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Buying and selling wood pallets
If you’ve ever wondered what happens to wood pallets after they’re unloaded, Luis (Enrique) Minnig, managing partner at Ruma's Pallet World in Chelsea, Mass., can tell you. The business sells, removes, and recycles pallets and offers wholesale pallet delivery.
“We're a wholesaler and recycler, so if there's a company—big, small, mom-and-pop shop, even if you have ten pallets because you did some home renovations—we can buy them from you. You can bring them to our warehouse, and we usually pay a varied amount. We have contracts with distributors, warehouses, supermarkets, even down to mom-and-pop liquor stores where we'll recover pallets from their facility, or they'll bring them to us, and we'll refurbish and resell them,” said Minnig.
Additionally, the business owner shared that in the pallet industry, pallets are often made from new lumber because the manufacturers don’t have access to recycled pallets due to their rural locations. Ruma’s Pallet World has ample access to pallets. “We haven't had to purchase lumber since 2020. We get so many pallets in here that late-2020 was the last time that we bought wood.”
Minnig also shared that some of Ruma’s customers run green businesses and purchase pallets to upcycle them. “Sometimes people buy pallets to make furniture like beds. We had one customer that creates green roofs that conserve energy and reduce heating and cooling costs. The customer uses pallets in the design for greenery, shrubs and plants.”
Ruma’s Pallet World began as a fruit and produce gift basket delivery service. “Probably about 120 years ago, the original owner started Ruma Fruit & Produce. He sold fruit and produce gift baskets, doing local delivery. It was a family business for a couple of generations, and the last owner, James Ruma, expanded into other subsidiaries like blueberries, specialty produce and pallets—recycled pallets. Mr. Ruma retired in 2020 and sold the business to me and two other longtime employees,” said Minnig.
Today, Ruma’s Pallet World is a Certified Minority Business Enterprise in Massachusetts. The three owners are all Latino, and each one migrated from Central and South America. Ruma hired Minnig in the 90s to do cleaning services and repairs, and he worked his way up to warehouse manager before purchasing the business.
Queri Aguilar and Hector Martinez, both from El Salvador, are Minnig’s partners. Aguilar is the company’s vice president of transportation with 20 years of experience in commercial driving (CDL), and he joined Ruma’s over three years ago. Martinez began repairing pallets over 20 years ago at Ruma’s and worked his way up the ranks from a repairman to dock manager to pallet operations foreman. Now, he is vice president of operations.
In addition to creating a positive work environment, supporting the community is a key value of Ruma’s Pallet World. Minnig serves on the board of the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce. He’s heavily involved in community philanthropy. “It's really important to us to be a part of and help support and uplift the community,” he said.
For more information about Ruma's Pallet World LLC, check out their BBB Business Profile. To learn more about BBB and read more stories like this, visit Behind the Business Stories with BBB in Eastern MA, ME, RI & VT.
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