17 minute read
Pactiv Evergreen
PACKAGING A BETTER FUTURE
Speaking to CEO, Mike King, we unpack the sustainable and innovative food and beverage packaging solutions being delivered by Pactiv Evergreen
Packaging plays a critical role in the food and beverage industry.
Not only does it protect our favorite products, but it also improves shelf life, maintains freshness, provides food safety, and promotes brands.
In the US, whether you’ve grabbed a cup of coffee on the way to the office or enjoyed a home-cooked breakfast, the chances are that you’ve relied on packaging from Pactiv Evergreen.
“With a team of approximately 16,500 employees across more than 70 manufacturing facilities, Pactiv Evergreen is a leading manufacturer and distributor of fresh food and beverage packaging in North America,” opens CEO, Mike King.
“We produce a broad range of more than 15,000 products in 14 different materials that protect, package, and display fresh food and beverages for consumers.”
Pactiv Evergreen’s broad material expertise allows it to provide a portfolio of packaging that meets a wide array of technical requirements and brand-building capabilities.
Products are supplied to a broad and diversified mix of companies, including full-service restaurants (FSRs), quick service restaurants (QSRs), foodservice distributors, supermarkets, retailers, non-commercial foodservice establishments, as well as food and beverage producers and processors.
With customers ranging from large blue-chip multinational companies to national, regional, and local businesses, Pactiv Evergreen has developed strong and long-standing relationships with customers.
“We have amazing customers who are partnering with us on many strategic and innovative projects. We take pride in making our customers indispensable to theirs,” King emphasizes.
PRODUCT SEGMENTS
Pactiv Evergreen manufactures and sells products through three reportable segments: Foodservice, Food Merchandising, and Beverage Merchandising.
The company’s Foodservice segment manufactures a broad range of products that enable consumers to eat and drink where they want and when they want with convenience, including food containers, drinkware (such as hot and cold cups and lids), tableware, serviceware, and other products that make eating on-the-go easier and more enjoyable.
“Our foodservice customer base includes chain restaurants, FSRs, established and emerging QSRs, distributors, non-commercial foodservice (such as airports, schools and hospitals), and convenience stores,” King informs us.
For products that protect and attractively display food while preserving freshness, Pactiv Evergreen’s Food Merchandising segment manufactures a broad range of food containers and tubs for prepared and ready-to-eat food,
At INX International Ink Co., delivering innovative, safe and sustainable solutions that enhance the customer experience is our top priority. We want consumers, brand owners, and customers to feel con dent in their product choices; and that’s why we develop our products to have minimal impact on the environment without sacri cing machine, processing, and end-use product performance.
Renewable, natural-based Ingredients that reduce your carbon footprint
We replace petrochemically derived ingredients with clean, renewable, and sustainable ingredients without sacri cing machine, processing, and end-use product performance.
Recycle-Ready products for productive end-of-life scenarios
We assist brand owners and customers in making products easier to recycle and promoting the development of circular economies.
Through our ISO certi ed Business Management System we ensure the highest quality products starting with a complex and closely monitored process for raw material selection.
Functionality for Consumer safety and Social Responsibility
Our formulation efforts take into consideration the functionality of the nished product and its impact on the environment.
Our Mission Our O ering
Lead the industry in delivering innovative, safe, and sustainable solutions that enhance the customer experience. A complete line of ink and coating solutions technology for commercial, packaging, and digital applications.
Pactiv Evergreen is reducing its carbon footprint with INXhrc™ Natural-based inks
trays for meat and poultry, molded fiber egg cartons, and packaging for food processors and brand owners.
Beverage Merchandising, meanwhile, is responsible for manufacturing fresh refrigerated beverage cartons, primarily producing integrated fresh carton systems, which include printed cartons, spouts and filling machines for dairy (including plant-based, organic and specialty dairy), juice, and other specialty beverage end markets.
The Beverage Merchandising segment offers paper and paperboard products to paper and packaging convertors, made from responsibly-sourced fiber from forests in the US where responsible forestry practices are used.
“We have a large, well-invested manufacturing base and a hub-andspoke distribution network in the US, and in the international geographies in which we operate,” outlines King.
“Most of our assets are in the US, which allows us to provide an extensive offering of US-manufactured products to our customers. We believe our manufacturing footprint and distribution network provides us with a competitive advantage in each of our segments.”
Operational and manufacturing flexibility has been prioritized across the Pactiv Evergreen network, allowing the company to efficiently navigate the changing demands of the marketplace.
As both consumer preferences and customer requirements continue to evolve, Pactiv Evergreen strives to develop useful new features and products to meet those needs through longstanding customer relationships.
PACTIV EVERGREEN - OUR VALUES
CELEBRATE PEOPLE – We champion diversity of thought, background and perspective. We support and empower our teammates to grow personally and professionally. We help ensure safety and wellbeing. We reward strong performance and promote from within.
DO WHAT’S RIGHT – We act with uncompromising integrity and ethics. We treat everyone with courtesy, respect and dignity. We protect our planet’s natural resources. We innovate to deliver sustainably manufactured products.
WIN TOGETHER – We collaborate to create value for customers and consumers. We are a winning team of unique individuals. We support the communities in which we work and live. We have each other’s backs.
DEMAND EXCELLENCE – We know what good looks like. We know what got us here will not take us where we need to go. We anticipate and innovate to meet our customers’ and consumers’ changing needs. We are the best at what we do.
OWN IT – We treat the business as if it were our own. We deliver on our commitments. We are accountable, credible and responsible. We bring passion and dedication to everything we do.
INX International Coloring a Safe and Sustainable Future
INX International Ink Co. is a leading producer of inks and coatings in North America with fullservice subsidiaries in Europe and South America as part of Sakata INX’s worldwide operations. INX International offers a complete line of ink and coating solutions technology for commercial, packaging, and digital applications.
There has never been more awareness and attention from brand owners, consumers and the print-and-packaging industry to embrace and embed sustainability goals within a business’ products, services, and culture. This isn’t new to INX International; sustainability has been an ongoing goal of ours, adding additional value to our high-quality products and services.
Partnerships that support a circular economy
While delivering sustainable, socially responsible products and services, INX is proactive in working with supplier partners and customers like Pactiv Evergreen who support our goals to ensure packaging products conserve resources and minimize the impact on the environment.
Inks and coatings can play an essential role in the three Rs of waste management: Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling of packaging; and helping our customers create circularity is key to shaping the future of the print and packaging industry.
Customer confidence in Sustainability and Performance
INX develops products to have minimal impact on the environment without sacrificing machine, processing, and end-use product performance so consumers, brand owners, and customers can feel confident when choosing them.
Our solutions are developed to increase productivity and lower costs and at the same time contribute to a more sustainable future. They can easily applied by our customers to increase efficiencies that result in using the least amount of product, increasing production with high-quality results.
Material Health and Consumer Safety
Using renewable, natural-based raw materials from ethical and sustainably managed sources, our product development efforts focus on material health and safety, product functionality for environmental impact, and consumer safety with a mind for recycle-friendly products. Our solutions meet regulatory standards and deliver the highest level of quality.
Leader in Research and Innovation
INX International—together with Sakata INX—has research and development centers located in Asia, North America, and Europe, and is recognized as a leading source of advanced technology and innovation for the print and package market.
Our global, multi-faceted research and development efforts range from basic laboratory analyses and developing ink dispersant technology to ink-andmedia matchmaking, jetting testing, system software design, print head technology and more. We develop customized solutions for unique customer needs, bringing new ideas and the latest innovation to market—including breakthroughs in ink, coatings, and digital printing systems.
Progress Forever
INX International is a company rooted in visual communication through color, sustainability and innovation. Our history is formed by the intense desire to understand changing market dynamics, to solve customer problems and to bring solutions to challenges - both big and small. It is our commitment to ‘Progress Forever’.
info@inxintl.com | www.Inxinternational.com
“Our ability to respond to the changing marketplace with relevance, speed, and agility is one of the many ways we continue to position Pactiv Evergreen as an industry leader,” King continues.
“We can offer different substrates and product lines to match changing market needs efficiently and at a low cost. This enables us to scale production in response to the requirements of our customers and trends in the market, including for example, increasing our use of recycled and recyclable material to produce a greater number of sustainable products.
“We have strategically invested in flexible manufacturing assets that can be quickly converted to produce alternative products; our broad manufacturing base includes approximately 1,100 production lines.”
NORTH AMERICA OUTLOOK: COULD YOU PROVIDE SOME INSIGHT INTO YOUR CAREER TO DATE?
MIKE KING, CEO: “My career started in the automotive and aerospace industries. I grew up on the manufacturing floor in high pressure, intense environments.
“Over time, I had the opportunity to further my operations experience into the technical realm using my engineering degrees. I advanced my career by combining my operations, engineering, product development and sales experience in a variety of leadership roles with TI Automotive Fuel Systems, Lear Corporation, and Huhtamaki.
“During this time, I discovered a passion for leading and building high-performance teams, where a people-centric focus, accountability and ownership come first. The next step in my career journey took me to Graham Packaging, where my first role was VP, Global Sales and Marketing, and I ultimately led the company as President and CEO from 2018 to 2021. I joined the Pactiv Evergreen board in 2020 and accepted the role of CEO in March last year.”
SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENTS
Over the years, Pactiv Evergreen has undergone a series of strategic mergers, name changes, and corporate realignments, all while expanding its product portfolio and customer base to secure its position as an industry leader.
“Pactiv Evergreen is relatively new to the market as a publicly traded company, but we have a long history of performance and deep roots in our communities,” notes King.
As part of the corporate integration of Pactiv and Evergreen Packaging, the company has recently advanced its sustainability commitments. In fact, by 2030, Pactiv Evergreen aims to manufacture 100 percent of its products using materials that are recycled, recyclable, or renewable.
Impressively, the company is already more than 60 percent of the way towards achieving this aggressive target, which is well aligned with many of Pactiv Evergreen’s customers who have publicly stated goals to increase the use of sustainable materials and products. Likewise, the industry as a whole is taking steps to provide food and beverage packaging in an environmentally responsible way to help protect the planet. “As customers look to switch to more sustainable alternatives, we are well
Packaging Personified
We are a vertically integrated company capable of handling complex and wide-ranging customer needs, through our state-of-theart extrusion, press, pre-press, lamination, converting, slitting, and microperforation capabilities.
With multiple manufacturing facilities strategically located in the Midwest, we consistently provide our industry leading customers with quality custom flexible packaging, delivered on time at a competitive price.
Like Pactiv Evergreen, Packaging Personified is committed to sustainability and we maintain our responsibility to conduct business in a manner that has minimal impact on the environment.
We understand the current challenges created by the use of plastics when they are not handled responsibly, and we continue to develop innovative solutions to overcome these obstacles.
Pactiv Evergreen has a proven history of product innovation, and at Packaging Personified, we also strive to develop new and improved solutions.
Packaging Personified is committed to developing materials and processes that contribute to a safe, clean environment. Our commitment is to encourage sustainable practices and to take a leading role in educating our employees, suppliers, and customers about the available options for achieving environmental sustainability in packaging.
In line with Pactiv Evergreen’s ambitious goal to manufacture 100 percent of its products using materials that are recycled, recyclable, or renewable, Packaging Personified ensures that all of our extruded materials are recyclable and any extruded production byproducts are recycled internally or through external partners.
Packaging Personified will continue to develop more efficient and sustainable packaging options.
www.packagingpersonified.com
positioned to support them quickly and effectively thanks to our innovative teams of material scientists and engineers,” King tells us.
Pactiv Evergreen has a rich and proven history of product innovation, a key focus area for the company as it strives to enhance its product portfolio, drive growth, while also increasing margins.
Sustainable innovation in particular is critical to Pactiv Evergreen, who today provides customers with sustainable alternatives across almost all products and categories.
Indeed, the company has introduced thousands of innovative new products over the last five years, including resealable beverage cartons, strawless lids, compostable cutlery, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers made with recycled content, reflecting Pactiv Evergreen’s commitment to sustainable lifecycle principles.
Recently, the company also partnered with a key strategic customer to launch new circular cups made from post-consumer recycled polypropylene and bio-based materials, including the customer’s used cooking oil.
“Our primary focus areas for product innovation are the development of packaging with useful new features, engineering new materials that improve the performance of our products, and commercializing new environmentally responsible packaging that will help us to reach our 2030 sustainable goals,” shares King.
“We believe our EarthChoice brand is the largest sustainable foodservice packaging brand in North America. Our Greenware and Recycleware brands, which we acquired as part of the Fabri-Kal acquisition in 2021, complement our sustainable offerings.”
Fabri-Kal is well known for its sustainable packaging solutions, such as commercially compostable packaging as well as packaging made from post-consumer recycled content.
The acquisition of Fabri-Kal has further expanded and strengthened Pactiv Evergreen’s position in the foodservice and consumer packaged goods business, and broadened the company’s sustainable packaging product offerings.
“We continue to grow our offering of sustainable products with new, plant-based resin and fiber-based products,” reveals King.
“Through our state-of-the-art production technology and material science expertise, we can develop new value-added and sustainable solutions.”
It is Pactiv Evergreen’s diverse material varieties, technologies and capabilities that enable the company to support existing customers as they work to achieve their sustainability goals, while uniquely equipping itself to attract new customers who are looking for new materials that align with their business objectives.
The company’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond its products. One of Pactiv Evergreen’s key pillars is to protect the planet’s resources, which includes actions related to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), energy, water, waste, recycling, and forestry.
– MIKE KING, CEO, PACTIV EVERGREEN
ALIGNED WITH SUPPLIERS
Between 2019 and 2021, Pactiv Evergreen spent $64 million on R&D efforts. With dedicated technology and innovation facilities, the company employs personnel focused on product development, material innovation, and process improvement.
“Our material science expertise and state-of-the-art product design and testing capabilities enable us to engineer high-performing materials and create new and innovative products to meet the requirements and preferences of customers, as well as increase food safety,” explains King.
“We have industry-leading innovation centers where, among other things, we develop innovative resin blending and compounding formulations, processes, and new engineered materials using paper/ fiber substrates, which have on-site design, testing, prototyping, and production capabilities.”
These unique material and product design capabilities allow Pactiv Evergreen to partner with customers to rapidly develop and commercialize new and innovative solutions, that further increase the value provided.
As well as its own dedicated expertise and capabilities, King stresses the incredible importance of partner and supplier relationships to Pactiv Evergreen.
“We collaborate with our suppliers to provide innovations that enable our customers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and meet the changing needs of their consumers,” he comments.
Pactiv Evergreen is fortunate to partner with suppliers who understand both the needs of the business and those of its customers. Being a leader in the industry, it is important for the company to work with suppliers who are aligned with its business priorities, such as sustainability and innovation.
“Many of our key materials are commodities, so working with suppliers who know how to treat a commodity in a more strategic way is important, because it may be a commodity to the market, but to us, it is a key ingredient for our products.
– MIKE KING, CEO, PACTIV EVERGREEN
“As we continue to prioritize strategic investments in digital transformation projects across our business, we need suppliers who are ready to help us unlock the value of digitization in our supply chain,” King states.
EXCITING JOURNEY
At what is a transformational time for Pactiv Evergreen, the organization is on an exciting journey towards excellence and long-term growth.
Through its five key strategic initiatives, namely People, Operational Excellence, Digital Transformation, Social Responsibility, and Profitable Growth, Pactiv Evergreen will deliver on its purpose of “Packaging a Better Future” while creating long-term value for all stakeholders.
“Last year, we laid a solid foundation that will set us up for success in 2022 and beyond. We prioritized building a corporate culture around our purpose and core values, in addition to the creation of a Talent and Culture team,” King reflects.
“Our purpose, mission, and values represent the principles we honor, the promises we keep, and the foundational beliefs we share. They communicate what our customers and shareholders expect from us, and www.pactivevergreen.com
what we can expect from each other.”
With great products, incredible people, and a growing market, this is a truly exciting time to be at Pactiv Evergreen.
“I would like to thank the entire Pactiv Evergreen workforce for their commitment and continued dedication to serving our customers, and enhancing the value of the company for all our stakeholders.”
