Bemis Company

Last updated
Bemis Company, Inc.
Type Public
NYSE: BMS
IndustryPackaging
Founded1858;165 years ago (1858)
FounderJudson Moss Bemis
DefunctJune 11, 2019 (2019-06-11)
FateAcquired by and merged into Amcor
Headquarters,
Key people
William F. Austen, President and CEO
Michael B. Clauer, Vice President and CFO [1]
RevenueIncrease2.svg$5.3B(FY 2011) [2]
Increase2.svg US$367M (FY 2011) [2]
Increase2.svg US$184M (FY 2011) [2]
Total assets Increase2.svg US$4.32B (FY 2011) [3]
Total equity Increase2.svg US$1.58B (FY 2011) [3]
Number of employees
16,582 [4]  (2017)
Website www.bemis.com

Bemis Company, Inc. was a global manufacturer of flexible packaging products (ranging from self-venting cook-in-bag packaging and retort packaging for shelf-stable products, to vacuum packaging for meat products and puncture-resistant, sterile medical packaging) and pressure-sensitive materials. Bemis was headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin in the United States. Its divisions were located in 12 countries and its films for packaging products and adhesive materials were distributed worldwide.

Contents

In August 2018, Amcor announced it would acquire the company for $5.25 billion in shares. [5] The deal completed on June 11, 2019, and all operations have been merged with Amcor.

History

Bemis Brothers Bag Company was founded by Judson Moss Bemis in 1858 in St. Louis, Missouri, as a manufacturer of printed cotton bags for food products. Its first location was on the second floor of a machine shop, which provided steam to operate the printing presses and readily available maintenance personnel for machine repairs.

Two key innovations Bemis' company originally pioneered were the printing and machine-sewing of bags. (Traditionally, bags were stenciled and hand-sewn.) Bemis' first order was for 200 half-barrel sacks. To allay worries that machine-sewn bags were inferior to traditional hand-sewn bags, Judson Bemis unconditionally guaranteed every bag his company manufactured.

In 1867, Judson Bemis' brother, Stephen A. Bemis, returned from the gold rush and joined Judson in the bag manufacturing business. Bemis Bro. Bag Co. opened its second plant in 1880 in Minneapolis, followed by a third in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1888. These plants were followed by others in New Orleans, Superior (WI), San Francisco, Indianapolis, Memphis, Kansas City, Seattle, Wichita and Winnipeg. In the early 1900s, Bemis opened its first paper bag manufacturing plant.

On July 25, 2003, Bemis Company, Inc. and UPM-Kymmene (Nasdaq Helsinki :  UPM) agreed to terminate their agreement to sell Bemis' Pressure Sensitive Materials Business to UPM-Kymmene. On April 15, 2003, the Department of Justice was granted an injunction to block the transaction. [6]

In 2011, the company had net sales of $5.3 billion, operating 78 facilities in 12 countries. Over two-thirds of Bemis packaging is used in the food industry, with the balance used in markets including medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, and agribusiness. Bemis' pressure-sensitive products are used in industries including graphic arts, digital imaging, assembly engineering, communications and medical. [7] In July 2012 Bemis company announced a strategic partnership with Norwegian printed electronics company Thin Film Electronics ASA to bring printed electronics to existing Bemis packaging lines. [8] In 2013 the company acquired a China-based film platform. [9] In 2014, Bemis sold its Paper Packaging Division to Hood Packaging Corporation. [10]

Mascot

Biddy the cat logo Bemis 021920.jpg
Biddy the cat logo

The mascot for Bemis Brothers Bag Company was a cat named Biddy. The logo printed on their bags was drawn from a cat (and "excellent mouser") in their first factory. Judson viewed the logo as communicating that Bemis would deal fairly with its customers by "letting the cat out of the bag". Several sculptures of Biddy were displayed at their second branch in Omaha. [11]

Variations on the logo included Biddy with four kittens (symbolizing the company's four factories), Biddy playing bagpipes in Minneapolis, Biddy playing baseball in Omaha, and Biddy with an umbrella in Seattle. The mascot was retired in 1962. [11]

See also

Notes

  1. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97209&p=irol-governance%5B%5D
  2. 1 2 3 Bemis Company (BMS) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest.
  3. 1 2 Bemis Company (BMS) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest.
  4. "Bemis". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-01-25. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  5. "Packaging group Amcor aims to wrap up rival Bemis for $5.25 billion". Reuters. 2018-08-06.
  6. "Bemis, UPM-Kymmene Terminate Purchase and Sale Agreement". Archived from the original on 2013-09-04.
  7. Bemis Company, Inc. - Company Overview Archived July 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Financial Times - Could printed electronics be getting a cigarette break?
  9. "Bemis Company Acquires China-Based Specialty Film Platform". July 1, 2013. Retrieved Jun 14, 2013.
  10. "Bemis completes divestment of Paper Packaging Division - Packaging Today". www.packagingtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  11. 1 2 McCray, Linzee (2019). Feed sacks: the colourful history of a frugal fabric. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Uppercase Publishing, Inc. p. 67. ISBN   978-1-927987-03-2. OCLC   969903422.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UPM (company)</span> Finnish forest industry company

UPM-Kymmene Oyj is a Finnish forest industry company. UPM-Kymmene was formed by the merger of Kymmene Corporation with Repola Oy and its subsidiary United Paper Mills Ltd in 1996. UPM consists of six business areas: UPM Fibres, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Communication Papers and UPM Plywood. The Group employs around 17,000 people and it has production plants in 11 countries. UPM shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange. UPM is the only paper company which is listed in the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index and also a member of the United Nations Global Compact organization.

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an American industrial conglomerate. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amcor</span> Packaging company

Amcor plc is a global packaging company. It develops and produces flexible packaging, rigid containers, specialty cartons, closures and services for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical-device, home and personal-care, and other products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziploc</span> Brand of resealable plastic bags

Ziploc is a brand of reusable, re-sealable sliding channel storage bags and containers originally developed and test marketed by The Dow Chemical Company in 1968 and now produced by S. C. Johnson & Son.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pepsi Stuff</span> Global loyalty program launched by PepsiCo

Pepsi Stuff was a major loyalty program launched by PepsiCo, first in North America on March 28, 1996 and then around the world, featuring premiums — such as T-shirts, hats, denim and leather jackets, bags, and mountain bikes — that could be purchased with Pepsi Points through the Pepsi Stuff Catalog or online. Customers could acquire points from specially marked Pepsi packages and fountain cups. Additional points were sold both by Pepsi and by consumers, the latter mainly enabled by eBay. The first Pepsi Stuff promotion ended on October 31, 1996. It was relaunched 12 years later on February 1, 2008, ended on December 31, 2008, and was relaunched as Pepsi Pass in August 2015. Pepsi Stuff was relaunched on January 22, 2018 with retro editions of Pepsi, and ended on February 28, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avery Dennison</span> American corporation

Avery Dennison Corporation is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials, apparel branding labels and tags, RFID inlays, and specialty medical products. The company is a member of the Fortune 500 and is headquartered in Mentor, Ohio.

Fred Meyer is an American chain of hypermarket superstores founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, United States, by Fred G. Meyer. The stores are found in the northwest U.S., within the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The company was acquired by Kroger in 1998, though the stores are still branded Fred Meyer. The chain was one of the first in the United States to promote one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, bank, clothing, jewelry, home decor, home improvement, garden, electronics, restaurant, shoes, sporting goods, and toys. The Fred Meyer division is headquartered in Portland.

Hefty is an American brand of household products such as trash bags and trash cans, disposable tableware, children's disposable tableware, slider closure food storage and freezer bags, plastic storage bins, and disposable cookware. Originally a Mobil product, the brand has been owned by Reynolds Consumer Products since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paper bag</span> Open-end flexible container made of paper

A paper bag is a bag made of paper, usually kraft paper. Paper bags can be made either with virgin or recycled fibres to meet customers’ demands. Paper bags are commonly used as shopping carrier bags and for packaging of some consumer goods. They carry a wide range of products from groceries, glass bottles, clothing, books, toiletries, electronics and various other goods and can also function as means of transport in day-to-day activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge mix</span> Snack mix or candy consisting of nuts, fruits, and "cremes"

Bridge Mix or Grand Slam mix is a type of snack mix or candy consisting of nuts, fruits, and "cremes" covered in milk and dark chocolate. Some common ingredients in bridge mix include peanuts, almonds, raisins, macadamia nuts, malted milk balls, fruits, and nougats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flexible intermediate bulk container</span> Material-handling equipment

A flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC), jumbo, bulk bag, super sack, big bag, or tonne bag is an industrial container made of flexible fabric that is designed for storing and transporting dry, flowable products, such as sand, fertilizer, and granules of plastic.

Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During that time, it grew to become one of the world's largest aluminum manufacturers.

E. S. & A. Robinson was a British paper, printing and packaging company founded in Bristol in 1844. In 1966, it merged with John Dickinson Stationery to form the Dickinson Robinson Group (DRG) creating one of the world's largest stationery and packaging companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currency packaging</span>

Currency packaging includes several forms of packing cash for easy handling and counting. Many systems use standard color-coding or are marked to indicate the amount in the package.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Spade New York</span> American fashion design house

Kate Spade New York is an American luxury fashion house founded in January 1993 by Kate and Andy Spade. In 2017, the company was purchased by Tapestry, Inc., formerly known as Coach, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trashy Bags</span> Ghanaian company

Trashy Bags Africa is a commercial venture in Accra, Ghana, which turns plastic waste into reusable shopping bags, fashion accessories, school supplies, and other products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billerud</span> Swedish paper and pulp company

Billerud AB is a Swedish pulp and paper manufacturer with headquarters in Solna, Sweden. The company simplified its name from BillerudKorsnäs to Billerud after the acquisition of Verso 2022, an American producer of coated paper. Billerud has nine production facilities in Sweden, Finland and the USA with around 6,100 employees in over 13 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security bag</span> Heavy duty bag used to contain high-value products or documents or legally sensitive items

A security bag is a heavy duty bag used to contain high-value products or documents or legally sensitive items. Envelopes with security features are called security envelopes as well as security bags. Cash for deposit in a bank is often placed in a special deposit bag with security features. When used to contain items related to a crime, special evidence bags are used. Authentication of signatures and chain of custody are often required.

Printpack is a flexible and rigid packaging company specializing in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and agricultural industries. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia Printpack has multiple plants in The United States, China, and Mexico. Printpack services many notable companies, including multiple Fortune 500 companies, and their products are shipped worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feed sack dress</span> Womens dress made from cotton sacks

Feed sack dresses, flour sack dresses, or feedsack dresses were a common article of clothing in rural US and Canadian communities from the late 19th century through the mid 20th century. They were made at home, usually by women, using the cotton sacks in which flour, sugar, animal feed, seeds, and other commodities were packaged, shipped, and sold. They became an iconic part of rural life from the 1920s through the Great Depression, World War II, and post-World War II years.

References