sealer in Canada
Crawford Packaging upgrades to ISO 9001:2015
2017 Member of the Year – Balpex, for outstanding member performance, voted by Balpex Industrial Suppliers.
2019
Crawford Waterloo moves to a new office in Cambridge.
Crawford opens two new warehouses in Mexico and Georgia.
Crawford launches new Food Processing Pillars.
2019 Member of the Year – Balpex, Industrial Category
2020
Crawford begins construction of new facility in Essex, ON.
Doug Crowe becomes Regional Sales Manager.
Crawford acquires Summit Paper & Packaging Ltd.
2020 Member of the Year – Balpex, Industrial Category
Canadian Distributor of the Year – Wulftec
Distributor of the Year, Eastern Canada & Northeast USA – Loveshaw
2021
Crawford Packaging is a 2021 Winner of Canada’s Best Managed Companies
Nominated for Balpex’s 2021 Member of the year
Crawford Packaging launched the latest in top seal technology
Canadian Distributor of the Year – Wulftec
2021 Highest Growth; Industrial Category – Balpex
2021 Highest Growth; Overall – Balpex
2022
Crawford Packaging opened a branch in Queretaro, Mexico
Crawford Packaging updated our tagline to ‘Enhancing your business performance’
Crawford Packaging is a 2022 Winner of Canada’s Best Managed Companies