Our Mission:
"Quality is giving our customers exactly what they need, exactly when they need it. Our quality promise must be fulfilled 100% of the time. We must stay focused on each order, no matter how small, or how large, or how complicated.
Lastly - Never Stand Still!"
Tree Brand is a family-owned manufacturer of custom pallets, skids and crates operating from 6 facilities in 4 states throughout the Southeast.
Our primary lines of business are: Custom Pallets & Skids; Custom Crates & Boxes; Specialty Packaging; Packaging Procurement Solutions; and Value-Added Packaging Services.
The Tree Brand team is proud to leverage over 30 years of packaging experience to design and deliver the most cost-effective, performance-based distribution packaging solutions possible for our expanding range of industrial clients.
Look to Tree Brand to precisely execute your packaging specifications, provide alternative and cost-saving options, or design new packaging that will assure product safety through your supply chain.
We’re here to be your “full-service” source for custom packaging!
The Tree Brand Packaging Leadership Team (L to R):
Jeff Hooper [VP of Manufacturing], Victor Yang [CFO],
Chris Helms [President], Al Helms [Founder], Mike Helms [VP]
A HISTORY OF HARD WORK
Tree Brand Packaging was founded in 1990 by Al Helms, a recently retired plant manager for a major steel company. Al seized the opportunity to address a chronic problem for industrial companies––sourcing “consistent quality” and “world-class service” from pallet and packaging providers.
Starting small from a rented building located in the Charlotte, NC area, Al began to build the custom production process that still forms the backbone of Tree Brand’s manufacturing strength. Meeting unmet demand in the marketplace, the company grew quickly, and by 1992, the first building at the current company was purchased.
In 1990, Al’s son, Mike Helms, joined the company. Mike brought four years of steel industry experience to the job, and valuable foundation for both technical sales and logistics services.
In 1991, Chris Helms joined the company after graduating from NC State and leaving his job in the criminal justice and public safety field and brought his skillset in personnel management and team-building to Tree Brand.
With a jumpstart into a market that Al Helms knew intimately, the initial focus for Tree Brand was the steel industry, which today still accounts for 40% of Tree Brand’s business. The company then branched out to serve other industrial and high-tech markets.
In 2018, Victor Yang joined the company as CFO, bringing a strong financial background from his prior role as managing partner of a global investment management firm.
By 2023, Tree Brand had grown to 6 locations in Denver NC (2), Newton NC, Holly Hill SC, Ranburne AL, South Pittsburg TN with over 250,000 sq. ft. of custom manufacturing space supported by significant investment in state-of-the-art automated pallet production equipment.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
We are always looking at ways to be better.
One of the ways we are doing this is by investing in The Packaging School’s Automotive Packaging Certificate.
It’s the first and only 100% online academic program that enables you to develop the professional skill set you need to be successful in the automotive packaging field.
Several of our staff have completed this program, and more will follow suit.
We’ve even collaborated with The Packaging School as subject matter experts in this program to help students understand the unique roles of Tier 1s, OEMs, and packaging suppliers.
WE'RE COMMITTED TO BEING SUSTAINABLE
Air Burners Technology
Tree Brand utilizes new technology to dispose of wood waste and pallets that cannot be repaired. In 2023, we installed our first Air Curtain Burner, which was designed principally as a pollution control device for open burning. The primary objective of an air curtain machine is to reduce the particulate matter, or smoke, which results from burning clean wood waste. Using a technology called “air curtain,” the smoke particles are trapped and reburned, reducing them to an acceptable limit per U.S. EPA guidelines.
Tree Brand Packaging has always relied on sustainable business practices from our first production model, a process that stressed “conserving material for reuse in other packaging products.” Wringing waste out of operations and passing the cost savings on to our customers is our prime economic motivation. As the TBP team works with our customers to design or redesign packaging for optimal performance, reducing waste and increasing cost-efficiency are critical criteria.
From an operational standpoint, Tree Brand has a full-circle integrated waste strategy for all materials that we utilize. At our headquarters facility in Charlotte, an energy-efficient Cresswood “Destroyer” HF-60 Single-Shaft, Low-RPM Wood Grinder processes blocks, end trims, and reject material from cut-up lines down to the uniform particle size required by our secondary markets. We can consistently move the material from all of our grinding operations to mulch markets or sell it as biomass energy feedstock.
Tree Brand diverts packaging waste from landfills with our dedicated Air Curtain Burner as well as pallet recovery and recycling operations. We are also prepared to work with you to implement your sustainability initiatives.
