Gulf Coast Plastics

A family-owned and operated company, Gulf Coast Plastics is a multi-generational organization with a history that spans nearly 40 years.

A subsidiary of Dairy-Mix, Inc., our story began in 1948 when our founder, Anthony Coryn, purchased a local ice cream mix plant in St. Petersburg, Fla. Over the years, Dairy-Mix experienced extraordinary growth and in 1976 Mr. Coryn purchased the assets of Gulf Coast Plastics Corp., a small company manufacturing plain poly bags primarily for the ornamental fish industry.

With two of Mr. Coryn’s son’s already learning the family business at Dairy-Mix, he looked to his youngest son, Tom, to take over the management and operations of Gulf Coast Plastics in the small town of Gibsonton, Fla. With this, Gulf Coast Plastics was formed.

Over the years, Gulf Coast Plastics has experienced growth similar to that of its parent company. This began in 1982, when the organization expanded its operations and purchased its first flexographic printing press to provide customers with simple designs on their bags. In 1987, this customization grew with the installation of a 6-color flexographic printing press, which provided customers with more a more complex, multi-color printing process. At the same time, the organization installed the first machine that allowed them to produce poly sleeve bottle labels.

By 1993, Gulf Coast Plastics had outgrown its existing facility and began construction on a new facility at its current location in Tampa. Since then, the organization has installed a number of machines that have enhanced its printing capabilities and capacity, including two 8-color printing presses, a laminator and a number of additional bag making machines.

With this growth has also come the addition of a third-generation to the family business by way of Tom’s son, Dan.

Today, father and son work closely to ensure that the vision that Anthony Coryn once had for Gulf Coast Plastics remains intact and the commitment to quality that was so necessary for the first bags, which provided safe transport for live tropical fish, is upheld.