Gable top cartons were first invented in the U.S. more than a century ago, Elopak CEO Thomas Körmendi noted during a presentation at Pack Expo in Las Vegas this week. Today, there’s plenty of innovation happening with those packages, including in how they’re printed, sealed and designed for recycling — and which store aisles they show up in.
In Europe, where Elopak is based, about half of all milk and juice is sold in cartons, the company says. In the U.S., where Elopak is newly expanding, it projects that figure is closer to one-third.
“We don't need to venture very far from our core to see that there will be significant growth opportunities just within our existing business,” Körmendi said in an interview.
Elopak, a pure-play carton specialist based out of Norway, is looking ahead to starting up the second line in early 2026 at its new Little Rock, Arkansas, plant — its first manufacturing site in the U.S. After quickly selling out the inaugural Little Rock line to a mix of existing and new customers, Elopak commissioned the second line, Körmendi said.
The $100 million factory makes Elopak’s Pure-Pak cartons for liquid dairy products, juices, plant-based drinks and liquid eggs. The company has previously said it expects this second line will contribute an additional $110 million in annual revenue. The U.S. expansion is part of the 2030 strategy to become a 2 billion euro company that Elopak rolled out last year.
Elopak previously serviced some U.S. customers from its other locations in the North America region, including its plant in Montreal, where it was running out of capacity. About 70% of what it was producing in Canada was supplied to the U.S., Körmendi said, supporting the decision to set up manufacturing operations within the United States.
“First thing’s first: The number one thing we're doing now is to ensure that we get the plant up and running, we supply the customers that we have promised supply,” Körmendi said.
But looking ahead, the company wants to grow globally with customers outside of its traditional fields. In the U.S., Elopak currently only works with food and beverage customers. Given the demand in those categories, “we did not have capacity to enter new ones,” Körmendi said.
The company already services other customer segments Europe, such as for home and cleaning products like soaps and detergents, and Körmendi envisions a future where fiber cartons replace plastic containers for these applications and others in the U.S.
