SAN JOSE, CA –Sept 29, 2000 - Tamper evident closure and water equipment supplier, Portola Packaging, Inc. announced today that it will relocate its San Jose, CA water equipment manufacturing operation, CAP SNAP Water Equipment, to a larger facility in New Castle, PA.

Portola has 7 major manufacturing locations throughout the USA, along with facilities in the UK, China, Canada, and Mexico. The company also serves various closure and bottle markets through joint ventures in Europe and the United States.

James A. Taylor, President and COO, stated that this positive step is largely a result of the strong growth and backlog that has been generated in its water equipment business over the past few quarters. Taylor, further stated that the New Castle, PA location will better serve its customer base for this type of equipment, as well as improving Portola's ability to obtain the necessary technical and engineering support to continue its growth. The company has found that these skills continue to be difficult to obtain and keep in the high tech "Silicon Valley" region where this business is currently located. The Company currently manufactures capping and other equipment in New Castle. The decision to combine and manage these similar operations at one location will provide other synergies which will benefit our customers by continuing to improve Customer Satisfaction.

Affected employees were notified today of the impending change. It is Portola's intent to relocate or reassign as many employees as possible in order to maintain the high level of skill set that has been reached over the years.

Portola Packaging, Inc. is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of tamper evident plastic closures used in dairy, bottled water, sports and fruit drinks, and institutional food products. The Company also produces a wide variety of plastic bottles, including 5-gallon PET and polycarbonate water bottles, as well as the water filling and capping equipment. The Company is also engaged in the manufacture and sale of tooling and molds used in the blow molding industry.

Source: Portola Packaging, Inc., San Jose, CA

For Information Contact: Mr Scott Merritt at (408) 573-2141