Amcor joins forces with FMCG giants to ramp up e-commerce packaging standards in China
06 Sep 2019 --- Amcor is one of the founders of the newly established China E-commerce & Logistics Packaging Standard Alliance, an initiative by JD.com, China’s largest online retailer and its biggest Internet company by revenue. The alliance also brings together six other well-known brands – Heinz, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Johnson & Johnson, Mengniu, Unilever and China Packaging Testing Centre.
Amcor, the only packaging company among the founding members, joins forces with these businesses in FMCG and online retail to co-create, validate and deploy e-commerce-ready product packaging standards in China.
Amcor joins forces with FMCG and online retail giants to develop solutions e-commerce solutions in China.“The initiative proves that in China, players across the value chain have started taking actions to overcome some of the challenges of a booming e-commerce channel, through better, more environmentally-friendly and faster-to-market packaging. This is similar to what we have seen in the rest of the world,” says Virginie Maes, Vice President, E-commerce and Business Development. “Amcor assumes an active role in contributing with our e-business expertise and packaging solutions to China’s e-commerce landscape.”
Amcor pegs China as the world’s largest and most tech-savvy consumer population, and as a digital pioneer across segments. Amcor continues that China is ahead of other countries in areas such as grocery and healthcare as it quickly adopts new ways of interacting with brands, shopping and doing business. China is the largest e-commerce market in the world, worth US$1.3 trillion in 2018, and is expected to continue growing at an 18 percent annual rate, as noted by Amcor.
Amcor business developments
Last August, Amcor announced a US$500 million buyback in Australia and the US, which it will fund from the proceeds generated by recent sales of packaging plants in Europe and the US. Amcor stated that the remaining US$50 million proceeds from the packaging plant sales would be used to accelerate itself towards its global sustainability goals.
In June, the company also entered into a binding agreement with investment firm Kohlberg & Company for the sale of three former Bemis plants located in the UK and Ireland for a cash consideration of US$394 million. Collectively, these three plants generate annual sales of approximately US$170 million from the sale of flexible packaging for certain healthcare products. This divestment was required by the European Commission at the time of approving Amcor’s acquisition of Bemis on February 11, 2019.
In the same month, Amcor completed the US$6.8 billion acquisition of Bemis, effective from June 11, 2019. The combined company will now operate as Amcor Plc, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “AMCR” and the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol “AMC.”
By Benjamin Ferrer
