Taking the Corrugated Market from a Producer-to Customer-Driven Model

It was during the Industrial Revolution that the desire to satisfy consumer demand for conveniently packaged breakfast cereals helped prove the corrugated box as a viable shipping material. Wheatena creator George H. Hoyt was the first to sell his cereal in boxes to offer a convenient, sanitary alternative to scooping his wheat product from barrels.

Fast forward more than 100 years, and the corrugated material used today has gained mass adoption as the only rigid multi-purpose shipping container to offer an infinite range of box sizes and shapes. Although easily recognizable, there are many corrugated box types now available, each with varying degrees of thickness and offering different sized “fluting” between two smooth sheets, or “liners.”

While consumerism and the resulting 20th century discoveries are viewed by many as bad for the planet, corrugated has proven itself an extremely durable, versatile, economical, lightweight, and ecological material used for custom-manufactured shipping containers, packaging, and point-of purchase displays.

The shift to cleaner goods and production technologies, safer manufacturing methods, and smarter resource use are today driving improvements that will shape the future direction of the corrugated market for years to come.