OUR TEAM

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Eric grew up with a “plastic spoon in his mouth.” He began his career in his step-father’s & Uncle’s plastic cutlery and straw business, Winkler/Flexible, at age 12.

After selling the business to Coca-Cola in 1981, Eric became the disposables buyer for S.E. Rykoff, the preeminent foodservice distributor at the time. He was mentored by Dexter Parriott, an industry icon.

In 1983, Eric co-founded WinCup (a joint venture with Bellaplast) , a PETE extruding and thermoforming cup and container manufacturer servicing the warehouse clubs, foodservice distributors and supermarkets. WinCup was the first thermoformer in the United States to thermoform in-line. His primary responsibilities included start-up operations, plant management, cost control, production, sales and marketing.  He was the first cup supplier to Costco and Price Club and many other notable club stores.

After selling WinCup to Scott Paper in 1987, Eric moved up within Scott’s management organization with national responsibility for foodservice disposables...plastic and foam cups, napkins, healthcare products, and Hoffmaster's party goods line which Scott had recently acquired. Scott Paper acquired WinCup to gain their access and expertise into the growing club store business and Eric was part of the three person team that pioneered a $700MM sales category for Scott Paper within the club store channel.

In 1990, Eric, along with his Step-Father, Paul, and Uncle Morris (Moe) co-founded Winkler Forming aka WFI. WFI became a leading thermoformer of PETE food containers for bakery, confection and fresh foods along as well as paint sundries. The Winkler’s went on to sell the company a few years later.

Next, Eric entered two ventures simultaneously:

Eric and his family co-founded PWP (Paul Winkler Plastics), a leading thermoforming company which years  later sold to Pactiv.

Concurrently, along with a partner who was VP of Sweetheart Cup, Eric started a foodservice disposables and packaging manufacturers’ rep business, West Pac Sales. They built a $175,000,000 brokerage business servicing leading agricultural, food,  HABA, medical, bakery, beverage and retail customers. West Pac Sales consistently provided double digit growth for their principals. Over several years Eric evolved from a manufacturer’s focus to a global customer centered packaging business driven from multiple value-added packaging technologies. 

This experience ideally positioned Eric as an authority across a multitude of advanced packaging technologies for foodservice, food processors, agriculture, beverage, bakery, medical, health and beauty aids, and industrial applications.

Eric left West Pac Sales and in 2002, along with the former President of Scott Paper Company co-founded Packaging Resources, a company that provides packaging solutions for HABA, Electronics, Medical and Retail and Foodservice Operators and their packers/processors by understanding and translating consumer needs to packaging requirements, evaluating and recommending the optimal cost/performance materials and supporting/assisting in the design and development of optimal packaging with preeminent manufacturers.  He became international authority and packaging consultant to some of the worlds top retailers earning numerous accolades and awards for his work in food and retail packaging.

Today, Eric is Board Member of the Institute of Packaging Professionals and is a active member of many industry trade associations.

Outside of his packaging career,  Eric also founded U.S. Restaurant Consultants in 1989 and US Delivery Consultants in 2017.

Eric has also been designing, remodeling and building homes and commercial spaces for a lifetime.  He considers a home the "ultimate package" and has utilized all his packaging design experience and acumen to design some great spaces.