New beginnings: Recopak founder Bill Dopper and his son Luke celebrate the official opening of Recopak’s new factory premises.
Photo by
Gabriel Garcia
Thursday, June 29 was a day to celebrate for the Dopper family.
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The family, which founded the manufacturing company Recopak in 1986, celebrated the official opening of the business’s new premises at 18 Schubert St, Cobram.
The company specialises in the manufacturing of packing machinery, which is then installed in factories across the country.
Family patriarch Bill Dopper could not be prouder of how far the family and company have come.
“After many years of holidaying in Cobram, waterskiing on the Murray River, my wife, Debbie, and I along with our two sons decided to move to the area in 1986, 37 years ago, and established Recopak Machinery,” he said.
The company began by reconditioning second-hand case packers and carton sealers at the site of the now Triple Bean Cáfe in Katamatite.
In 1990 the factory and family moved to Cobram and set up business in Cobram East.
The ’90s saw the company reach a major milestone.
“In 1995 we designed and manufactured our first case packer for a dairy factory in Western Australia ... we have now manufactured more than 150 of these semi-automatic case packers,” Mr Dopper said.
Shiny and new: The new facility was built as the old premises could no longer meet demand.
Photo by
Gabriel Garcia
In 2004 the company moved to 4 Schubert St, before moving to an even larger site, and its current premises, at 18 Schubert St, due to an increase in production.
Though Repopak moved to its current location in 2021, it is only now that the factory is fully finished.
The company proudly boasts that 90 per cent of the machines and components are manufactured in-house, and with new equipment acquisitions, that percentage is set to rise even further.
The company employs 30 full-time staff, with many being long-time employees with 10 to 20 years under their belt.
The June 29 celebrations, which were attended by workers, families and clients, not only marked the factory’s completion, but provided Mr Dopper and his family with the ideal opportunity to thank those who had made Recopak the thriving business it is today.
“We owe our success to our passionate and skilled team, many of who have been with us for more than 20 years … in fact, our current employees have more than 300 years of collective experience in the packaging industry,” Mr Dopper said.
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