New cereal packaging unveiled at annual Sonoco meeting

HARTSVILLE — On Wednesday, Sonoco’s Board of Directors approved a 27 cents per share quarterly common stock dividend, a 1-cent increase.

The dividend will be payable June 10 to shareholders of record as of May 16.

According to a press release, Harris E. DeLoach Jr. — chairman, president and chief executive officer — said this is the 26th consecutive year Sonoco has increased common stock dividends and the 332nd consecutive quarter, dating to 1925, that the company has paid dividends to shareholders.

“This dividend increase demonstrates the board of director’s confidence in Sonoco’s strong balance sheet, continued profitable growth and cash generation capabilities, and commitment to building value for our shareholders,” DeLoach said.

Also, at the annual meeting held in Hartsville, DeLoach outlined future growth plans for the company and unveiled a new cereal packaging concept.

During the meeting, DeLoach said he was pleased to show a trendsetting container retailer Target Corp. is using to redefine the bag-in-a-box-dominated breakfast cereal category.

“Beginning earlier this month, Target introduced 18 varieties of its Archer Farms® premium cereals in Sonoco’s Linearpak® shaped paperboard containers throughout its 1,600 stores nationwide,” DeLoach said. “Made of recycled paperboard, with 50 percent post-consumer content, this new container is designed with gently rounded ends to fit comfortably in consumers’ hands.

“Instead of having a hard-to-open bag, the container has a tabbed membrane top that is easily peeled away from the cereal container and, for the first time on the cereal aisle, this new container sports a patent-pending, hinged plastic overcap, which is produced by Sonoco’s Molded Plastics operations. This unique overcap helps facilitate pouring and then recloses tightly around the rim of the container to keep the cereal fresh.

“Working directly with Target, Sonoco designed, prototyped, tested and manufactured the container at our state-of-the-art Packaging Development Center here in Hartsville. This is a prime example of how Sonoco provided a total solutions approach in meeting the needs of our customers.”

Sonoco is a $4 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with 334 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations.