Creating Customers and Building Friendships
Packaging Consultants Associated, Inc. has been in business in South Jersey for over 50 years and continues to operate under the approach of gaining customers through building friendships.
Packaging is a vital aspect of many businesses, necessary to keep products safe and sanitary to get them from the location of the company to the customer, particularly important for items like food.
One of the area’s most innovative providers of packaging, equipment and maintenance for equipment is Packaging Consultants Associated, Inc. (PCA), initially founded by Joseph Morgan in March 1976.
Beginning his career working in a paper house, Morgan became intrigued by the work others were doing with shrink in the back of the business, wanting to explore more in that area. The paper house was not interested in expanding their business in that capacity, so Morgan and the company parted ways, leading to PCA’s founding.
As an early player in the industry, Morgan was involved in the development of several different packaging techniques, including skin and shrink packaging.
The business is currently run by Morgan’s daughter Robin Khasse, who has been involved with PCA since 1988, and his grandson Kulmye Khasse, who joined the company in 2009.
Kulmye Khasse explains that while his grandfather was selling manual health sealers to grocery stores, he noticed that they kept having food spoil before it could be sold and an idea was born.
“He wanted to market a way to keep food [fresh] and sell it as a packet for soup or a dinner kit that night. So he originally started selling the grocery stores machines called mini packs, and they’re self contained wrapping units. If you’ve ever been to the grocery store and you see something that’s wrapped in plastic wrap, all nice and tight, that’s what he started. And it kind of took off to the point where he started his own company,” says Khasse.
Morgan ran the company always wanting to do right by his customers, providing the materials and supplies needed for packaging, new and used equipment for packaging, and offering service on the equipment for their customers operating throughout the South Jersey and Philadelphia area.
“We have maintained this business for 50 years with the idea that we were going to be part of other people’s companies. They’ll call us if anything’s wrong with their equipment and we actually come out and service it for free. We’ve got a lifetime commitment to them,” says Dan Daily, service manager for PCA.
The company aims to treat its customers with the respect given to a friend, priding themselves on knowledge and industry expertise, as well as their responsiveness and quality of service, emphasizing the skill level of their service technicians.
For PCA, going above and beyond for their customers doesn’t just mean providing quality service but also eating costs when manufacturers unnecessarily raise prices. When Sealed Air Cryovac increased costs on protective packaging and shrink wrap in early March, since no other manufacturer was raising prices on the product at the time, PCA decided to absorb the hike, doing this for the second time in their history.
“We really try to be value-added to our clients. … We know that it’s a lot easier for these companies to one place that’s local instead of having to source out all these different products and materials. … We’re constantly there for our customers. Most of the time, we’re just a phone call away,” says Khasse.
Since their start 50 years ago, PCA has anchored its operations in Pennsauken, and though Morgan passed away in 2010, his dream of building a sustainable business that would last generations has been realized. The company continues to evolve and strives to expand into new areas, while continuing to build upon its client-first approach.
“My grandpa really was the type of person where they weren’t just his customers, they were his friends. When he passed away… a lot of people came [to the funeral], and a lot of them were former clients, existing clients and people he had done business with. Even to this day, I still get people saying, ‘Oh, I knew your grandpa.’ He was an amazing person,” says Khasse.
Packaging Consultants Associated, Inc.
Pennsauken
(856) 488-0277
