6 minute read
Packaging Manufacturer Calls De Soto Home
Huhtamaki plant brings jobs, community involvement, and sustainability initiatives to town.
Article by Jill Dutton
Photos courtesy Huhtamaki
Since its current facility was built in 1994, Huhtamaki has been a major part of the business force and community of De Soto. Huhtamaki demonstrates this commitment to community welfare with a wealth of employment opportunities and sustainability endeavors, as well as partnerships with the De Soto school district, local charities including the De Soto Food Pantry, and other citywide events. The company embodies the essence of a true community member not only by being a member of the chamber of commerce but also by serving in leadership roles within the organization.
Huhtamaki
Huhtamaki North America leads the industry with sustainable packaging innovation. This business segment serves local markets with Chinet disposable tableware, packaging for consumer goods and foodservice packaging produced in 18 manufacturing plants in the United States and Mexico with approximately 4,000 employees.
The De Soto production facility converts paperboard for both frozen and dry goods, servicing numerous fast-moving consumer good brands and retail outlets.
The Road to De Soto
The De Soto location serves as the corporate headquarters for Huhtamaki North America and houses the finance, human resources, sales, marketing and information technology departments as well as other professional functions.
The company arrived in De Soto in 1994 as Sealright and was later acquired by Huhtamaki, a Finland-based global leader of molded fiber, paperboard, flexible and plastic packaging.
“While Huhtamaki was originally a more diverse company that manufactured other items, over time it started to specialize in packaging. As part of the journey to specialize, the company started to acquire businesses around the world. North America, and De Soto in particular, was one of those areas,” says Ann O’Hara, president of Huhtamaki North America. The company celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020.
Community Involvement
As part of their commitment to community involvement, the company provides volunteers and monetary and material donations for community events and invests locally with great jobs.
“We manufacture and convert paper into packaging in De Soto, so that means we need printers, die cutters, forming, maintenance, mechanics, and warehouse employees. We also work with packaging engineers who make better equipment for our customers’ use. There are also great roles in HR, finance, IT, sales and marketing right here in De Soto,” O’Hara says.
“First and foremost in the community, we provide jobs with great benefits to residents in the greater Kansas City region. Secondly, we make contributions to nonprofits, both those that align with our mission of being a source of sustainable packaging solutions and to what we call passion projects such as the Boys or Girls Clubs. In addition to these, we have people volunteering in the community, (and we donate) to local organizations such as the fire department, police department, and schools.”
The company’s recruiting efforts also look to the future by creating meaningful roles for young professionals.
“We’re seeking to help people get into manufacturing and tech programs (and recruit) heavily from the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and the University of Missouri, as well as schools in the metro Kansas City area,” O’Hara says.
Huhtamaki’s excellence and leadership in packaging are frequently recognized with awards from industry associations and customers. Each year, Huhtamaki competes in the Kansas City Corporate Challenge (KCCC) and was awarded the 2023 Sportsmanship Award for its enthusiasm and commitment to the spirit of the games.
Sustainability Initiatives
Sustainability is embedded in everything the company does and is at the core of its strategy. This comprehensive approach employs the use of renewable or recyclable materials for packaging while preserving food to eliminate waste.
“It’s a key focus to figure out how we can make all the packaging out of renewable materials and also to make the products recyclable, compostable or reusable,” says O’Hara.
First and foremost in the community, we provide jobs with great benefits to residents in the greater Kansas City region.
-Ann O’Hara, president of Huhtamaki North America
Each facility in North America also strives to become a “zero-waste to landfill” facility, and progress is being made—three plants have already achieved that status. Working toward zero waste, the De Soto plant has sustainability practices in place that include recycling, composting and cultivating a pollinator garden.
“Combined with De Soto Operations, by utilizing recycling, composting, and other methods, we expect to reduce waste in landfills by 40 percent from 2023 to 2024, which equals 100 tons of waste back into the circular economy,” says Scott Earley, operations controller.
To ensure that the facility’s waste becomes compost, Huhtamaki works with Missouri Organics in Kansas City, a company that provides compost, topsoil and mulch to customers across the metro area.
“The De Soto pollinator garden is about one-tenth of an acre. We used a truckload of compost from Missouri Organics for planting and partner with Missouri Organics in our onsite composting program. Adding Huhtamaki De Soto to an existing route (that services the University of Kansas) helps (in) the utilization of the truck. It opens the door for interested parties in the De Soto area to partner in composting,” Earley says.
Composting, recycling and eliminating waste is not an empty promise at Huhtamaki. “Our goal is zero waste to landfill, and we will continue to focus on how to achieve this,” says O’Hara.
Moving Forward
The De Soto Chamber of Commerce recently named Huhtamaki its Business of the Year at the annual dinner on April 27. O’Hara believes that De Soto perfectly complements the company’s mission to work with the community, implement sustainability practices, and give back as often as possible to the community in which they live and work.
“I came from a one-traffic-light town in New Jersey,” O’Hara says. “Like De Soto, there was one traffic light, businesses along Main Street, and kids walked to school. De Soto has this great sense of community, and Huhtamaki intends to remain as a great community member. We’re here for De Soto, and it feels like home.”
FOR MORE
Learn more about the entire company on the website, www.hutamaki.com/en; and for more on Huhtamaki North America, click on www.huhtamaki.com/en-us/north-america.
