Huhtamaki. Part of everyday life for 90 years.
HUHTAMÄKI OYJ PRESS RELEASE 4.1.2010 AT 11.30
Huhtamaki celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2010. The company, which has its humble beginning in a small candy factory, is today one of the worlds most significant manufacturers of consumer and specialty packaging.
The jubilee year will be commemorated with various customer events. In January, CEO Jukka Moisio will inaugurate the reconstructed flexibles packaging plant in Thane, India. Customer greetings and interesting events from Huhtamakis history are published on our jubilee year website at www.huhtamaki.com/90.
Jukka Moisio, Huhtamakis CEO:
Over the years our company has reinvented itself and the focus of our business has shifted. Our dedication to our customers has, however, always remained our top priority partnership and cost-efficiency being our main assets. Also in our 90th year our aim is to sell more. Additionally we wish to stay in touch with our Finnish roots.
Part of everyday life since 1920
Over the decades, Huhtamaki has manufactured many products known both in Finland and globally: Jalostaja pea soup, Marlis White Cap cider, Jenkki chewing gum, Trikvilar birth control pills, all well-known in Finland, as well as Jolly Ranchers and Whoppers candy, Chinet®-tableware and Bonefos cancer treatement pharmaceuticals overseas. Today, the wrappings of many ice-cream cones and fastfood chain paper cups come from Huhtamaki.
One of Huhtamakis customer Les Baldwin of Pronto Pack, U.K. says:
The quality of product and reliability of service are paramount and Huhtamaki provide a fantastic service! Everyone within Huhtamaki always treats us with the greatest respect and we value the loyalty received. We dont buy paper cups from anyone else!
Pronto Pack was established in 1983 and has purchased its paper cups from Huhtamaki ever since. At present, Pronto Pack provides 90-95% of the disposable tableware for festivals organized in the U.K. and Ireland.
90 years of history
In 1920 the company was founded in Kokkala, Western Finland, by Heikki Huhtamäki, a young village bakers son. Huhtamaki industries soon became one of the countrys largest confectionery manufacturers and in the following decades diversified into other food processing segments, as well as pharmaceuticals manufacturing and distribution. Among Mr Huhtamäkis key acquisitions was Hellas, the direct successor to Finlands oldest industrial manufacturer of sweets, established in 1890. The oldest part of present-day Huhtamaki can be found in Ronsberg, Germany, where a 425-year-old plant which today manufactures flexibles packaging is located. The unit was established as a paper mill in 1585.
Throughout his professional life Mr Huhtamäki was an avid traveler, reader, writer and philanthropist. He was a true innovator and pioneer in brand marketing, emphasizing social, health and quality-of-life benefits of his products. The concept of one big family was certainly true in the 1940s when widespread social reforms were introduced in the Huhtamaki factories, decades ahead of legislation. Heikki Huhtamäki was part of the companys management until his death in 1970.
Constructing the future
In 2010 Huhtamaki is an agile packaging company operating in over 30 countries. The companys activities stretch from Brazil to New Zealand. Huhtamaki is in tune with the times, concentrating on environmentally friendly raw materials and packaging technologies such as carton, fibers and lightweight films. In North America, Huhtamaki is the leading supplier of fiber-based disposable plates, in Europe one of the largest manufacturers of paper cups and in Asia a flexible packaging pioneer. Huhtamaki is one of the most significant producers of release films and fiber based egg packaging in the world.
When entering the 90th anniversary milestone, Huhtamaki especially wishes to thank its broad customer base. Our products have probably been used by each and every Finn born in or after the 1940s as well as by many Americans, Europeans and Asians.
For more information see the 90th jubilee year website www.huhtamaki.com/90.
Media contact:
Minna Kylänpää, Head of Group Communications, tel. +358 (0)10 686 7863
HUHTAMÄKI OYJ
Group Communications