Riverwood to extend reach into consumer products sector; will launch Z-flute

Riverwood International Corp.(Atlanta) has established a new business organization in North America — the Consumer Products Packaging business. Riverwood, a leading supplier of coated unbleached kraft paperboard to multinational beverage companies, says the new unit's charter is: "to become the preferred supplier of coated unbleached kraft board, customized cartons and highly efficient packaging machinery to the world's premier multi-national consumer products companies."

To deliver this integrated value proposition, Riverwood says it will capitalize on alliances it has developed with a range of converting companies.

The new Consumer Products Packaging business unit is part of Riverwood's continuing transformation strategy of expanding into high-growth segments of the global consumer packaged goods sector. The new unit will report to Thomas M. Gannon, executive vice president, commercial operations.

"We have identified a number of new strategic opportunities in the consumer products area which we plan to aggressively pursue," said Stephen M. Humphrey, president and CEO of Riverwood. "We are building upon our expertise developed in the beverage sector to capitalize on untapped areas in the global consumer products packaging market as part of our ongoing transformation to make Riverwood a preeminent provider of value-added, solutions-based packaging products."

"Central to the success in developing these new opportunities in consumer products packaging will be our ability to extend Riverwood's existing packaging solutions expertise to serve the growing demand of consumer products companies," said Humphrey. "The versatility and advanced technology of Riverwood's packaging machinery, combined with global structural and graphic design capabilities, makes this initiative a natural extension of the company's core competencies."

Humphrey added that Riverwood could also leverage its investment in information technology to emerging e-commerce applications to deliver better packaging and business solutions to what he calls "a growing and underserved market."

Overall, coated board has increased its market share of consumer products packaging, and in certain segments, especially foods, this growth has substantially exceeded the overall growth in the market. Presently, coated board sold into non-beverage consumer products packaging accounts for 40% of Riverwood's total production.

As part of the expansion initiative, Riverwood will soon launch Z-Flute, a new high-performance paperboard product designed to both replace Litho-lam in corrugated pre-printed applications, and reduce the need for corrugated overpackaging for products already packaged in a folding carton. The product's unique properties make it a lighter and more cost-effective substitute to traditional fluted containerboard, and its print surface allows for high-impact graphics.

Riverwood's coated board product Omnikote will be repositioned as a more direct functional substitute against SBS cartonboard. The company's Pearl-Kote board will build upon its position as a better performing and more cost-effective substitute for coated recycled board.

Capitalizing upon the growing trend toward multipacking of non-beverage consumer items, Riverwood also plans to expand both the size and its share of this market segment. The company's goal, said Humphrey, is to "deliver innovative customized packaging solutions to consumer products companies looking to expand in this segment."

James E. Monahan, Jr. has been appointed vice president and general manager of the newly formed Consumer Products Packaging business. G. Phillips Jones will be responsible for expanding Riverwood's non-beverage, machinery-based consumer packaging business.

For more information: Riverwood International Corp., Tel: 770-795-3800, Fax: 770-795-3891

Edited by Bill Noone
Managing Editor, PackagingNetwork.com
bnoone@packagingnetwork.com