Polybol and Minipak: technological progress and Colombian exports with added value | Más Colombia
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Polybol and Minipak: technological progress and Colombian exports with added value

The added value of Polybol and Minipak goes beyond their recognition for packaging such traditional products as Bon bon bum. This is what the production leaders told us as we toured their factories.
Polybol and Minipak

Polybol and Minipak are two companies specialized in packaging, known for being responsible for manufacturing the wrappers for products such as Choco Break chocolates, Lokiño candies, Chao mints and the traditional Bon bon bum. They are, without a doubt, an example of the importance of creating added value in Colombia.

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With around 640 workers, modern facilities, growing exports and state-of-the-art technology, Polybol and Minipak represent an important effort that has contributed to national development for decades.

Its products are mainly flexible packaging, plastic bags for packaging industrial products and packaging solutions. In addition, they work in the production and distribution of thermoplastic films, packaging bags and wrapping in all forms and types.

We spoke with Orlando Insignares, vice president of production at Polybol; Mauricio Bernal, production manager at Polybol; and Óscar Palacios, technical manager at Minipak.

They introduced us to the facilities, the production process and the general characteristics of the companies.

Technological progress marked the history of Polybol and Minipak

The roots of these two companies are linked to the growth of the petrochemical industry in the country. Their production is aimed at packaging for food and industrial products, whether packaging that is in direct contact with the products or those that cover them.


The origin and development of Polybol and Minipak are related to the Sanford Colombia group and, in the 1990s, to the tradition of companies such as Polymer, Petroquímica Colombiana and Propilco.

Polymer is a company that belonged to a U.S. industrial group. An important part of its production was focused on supplying bags for PVC and polypropylene resin packaging.

From the beginning, Polymer and Minipak were active in exporting, with the Venezuelan and U.S. markets playing a special role due to their ease of access and proximity.

Business leaders such as Alberto Furmanski, leader of the two companies, and Rodolfo Gedeon, who led the beginnings of Polybol, among others, played an important role in their construction and strengthening.

Its products, which have been diversifying, include packaging for food products such as confectionery and snacks, polypropylene and polyethylene films, bags for industrial packaging, bags for the agrochemical sector, resins, pigments and food products.

Its technology is based on the latest advances in rotogravure and flexographic printing processes in addition to downstream processes such as solvent and solventless lamination.

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Increasing their export capacity

Although they compete in the domestic market with several companies in the same industry, there are several product niches in which they have a broad, significant and majority share.

Their growth in the last 10 years is mainly due to exports to the United States, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Canada.

Although the Free Trade Agreement with the United States eliminates tariffs, lowering costs, the products exported are competitive and comply with regulations and technical standards, even taking into account drug trafficking controls.

This does not mean that Polybol and Minipak disdain the domestic market, which requires continuous improvements and versatility in the production and supply of an entire portfolio of products.

PVC resin, used by Minipak, and polyethylene resin, used by Polybol, are imported mainly from the United States, but raw materials are also imported from other countries such as India and Europe to a lesser extent.

Polypropylene is partially domestic, so 80% of it is imported because Ecopetrol does not produce it with the required technology and the Cartagena refinery cannot meet domestic needs.

The production capacity of Colombian refineries, economies of scale and technology do not allow them to compete with large U.S. companies, and although much of the manufacturing production does not depend on domestic oil-derived inputs, oil production is essential for the country.


Polybol’s presence in Cartagena is due to historical reasons, since the natural market was in the Atlantic Coast region, close to the Venezuelan market and a port that facilitated trade with the U.S. market. At that time, at its inception, there were industrial chains in the area and greater access to technology.

Today, human resources are not easy to transfer to another country that does not have the skilled labor required.

The Andean market is important and offers tariff preferences that can be used, but the Brazilian market, which maintains significant trade barriers, would be of great importance.

Polybol and Minipak have state-of-the-art technology that they are constantly renewing and that would allow the development of economies of scale to reach wider markets.

The recent tax on plastics, despite its exceptions, can mean cost overruns of 20% or 30% on the final product, which is passed on to the domestic consumer, but in exports it cannot be passed on because competition in foreign markets is unequal since these are companies that do not have this type of tax.

Finally, the leaders of Polybol and Minipak told us that the companies have a personnel training plan to professionalize them in industrial engineering.

They also emphasized that Polybol and Minipak workers have job stability, adequate safety conditions, and decent wages.


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