Ask ten people in the trade for the biggest packaging companies in the USA and you’ll hear International Paper, Smurfit Westrock, Packaging Corporation of America, Graphic Packaging, Amcor (Berry Global is part of it now), Ball, Sealed Air, Sonoco, Avery Dennison and Veritiv, give or take a name. Great companies. Built for truckloads though, which is why a small brand ordering 300 boxes usually ends up at a custom box shop.
Packaging is huge. Most industry estimates put the global market somewhere around a trillion dollars, and a big slice of it runs through American plants. So who are the big names, what do they actually make, and where does a smaller shop like ours fit? That’s what this guide covers.
How We Put This List Together
Not a scientific ranking. We went by size, reach and how often brands bring the names up when they talk to us, and we kept each description to what these companies are broadly known for and what they show on their own websites.
Fair warning, this industry merges like crazy. Two names below look different than they did a couple of years back after big deals, and product lines move around, so check their site for current minimums and what they make today before picking up the phone.
Our Top 10 List of US Packaging Companies
1. International Paper
Based in Memphis, Tennessee. Fiber is their whole world, so containerboard and corrugated boxes for food, beverage, retail and industrial shipping, the brown boxes that half the country’s goods travel in.
2. Smurfit Westrock
WestRock merged with Smurfit Kappa in 2024, and the combined company runs plants across the US and in many other countries. Paper-based product packaging and corrugated containers are the core, with folding cartons and retail display boxes alongside.
3. Packaging Corporation of America
Lake Forest, Illinois. If it’s brown and corrugated, PCA probably makes something like it. Their corrugated packaging runs from plain shipping boxes to printed containers.
4. Graphic Packaging International
Atlanta area. Folding cartons are the big one (think the cereal box or the beer carrier in your fridge), plus other paperboard packaging for food and drink brands.
5. Amcor (with Berry Global)
Amcor is run out of Zurich, Switzerland, with a big US footprint, and it combined with Indiana-based Berry Global in 2025. Plastics mostly. Flexible films, rigid containers, closures and caps, and a lot of talk on their sites about recyclable and sustainable packaging.
6. Ball Corporation
Colorado, not far from our own offices. Metal. Aluminum cans and bottles for drinks, mainly, and if you’ve opened a soda this week there’s a decent chance Ball made the can.
7. Sealed Air
Charlotte, North Carolina. Best known for the Bubble Wrap brand and Cryovac food packaging, so protective packing and the vacuum-sealed film you see around meat and cheese.
8. Sonoco
Hartsville, South Carolina. Consumer and industrial packaging, including the round paper canisters and metal cans used for snacks and food, plus tubes and cores for industry.
9. Avery Dennison
Not a box maker. They’re known for pressure-sensitive label materials, RFID tags and apparel labels, the stuff that goes on the package or the shirt rather than around it.
10. Veritiv
Atlanta again. More distributor than manufacturer: corrugated boxes, protective packing and facility supplies, sourced and shipped to businesses that want one supplier for a lot of different things.
Where a Small Custom Box Shop Fits In
Here’s the honest bit. Most of the companies above are set up for brands that buy by the truckload, and if you need a few hundred printed boxes for a candle line, a skincare launch or a bakery, you’ll usually be talking to a smaller custom packaging shop instead.
The Pioneer Packaging is one of those, and yes, far smaller than everything on this list. We’re a custom box shop with offices in Denver and Boulder, Colorado. Minimums are often around 50 boxes depending on the style, design help is free, a digital proof goes out before anything prints (physical samples on request), production usually takes 10 to 12 business days after you approve the proof, and ground shipping in the US is free. Folks order magnetic boxes, mailers and printed retail cartons from us.
How to Choose a Packaging Company for Your Business
So which one should you call? Depends on your size, honestly. The giants want volume. Ordering a few hundred boxes? Then you care about other things, and these are the questions we’d ask any supplier, us included.
What’s the minimum order?
Ask for the number in writing, and ask how the price per box changes as you go up. Some suppliers quote a low minimum and then price it so high it doesn’t really count.
Who handles the artwork?
If you don’t have a designer, ask if they’ll set up the dieline and check your files, and whether that costs extra. A misplaced barcode on 1,000 boxes is an expensive lesson.
Will I see a proof or a sample?
You should always get a digital proof. A physical sample is worth asking for on a first order, especially with glass bottles or tight inserts.
What does the full cost look like?
Plates, dies, shipping, rush fees. Get them all in the first quote. Our guide on how much custom boxes cost explains what drives the price up or down.
And does anyone actually pick up the phone? It matters more than you’d think when a launch date is close. You can reach us at 719-517-4493 or through our contact page.
FAQs About US Packaging Companies
Which packaging company is the biggest in the US?
Depends who’s counting, and how. Revenue, plants, tons of board? Most lists put a paper and corrugated giant at the top, usually International Paper or Smurfit Westrock, and the order shuffles every time there’s a big merger.
Will the big names take a small order?
Sometimes, through a distributor. Mostly though they’re set up for huge runs, so a brand needing a few hundred printed boxes tends to get a lower minimum and a quicker reply from a custom shop (check their site for current minimums either way).
Manufacturer or distributor, what’s the difference?
One makes the boxes in its own plants. The other, Veritiv for example, buys from lots of makers and sells to you out of one big catalog, handy if you need tape and pallets and boxes from the same place.
How should I compare two packaging suppliers?
Put the quotes side by side and look past the unit price, at minimums and what’s actually included (proof, sample, plates, freight) and how long production takes. Then call them both. You learn a lot from who answers.
Keep Reading
Ready to order? Start with custom mailer boxes and custom gift boxes. For more background, read top 5 custom packaging companies in chicago for small to medium businesses and top 5 packaging companies in atlanta.