A rare gem in the packaging industry, Calumet Carton Company has stood the test of time, and this year marks the 90th anniversary of the four-generation privately owned and managed enterprise. The success story for Calumet Carton dates back to the year 1930 when the company started manufacturing mailers and packaging products. Through the years, the business diversified, and today, the company caters to a wide range of industries, be it electronics, food, beauty, pharmaceutical, or hardware. The Calumet Carton team has grown in leaps and bounds, acquiring a very deep skill base that coupled with a good work environment and stable corporate environment enables them to lead the competition against the best packaging manufacturers on the planet. Alongside their flagship product, Stayflats® Mailers, Calumet Carton’s product line includes folding cartons and custom printed mailers for nearly every market out there.

There really is no project that is off-limits for Calumet Carton. “The marketplace has come to realize that if they have something that is out of the ordinary or does not fit, Calumet Carton is the place to go,” says Gina Inwood, Director of Marketing and Innovation at Calumet Carton Company. Even with an operation as large as theirs, the company still manages to be flexible and nimble, being able to go from very small to very large runs while being able to react quickly to customer demands.

So it comes as no surprise when a global retail beverage company wanted to insulate their coffee cups they turned to Calumet to devise, configure, and implement the turnkey print, die cut and gluing of more than one billion coffee-cup clutches per year. Among the challenges, lithographic printing press cylinders had to undercut to allow direct printing of heavy weight single face corrugated.

The marketplace has come to realize that if they have something that is out of the ordinary or does not fit, Calumet Carton is the place to go

In another instance, a national food chain wanted a special donut container produced and distributed for use in their US stores in honor of National Fry day. The end result package design involved their web flexo and sheet fed litho print operations for the backside direct food contact print and coating, top side print and coating, along with die cutting and gluing. From approved concept, design and graphics Calumet had less than two weeks to manufacture millions of folding cartons for the one day national event.

“Our entrepreneurial approach backed with real capabilities, both personnel and equipment, has allowed us to endure all of the economic cycles and the environmental trends that are going on around us,” says Gina.

When offering their services on a global level, Calumet Carton ensures that they are on a level playing field, utilizing an increasing amount of non-traditional materials and components in their folding cartons and packaging. Doing so translates into better benefits not just from a cost standpoint but also in terms of their environmental footprint. As the majority of their products is made out of recycled paperboard with high postconsumer content and is thus entirely recyclable, Calumet Carton has never had to make any modifications to fit in with the sustainability trends.

As the long-standing legacy carries on, Calumet Carton continues to reinvest in their plants while adding new capabilities and equipment.