SAN JOSE, CA—January 16, 2001 - Portola Packaging, Inc. today announced that it's subsidiary, Northern Engineering and Plastics Corporation (NEPCO), completed the purchase of certain operating assets of Consumer Cap Corporation (Consumer) in exchange for assuming certain debts of Consumer. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Consumer Cap Corporation also agreed to the entry of a Consent Judgment admitting that it infringed certain of Portola's closure patents.

Consumer, headquartered in New Castle, Pennsylvania, is a manufacturer and seller of plastic closures primarily used in the North American dairy industry. Consumer has been manufacturing closures since 1996.

In a related move, it was announced that Robert E. Crisci has been appointed CEO of NEPCO to manage Consumer's product line. Mr. Crisci stated, " My main goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible for all of Consumer's customers. I want to insure we continue to provide the products, sales coverage, customer and field service that our customers have come to expect."

Commenting on the transaction, James A. Taylor, President and Chief Operating Officer of Portola Packaging, Inc. stated, " The purchase of these assets will allow Portola to resolve, to our satisfaction, ongoing patent litigation and at the same time, ease the concerns some customers may have had regarding Consumer's financial condition. We look forward to working with Bob Crisci again. He has many years of experience in the closure industry and will do a great job of providing Consumer's customers with high quality, cost effective closures and excellent customer service."

Portola Packaging, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of tamper evident plastic closures used in dairy, fruit juice, bottled water, sports drinks, institutional food products and other non-carbonated beverage products. The Company also produces a wide variety of plastic bottles for use in the dairy, water and juice industries, including five-gallon PET and polycarbonate water bottles. In addition, the Company designs, manufactures and markets capping equipment for use in high-speed bottling, filling and packaging production lines as well as manufactures and markets customized five-gallon water capping and filling systems. The Company is also engaged in the manufacture and sale of tooling and molds used in the blowmolding industry.

INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James A. Taylor at (408) 573-2074