Graphic Packaging Holding Company provides consumer packaging that makes a world of difference. The company is a leading provider of consumer goods packaging made from renewable or recycled materials.
The company designs and manufactures sustainable packaging solutions, including cartons, multipack cartons, trays, carriers, paperboard canisters, and cups and bowls made primarily from unbleached paperboard, recycled paperboard, and bleached paperboard.
The company serves a wide variety of consu...
Graphic Packaging Holding Company provides consumer packaging that makes a world of difference. The company is a leading provider of consumer goods packaging made from renewable or recycled materials.
The company designs and manufactures sustainable packaging solutions, including cartons, multipack cartons, trays, carriers, paperboard canisters, and cups and bowls made primarily from unbleached paperboard, recycled paperboard, and bleached paperboard.
The company serves a wide variety of consumer markets, from food and beverage, to foodservice, household products, beauty and health care. It produces packaging solutions at over 100 locations in over 20 countries around the world, serving customers ranging from local to multinational consumer products companies and retailers. The company offers one of the most comprehensive ranges of packaging design, manufacture, and execution capabilities available. The company manufactures most of the paperboard it consumes in the Americas and purchases from third parties the majority of the paperboard it consumes in its Europe Paperboard Packaging operations.
Products
The company has three reportable segments as follows:
Americas Paperboard Packaging includes paperboard packaging sold primarily to consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies serving the food, beverage, and consumer product markets and cups, lids, and food containers sold primarily to foodservice companies and quick-service restaurants (QSR) in the Americas.
Europe Paperboard Packaging includes paperboard packaging sold primarily to CPG companies serving the food, beverage and consumer product markets, including healthcare and beauty, primarily in Europe.
Paperboard Manufacturing includes the six North American paperboard manufacturing facilities that produce recycled, unbleached and bleached paperboard, which is primarily consumed internally to produce paperboard consumer packaging for the Americas and Europe Paperboard Packaging segments. Paperboard not consumed internally is sold externally to a small group of paperboard packaging converters. The Paperboard Manufacturing Segment’s Net Sales represent the sale of paperboard only to external customers. The effect of intercompany transfers to the paperboard packaging segments has been eliminated from the Paperboard Manufacturing segment to reflect the economics of the integration of these segments.
The company operates primarily in three geographic areas: the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
Paperboard Packaging
The company’s paperboard packaging products deliver brand, marketing, sustainability, and performance benefits at a competitive cost. The company supplies paperboard cartons, carriers and containers designed to protect and hold products while providing convenience through ease of carrying, storage, delivery, dispensing of product, and food preparation for consumers; a smooth surface printed with high-resolution, multi-color graphic images that help improve brand awareness and visibility of products on store shelves; and durability, stiffness and wet and dry tear strength; leak, abrasion and heat resistance; barrier protection from moisture, oxygen, oils and greases, as well as enhanced microwave heating performance.
The company provides a wide range of innovative, paperboard packaging solutions for the following end-use markets: Food, including dry foods and food ingredients, frozen, refrigerated, and microwavable prepared foods, and desserts; beverage, including beer, seltzer, soft drinks, energy drinks, teas, water, and juices; foodservice, including cups and containers for food and drinks for quick-service restaurants and other food service providers; household products, including cleaning products, tissues products, home air filters and pet care products; and health and beauty products.
Joint Venture
The company is a party to a Japanese joint venture, Rengo Riverwood Packaging, Ltd., in which it holds a 50% ownership interest. The joint venture agreement covers unbleached paperboard supply, use of proprietary carton designs and marketing and distribution of packaging systems.
Sales and Marketing
The company markets its products principally to multinational beverage, food, quick-service restaurants, health/beauty and other well-recognized consumer products companies. The beverage companies include Anheuser-Busch, Inc., MillerCoors LLC, PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company, among others. Consumer product customers include Kraft Heinz Company, General Mills, Inc., Nestle USA, Inc., WK Kellogg Co, Kellanova and Kimberly-Clark Corporation, among others. Quick-service restaurant customers include Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, Wendy's, Panda Express, Dairy Queen, Chipotle, Panera and KFC. Health/beauty customers include GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott, Novartis, L’Oreal S.A., Proctor & Gamble, and Colgate. The company also sells paperboard in the open market to independent and integrated paperboard packaging producers.
Sales of the company’s principal products are primarily accomplished through sales offices in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and, to a lesser degree, through broker arrangements with third parties.
Competition
Smurfit WestRock plc is the company's largest competitor within paperboard packaging.
Seasonality
The company’s net sales, income from operations and cash flows from operations are subject to moderate seasonality, with demand usually increasing in the late spring through early fall due to increases in demand for beverage and food products.
Patents and Trademarks
As of December 31, 2024, the company had a large patent portfolio, presently owning, controlling or holding rights to more than 3,100 U.S. and foreign patents, with more than 850 U.S. and foreign patent applications pending. The company’s patent portfolio consists primarily of patents relating to packaging machinery, manufacturing methods, structural carton designs, active microwave packaging technology and barrier protection packaging. These patents and processes are significant to the company’s operations and are supported by trademarks, such as Boardio, Fridge Vendor, IntegraPak, KeelClip, MicroFlex-Q, MicroRite, Quilt Wave, Qwik Crisp, Tite-Pak, and Z-Flute.
Research and Development
Research and development costs, which relate primarily to the development and design of new packaging machines and products and are recorded as a component of Selling, General and Administrative expenses, are expensed as incurred. The company’s expenses for the year ended December 31, 2024, were $17 million.
Dispositions
On May 1, 2024, the company completed the sale of its Augusta, Georgia bleached paperboard manufacturing facility.
During 2024, the company decided to close multiple packaging facilities by the end of 2024 and early 2025.
History
Graphic Packaging Holding Company was founded in 2007. The company was incorporated in 2007.