As one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of folding cartons, the Custom Packaging Group (CPG) also operates numerous contract packaging and contract manufacturing facilities along with a specialty corrugated facility and a rigid box plant. In addition, special services are provided through a business development group, a digital imaging graphic design center, a laser die operation, a prepress graphic reproduction facility and a team of mechanical packaging engineers. With 25 total manufacturing facilities, our sales volume increased by 24 percent in the last year.

CPG is focused on niche, consumer markets with an emphasis on innovation and product development. The CPG operates 16 folding carton facilities which manufacture paperboard packaging for a variety of end uses in industries such as pharmaceutical and healthcare, candy and confectionery, specialty dry foods, toys and sporting goods, pet foods and household/hardware.

Our eight contract packaging and contract manufacturing facilities focus primarily on the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, providing custom engineering, contract packaging and manufacturing, pouching and blistering, and bottle filling. Other services include cartoning, overwrapping, shrink-wrapping, tipping and a multitude of other packaging formats.

The specialty corrugated facility supplies packaging for the food service and dry-cleaning industries, such as corrugated pizza boxes and paperboard shirt boxes. The key customers for our rigid box plant are the hosiery and textile industries; however, we serve other markets with products like gift boxes, photo storage boxes, leather goods packaging, and games and puzzles.

Implementation of our strategy to be a single source for our customers’ pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging requirements was enhanced during the year by the acquisition of the Pine Brook contract packaging facility. In operation for 30 years as MilPak, this facility brings competitive and compliant blister packaging capabilities to CPG. The value of adding a Director of Quality Assurance and Compliance to provide a common focus on the processes and practices required to meet pharmaceutical industry standards was confirmed when our Denver carton plant received certified supplier status from a major pharmaceutical company within a twelve-month period.

Our commitment to the mainstream folding carton industry was further demonstrated by the acquisition of Crane Carton Company, Chicago, IL, in October 2000. As a foremost independent carton converter, Crane has enjoyed a preeminent industry reputation and will continue to be a major consumer of Caraustar’s recycled boxboard.

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