It’s not that business stopped with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but thanks to medical advances, this year’s top 25 converters were able to take things out of idle and put it back in drive. 

From ESGs to an uptick in M&As, 2021 was largely a bounce back year for the flexible packaging industry after a 2020 that remained relatively status quo as companies waded through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic isn’t yet over, but medical science has developed vaccines and treatments that largely prevent severe illness from the virus. As a result, the world has been able to get back to business — and business is good.

As the industry continues its ascent, you’ll notice that the top 25 converters on this year’s list (based on the 2021 calendar year) are largely posting revenue that exceeds what they’ve done in the past. While some are quick to admit that some of this revenue increase is tied price hikes due to inflation, you can’t ignore the industry’s overall upward trajectory.

Research suggests that flexible packaging represents only about 20 percent of the total U.S. packaging industry, but it’s the second largest segment behind corrugated paper, per data from the Flexible Packaging Association. The flexible format leading the way is none other than the standup pouch. Per Transparency Market Research, the global standup pouch market was valued at about $4.5 billion in 2021 – and it’s expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.8 percent from 2022 through 2026, where it’s eventually expected to eclipse the $6.3 billion mark.

Read on to learn more about some of the key trends in flexible packaging in 2021 and how some of this year’s top 25 converters were able to capitalize on them.

Eco Flexibles

Sustainability has been a trend for some time now in the flexible packaging space, but it’s a trend that’s since accelerated as more and more consumers favor products that are designed and made with the planet in mind.

In fact, according to the 2021 Global Sustainability Study from Simon-Kucher & Partners, 85 percent of the surveyed population indicated that they’ve changed their purchase behavior toward more sustainable-minded brands in the last five years — and Millennials and Gen Z’ers are the generations at the backbone of this paradigm shift.

Many of the top 25 converters are continuing to invest in sustainable films and use less material to do more with their packaging.

Winpak is broadening the availability of Ultra-Pure Recycled (UPR) Polypropylene, which contains post-consumer recycled content using a process that’s designed to transform this waste into like-new material so it can continuously be reused.

ProAmpac continues to invest in its ProActive Recyclable R-200F laminate film, which it launched in 2021 as the newest member of its ProActive Sustainability family of films. Packaging created via the ProActive film family all qualifies for store drop-off recycling. R-2000F is specifically suited for frozen food flexible packaging.

And TC Transcontinental continues to develop – and receive accolades for — its sustainability efforts. The company is just one of the converters that you’ll find in this year’s top 25 that have committed to creating flexible packaging that is 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. An accredited member of the Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC), TC earned “Top Performance” marks from the PSC for its environmental focus and work toward the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals in 2021.

Aside from investing in developing more sustainable packages, many of the converters on this year’s list also formally released Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reports or Sustainability Reports to demonstrate to current and potential clients the measures they’re taking to help the planet.

M&A Activity Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels

According to data from the Flexible Packaging Association, mergers and acquisitions in the industry roared back to pre-pandemic levels in 2021. Through the first three quarters of calendar year 2021, a total of 56 deals were made (compared to only 17 in the same timeframe in 2020), and 62 total were made.

There are a number of reasons why M&A activity ticked back up in 2021. Some analysts suggest the drive for recyclable flexible packaging and acquiring companies that have the resources to help facilitate that is the driving force behind many of the acquisitions. Low interest rates and a yearning for more growth during periods where organic growth can be difficult to achieve were other reasons. And interest rates remained low throughout 2021, which made it more feasible to make major purchases.

Top 25 Converters of 2022

2022 Rank	2021 Sales (in millions)	Company Information	2021 Rank
1	$3.85B*	NOVOLEX Hartsville, South Carolina Stan Bikulege, chairman and CEO Plants in N.A.: 53 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 10,000 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9	1
2 ↑	$3.50B*	Sealed Air Corp. Charlotte, North Carolina Ted Doheny, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 43 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 6,000 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	4
3 ↓	$3.30B*	Amcor Buffalo Grove, Illinois Ron Delia, CEO Plants in N.A.: 43 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 10,900 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9	2
4 ↓	$3.10B	Berry Global Evansville, Indiana Tom Salmon, CEO Plants in N.A.: 39 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 5,500 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	1
5	$2.60B*	Sigma Plastics Group Lyndhurst, New Jersey Mark Teo, CEO Plants in N.A.: 43 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 4,500 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	5
6	$1.745B	ProAmpac Cincinnati, Ohio Greg Tucker, founder and CE Plants in N.A.: 32 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 4,400 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	6
7	$1.30B	Printpack Inc. Atlanta, Georgia James E. Love, III, president and COO Plants in N.A.: 19 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 3,513 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	7
8	$1.13B	TC Transcontinental Vaughan, Ontario, Canada Francois Olivier, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 26 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 3,800 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	8
9	$1.00B	Winpak Ltd. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Olivier Y. Muggli, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 12 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 2,507 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 7 8	9
10	$700*	Hood Packaging Corp. Burlington, Ontario, Canada / Madison, Mississippi Robert Morris, president Plants in N.A.: 23 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): ~2,200 Markets Served: 1 2 6 7 8 9	11
11	~$700	Pregis LLC Deerfield, Illinois Kevin Baudhuin, chairman and CEO Plants in N.A.: 24 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 2,300 Markets Served: 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	11
12 ↑	$640	Mondi in North America Romeoville, Illinois Joe Moynihan, president, Mondi Jackson, Consumer Flexibles Plants in N.A.: 12 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 1,600 Markets Served: 1 2 3 5 6 8 9	13
13 ↓	$600*	Sonoco Products Co. Hartsville, South Carolina Russell Grissett, President of Flexible Packaging Plants in N.A.: 8 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 1,500 Markets Served: 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9	12
14 ↑	$462	Scholle IPN Northlake, Illinois Ross Bushnell, CEO Plants in N.A.: 6 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 1,000 Markets Served: 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9	17
15 ↓	$400	Bryce Corp. Memphis, Tennessee Thomas Bryce, CEO Plants in N.A.: 4 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 939 Markets Served: 1 2 5 6 7 8	14
16	$340	PPC Flexible Packaging Buffalo Grove, Illinois Kevin Keneally, CEO Plants in N.A.: 9 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 1,000 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4	16
17 ↓	~$271	American Packaging Corp. Columbus, Wisconsin Peter Schottland, CEO Plants in N.A.: 5 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 880 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	15
18	$261*	C-P Flexible Packaging York, Pennsylvania Mike Hoffman, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 9 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 1,000 Markets Served: 1 2 5 6	18
19	$220*	Tekni-Plex Wayne, Pennsylvania Brenda Chamulak, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 22 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): ~500 Markets Served: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	19
20 ↑	$200*	InterFlex Group Wilkesboro, North Carolina Stephen Doyle, CEO Plants in N.A.: 2 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 350 Markets Served: 1 4 5 6	21
21 ↑	$170*	Liqui-Box Richmond, Virginia Ken Swanson, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 6 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 500 Markets Served: 1 2 8	22
22 ↑	$123*	Oliver Grand Rapids, Michigan Michael Benevento, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 6 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 225 Markets Served: 3 4 5	23
23 ↑	$116*	St. Johns Packaging Quebec, Canada Marc Leclair, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 5 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): ~500 Markets Served: 1 5 6	24
24 ↑	$110*	Inland Packaging La Crosse, Wisconsin Mark Glendenning, CEO Plants in N.A.: 6 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 400 Markets Served: 1 2 5 6	25
25 ↓	$107*	Belmark De Pere, Wisconsin Karl Schmidt, president and CEO Plants in N.A.: 3 Employees in N.A. (flex pkg only): 1,000 Markets Served: 1 2 3 6	20

*List is determined by data gathered from multiple sources, including direct reporting, annual reports, SEC documents, media reports and other sources. In some cases, it was necessary to make estimates based on available data.

 

 

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