By Riley Kaminer
The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is likely the only vertical that touches the lives of all of us on a daily basis. Encompassing the food and beverage, alcohol, household, and beauty and personal care markets, this behemoth of a sector weighs in at $5.3 trillion in annual sales.
The problem? The CPG deck is stacked in large companies’ favor. Research from Kearny consultants suggests that the top half of firms will capture the lion’s share of the CPG market’s 5.6% projected annual growth rate.
But one Miami-based company is working to help challenger firms make a name for themselves in this competitive space.
Meet Maxpack Machinery, a company that leverages robotics, the industrial internet of things, and automation technologies to design, manufacture, and market cutting-edge packaging machinery.
Founded in 2018, Maxpack now serves hundreds of CPG clients in Miami and beyond. They create the technology that is required to pack almost every product that you find in supermarkets. Their clients tend to be early, growth-stage companies that are on the cusp of hitting it big. Despite their clients’ smaller size, Maxpack prides itself in providing a premium product akin to what midsize or larger CPG clients would have access to.
“We’re changing the game and disrupting the CPG industry,” Sebastian R. Chavarria, Maxpack’s co-founder and director of corporate business development, told Refresh Miami. “Our core concept is to empower CPG entrepreneurs and democratize industrial automation.”
The aspect of democratization is critical, because smaller CPG firms typically are locked out from accessing the best in manufacturing technology. Maxpack’s offering gives them equal footing at an accessible price. They have five models that are sold in preset bundles. The systems are completely turnkey, but also allow for some customizations – and a wide range of packaging types.
Another key feature of Maxpack’s systems is that they have remote access capabilities and can be connected to cloud services. This would enable an ambitious data-driven CPG company to run AI analyses on their production data, for example.
In August, Maxpack launched Leap, a Buy Now, Pay Later payment option. That lets companies pay for their machinery over time.
“Usually you have to pay upfront, or even a few months in advance,” said Chavarria. “Then you don’t have cash for growth. Or you need to get equipment financing, which in many cases requires personal guarantees – multiplying the risk.”
With Leap, companies pay 15% up front and then pay the remainder over the following 18 months. Maxpack does not charge any interest during that period. Nor does it require personal guarantees.
Overall, Maxpack has around 30 full-time employees, with plans to continue to grow.
In 2014, Chavarria joined Miami tech investment group Rokk3r, eventually rising the ranks to partner. For Chavarria, who has been in Miami since his time studying at FIU, the Miami tech scene has changed significantly – and positively. “Now it’s so dynamic,” he said. “It’s a completely different ecosystem.”
This story was updated to correct the upfront Leap payment to 15%.
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