For an upcoming project, I need ten sources in the USA for the each of
the following:
1. full size cereal boxes, printed and with a small diecut hole on one
side.
2. as above, but also inserted with my product and sealed. 
3. the individual "funpak" cereal boxes, printed, stuffed and sealed.
(it's possible that this is two sources).

So, to be redundant, I'm going to give a manufacturer a whole bunch of
product (non-food) and ask them to insert it into a custom-printed
cereal box and seal it. I need to do this for regular size boxes and,
(for a different version of the product) for the little kind that turn
into their own bowls.

I'm aware that most commercial printers can figure out how to do a job
like this, but I want to work with someone who does it a lot and can
be very aggressive in terms of price and quality.

I need name, contact, city, state, phone, website if possible, email
even better.

Thanks, guys.

Zoomzoom --

Cereal boxes come in many varieties, including recycled cardboard and
lined boxes with aluminized or wax liners that can have liquids poured
into them.  The industry refers to these boxes as "offset folding
cartons."  For the food category, the number of large competitors is
relatively limited.

As you probably know, the major breakfast cereal suppliers are
Kellogg, Malt-O-Meal, Nabisco, Post, Quaker Oats Co. and General
Mills.

The large commercial printers who service this business are:

Smurfit-Stone (supplies General Mills and Kellogg among others)
Carol Stream Design Center
400 E. North Avenue
Carol Stream, IL 60188
877-772-2999
http://www.smurfit-stone.com/content/homepage.asp

Inland Consumer Packaging
248 Industrial Road 
Leominster, MA 01453 
800-370-9121
e-mail: Leominster@iccnet.com
http://www.inlandconsumerpkg.com/

MeadWestvaco
1 High Ridge Park
Stamford, CT 06905
213-461-7400
http://www.meadwestvaco.com/packaging.nsf/v/industries

Georgia-Pacific
Pulp, Paperboard & Packaging (Color Box product line)
525 Guthridge Court
Norcross, GA  30092
770-662-0512
paula.hall@color-box.com
http://www.gp.com/ppb/index.html

International Paper Food Service Business
3 Paragon Drive
Montvale, NJ 07645
800-852-2425
http://www.ipfoodservice.com/

Finally, Tetra Pak, which is more known for it's beverage packaging
capabilities but has a food packaging operation too:
Tetra Pak Inc.
101 Corporate Woods Parkway
Vernon Hills, IL  60061
847-955-6000
dryfoods@tetrapak.com
http://www.tetrapak.com/


And the publication (and trade show) that covers this industry is:
Paperloop:
http://www.paperloop.com

CMM International (April 2005)
http://www.paperloop.com/events_conferences/paperloop_events.html


Google search strategy:
Start with the known cereal box manufacturers (Smurfit-Stone) and
perform a Google search -- then use Google's "similar pages" link,
which show competitors for a category.

A search was also done with the following terms:
"offset folding carton"

The actual stuffing of boxes will likely be done by a fulfillment
house or mailing company, which specializes in detailing the finished
packing.  Often these companies handle print services too, though this
is a specialty packaging area.
You may find each of the printers has preferences for particular
fulfillment houses -- and that the fulfillment companies have folding
and processing equipment to handle certain size boxes but here are two
Chicago-area companies with which I've worked as examples and another
carton manufacturer (for non-food products) in Kansas:
Northwest Mailing Service
http://www.nwmail.com/Contact/

Bradley Printing
2170 Mannheim Rd
Des Plaines, IL 60018
800-552-0840

Ray Products
1212 Corporate Drive
Parsons, KS  67357
620-421-1510
sales@rayproducts.com
http://www.rayproducts.com/flash_index.html


Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

---

Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 27 Aug 2003 17:48 PDT

Zoomzoom --

Two other large carton manufacturers I found right after posting the
Answer above do provide packaging for food products:
Gulf States Paper
1400 Jack Warner Pkwy. NE
Tuscaloosa, AL 35404
General Food Packaging
Lee Wright
Director, Sales & Business Development
Paperboard Packaging 
Phone: (205) 562-5543
http://www.gulf-states.com/gspcsite_pages/pbrdpkg.html

Sonoco Packaging
8800 South Boulevard
Charlotte, NC  28273
Folding Cartons
David Kivett, david.kivett@sonoco.com
704-501-3126
http://www.sonoco.com/topnav/products+and+services/consumer+packaging/folding+cartons/index.htm

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Request for Answer Clarification by zoomzoom-ga on 27 Aug 2003 17:53 PDT

Thanks Mr. (Ms.?) Omni. That was quick.

A few things.

1. didn't need the tetrapak type stuff. Just real, old-fashioned
cereal boxes.

2. did you find who can do the little funpak size?

3. I wish there were more fulfillment choices. I assume that there's
some sort of special machinery involved in sealing etc. and finding
the professionals at these would be helpful.

this is fine as far as it goes, but I fear it's not as far as I was
hoping for.

---

Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 27 Aug 2003 17:57 PDT

Zoomzoom --

Note that the reference to Tetra Pak is to the dry goods product line.
 Though I'm not familiar with it, they may well be positioning
themselves to the breakfast cereal business, given the location.

Fulfillment companies are everywhere -- it's part of the corporate
printing business for companies like Bradley or Northwest Mailing to
package everything (and even handle orders/shipments from a company's
dealers).  The "fun paks" are part of the product lines of several
companies, as you'll see.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

---

Clarification of Answer by omnivorous-ga on 27 Aug 2003 19:30 PDT

Zoomzoom --

Fulfillment companies number in the thousands. I'm sorry you were
disappointed in the clarification but the optimal business strategy
here is to find out which companies your cereal box carton
manufacturers recommend for fulfillment.

Big points for a quick response, but I have to say how disappointed I
was that the expert made no real effort to address my query. Telling
me that resources are "everywhere" is not the point, is it?