TricorBraun WinePak, North America's leading wine bottle distributor, has hired Derek Payne as a Packaging Consultant, according to Andrew Bottene, Senior Vice President at TricorBraun WinePak.

"Derek has tremendous experience in packaging sales," said Bottene. "He is a strong addition and will be focused on the British Columbia interior wine industry."

Prior to joining TricorBraun WinePak, Payne spent nearly 14 years at Universal Packaging: seven of those as Canadian Sales Manager. He has 25 years of experience in the packaging industry, with 11 of those in food and beverage, and chemical plastics. Payne also has 14 years of experience in the specialized field of container screen printing.

"During the past 25 years, I've been fortunate to work with — and learn from — some really great professionals in this industry," said Payne. "I'm excited to expand my experience and help drive new growth for TricorBraun WinePak."

"Our goal is to provide expertise on the full-spectrum of wine packaging issues, not just the bottle," said Bottene. "Acquiring expert talent like Derek's ensures that's exactly what customers are provided."

TricorBraun WinePak has sales of more than $150 million and its Fairfield, California, facility features more than 360,000 square feet of warehouse space and a $2-million auto repacking system. The company has additional warehousing space throughout the major wine growing regions in America and Canada.

TricorBraun WinePak is the largest wine bottle distributor in North America and a subsidiary of TricorBraun. With more than 115 years of experience, TricorBraun is one of the world's leading suppliers of bottles, jars and other rigid packaging components with annual sales approaching $1 billion and more than 41 locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia and Europe.