O.Berk Company - 3 Milltown Ct., Union NJ
Beauty and Personal Care
Our complete end-to-end packaging solutions are designed to keep pace with your schedule and product specifications.
Pharmaceutical and Healthcare
Industry knowledge, experience and product selection are what sets us apart as innovative leaders.
Food and Beverage
You’ll find a solution to virtually every consumer packaging need at O.Berk
Industrial and Household
Complete container solutions for products used in commercial environments or around the home.

Management Team

The O.Berk Company’s stability and its longstanding relationships with its customers and vendors are due in no small part to the strength and continuity of its management. Norbert Gaelen, who recently retired as Chairman, joined the firm in 1947 in a step he described as “temporarily helping out his father and uncle with the family business.” His son, Marc, who represents the fourth generation of family ownership, succeeded him. When Norbert retired in 2002, his management team had grown the company into the leading, full-service supplier of glass and plastic containers and closures and the largest organization of its kind on the east coast of the United States.

MARC M. GAELEN

Marc M. Gaelen is the fourth generation to lead the O.Berk Company and its affiliates, O.Berk Company of New England, Kols Containers, and AQL Decorating. He became Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 1994, succeeding his father, Norbert Gaelen, who became Chairman of the Board at that time. Norbert has since retired after more than 50 years of service with the company.

Marc joined O.Berk in 1982 as vice president and general counsel after being affiliated with the law firm of Courter, Kobert, Lauter and Pease. He attended Williams College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975 from Cornell University College of Arts and Science. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law in 1978 and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar that same year and to the New York Bar in 1982. He is a member of the Essex County, Union County and American Bar Associations.

Prior to becoming President in 1990, Marc served as executive vice president of the company and chief operating officer. He has been responsible for the key acquisitions in the company’s growth as well as the development of its information technology and marketing efforts. In 2008, Marc was instrumental in the acquisition of both AQL Decorating and Radial Images, expanding the company’s direct-to-customer services to include labeling and decorating. He has held many key positions in the industry, including President of the National Association of Container Distributors.

As the O. Berk Company continues its success into the next 100 years, Marc looks forward to the future as his two young sons, Jordan and Jonathan, consider the opportunity to join him as the fifth generation to lead the company.