“Aluminium is a great distributor and conductor of heat. These are properties that make it an exceptional substrate for cooking and baking,” Coppice Alupack Ltd

Leon Elston – Managing Director, Coppice Alupack Ltd

Leon Elston, Managing Director of Coppice, has been with the company for over 11 years. He holds an MBA from the University of Glamorgan and is leading the foil packaging brand to success.

Derek Nixon – Senior Director of Strategy and Business Development, Coppice Alupack Ltd 

Derek Nixon is the Senior Director of Strategy and Business Development at Coppice. He has extensive experience in managing international and national retail concepts, branded supply, and manufacturing. His expertise lies in business control, growth strategies, organisation restructuring, and project/program management. Derek has led large transformational and growth teams in both developing and operational environments, working with traditional and digital revenue streams. He is skilled in developing strategies for business growth and transformation, utilising both Agile and traditional organisational structures.

AL Circle: Can you give a brief overview of Coppice's operations?

Coppice: Coppice is an international supplier of foil packaging to the food manufacturing, processing and baking industries as well as the wholesale, institutional catering and non-food markets. We are market leaders in sustainable packaging solutions. With over 52 years in packaging and product development, recognised across multiple industry organisations, providing innovative, creative, and cost-effective design solutions.

Operating from a purpose-built 120,000-square-foot manufacturing site with global warehousing facilities, the company boasts the largest press and tool bank in Europe and has the capacity to produce close to 3.5 billion units a year.

AL Circle: Have you observed any shifts in consumer behaviour or preferences towards sustainable packaging solutions, such as aluminium?

Coppice: As the world in general and our customer base are navigating its journey toward NET zero, there is a more conscious view of the impact packaging choices have. With this backdrop, we have seen a large shift both domestically and internationally in New Product development projects; we are being asked to investigate Aluminium solutions for markets and concepts that would not be traditionally aluminium-based. The inherent properties of aluminium and its infinite recyclability are a big part of this journey. Where other substrates need to have more virgin material added each time it's recycled to keep its form, aluminium doesn't have that barrier, as it keeps its properties throughout that recycling journey.

At Coppice we have a large focus on NPD, and welcome all our customers new, old, and still to found, to talk to us about opportunities where aluminium can solve a problem for them and their customers.

AL Circle: Are there any recent developments or upcoming products in the aluminium packaging segment that Coppice is particularly excited about?

Coppice: Aluminium is a great distributor and conductor of heat. These are properties that make it an exceptional substrate for cooking and baking. With a trend towards Air fryers, Coppice has developed and patented a very unique product that gives enhanced cooking features for the new Air fryer cooking trends. We are always listening to our customers, who are telling us what the end customer is asking for, and so we are quick to adapt and look to bring products to the market to support.

AL Circle: What initiatives has Coppice undertaken to promote recyclability and reduce waste in the supply chain?

Coppice: Coppice has recently designed and implemented a market-leading defect detection system, developed in-house using motion sensor technology to detect microscopic defects. This industry-leading technology improves the sustainability of the production process through waste reduction and efficiency improvements while guaranteeing a defect-free product to the customer.

Waste optimisation is the foundation of our production process; nevertheless, there is natural waste from the production process. All our process waste is condensed and sold back to our aluminium suppliers, ensuring we contribute to maintaining the fact that nearly 90% of the aluminium consumed in the UK is recycled within Europe.

We actively promote aluminium's recyclability benefits. Coppice is a member of Alupro, an industry-funded NFPO representing the leading aluminium packaging producers and re-processors in the UK. Alupro's purpose is to increase aluminium recycling rates by engaging with government bodies to promote understanding of the material.

AL Circle: Has Coppice encountered any challenges or opportunities in sourcing aluminium for packaging purposes?

Coppice: A key challenge arose from Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to a global shortage of aluminium. As a result, China stepped up its aluminium exports in an attempt to rebalance this global supply. However, faced with rising shipping costs and logistical capacity challenges, many aluminium importers looked towards Europe for their requirements, resulting in capacity shortages within European supply.

Coppice has long-standing relationships with its principal European foil suppliers. Excellent customer service is integral to our core values, and this is echoed by our chosen suppliers. We view our suppliers as partners and extended members of the Coppice family. This ensures continuity of supply during even the most challenging times.

In an effort to increase the supply chain and limit exposure to regional shortages, we've spent years testing and developing additional global suppliers to broaden our reach. We partnered with emerging markets and suppliers, taking a collaborative approach to alloy developments. As a result, we were able to source aluminium from all continents and ensure that our quality and specifications were consistent across all suppliers, helping us to navigate through this specific challenge.

AL Circle: How does Coppice engage with customers to understand their specific packaging requirements and preferences?

Coppice: We have an exceptional team of internal sales executives and national account managers who constantly dialogue with our customers, listening to their feedback and challenges. We have recently invested in our team, supporting them internally with growth opportunities and expanding our team with new members who bring fresh ideas. We always want to create an environment where our teams have time to listen and work on solutions with our customers.

We also welcome all our customers to interact with our Business development, NPD, and design teams to find a new creative solution to a challenge the consumer might be facing.

AL Circle: Where do you see the demand for aluminium packaging headed in the coming years, both domestically and internationally?

Coppice: The market is expanding rapidly internationally, whilst we are also seeing growth domestically. Our customers have valued our investments, which we have made to benefit both them and the consumer. This is being recognised by new customers internationally, who have come to appreciate the value of good service and good quality delivered by a business with a commitment to looking forward. Coppice has invested in new warehousing space to support demand and customers' needs for supply continuity, we've invested in new ERP systems to improve efficiencies, and we have invested in industry-leading automation tools whilst also investing heavily in our team.