For more information, contact James Jolly, director of marketing and communications, at 843.383.8018

Hartsville, S.C. — Whether they know it or not, millions of people around the world everyday use products developed by Sonoco Products Company, one of the South’s oldest and most successful corporations. A Century Plus: A History of Sonoco Products Company (Coker College Press, 2005) by educator Malcolm C. Doubles is the first comprehensive history of this multi-billion dollar, multi-national corporation that has changed the way the world sees— and uses— packaging.

Founded in 1899 in Hartsville, S.C., the small, rural town where it is still headquartered, Sonoco’s first product was a cardboard cone used by textile companies to hold thread. Now a $3.2 billion corporation, Sonoco has approximately 17,000 employees at 300 operations in 35 countries serving customers in 85 nations.

Among Sonoco’s numerous innovations are the composite cans used for snack foods, frozen juice, refrigerated biscuits, and powdered cleansers. Sonoco is the world’s top manufacturer of these cans, and clients past and present include some of the most recognizable consumer brand names on the planet: Coca Cola, Nabisco, Nestle, Pringles, Pillsbury, Campbell Soup, Lifesavers, Lipton, and Gillette.

Sonoco even helped pioneer the ubiquitous plastic grocery bag. Numerous other Sonoco products are used by businesses everywhere, including paper tubes and cardboard packaging. Sonoco also happens to be one the world’s foremost recyclers, processing over three million tons of recovered paper a year.

In A Century Plus: A History of Sonoco Products Company, Doubles reveals the significant episodes and interesting details behind the company’s success. Sonoco has weathered a century of fluctuating economic conditions, including the Great Depression, two World Wars, and numerous other challenges, both internal and external. Along the way, Sonoco has responded to — and embraced — the globalization of business and countless advances in science and technology.

A professor at Coker College in Hartsville, Doubles uses employee interviews, stories and other research to profile Sonoco’s growth from a one-product business to the global giant it is today. He also examines the company’s financial history, corporate structure and technological advancements that helped Sonoco to continue to be competitive.

The story of Sonoco is really a success story of American business and innovation. Doubles’ sweeping narrative reveals how one company has survived — and thrived.

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February 20, 2006