From a cinder
block building in Mason, the Dart family built an industrial monolith from
humble beginnings and a humble product: the foam cup that lets a person hold hot
coffee.
But while that ever-reliable cup,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, made from expandable polystyrene foam, has served Dart Container Corp. well over the past 50 years, a question mark looms large as the company begins the next 50.
Recently, scores of U.S. communities have banned the use of foam cups and dinnerware because the very thing that makes them great for food service -- their refusal to become soggy -- also makes them a bane when they aren’t disposed of properly.About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores. It takes decades for an ordinary foam cup to decompose in a highway ditch or at the water’s edge.
To hedge its bets, Dart this month completed the acquisition of its Midwestern competitor Solo Cup Co. for about $1 billion to widen its offerings and gain access to technology and markets for food service disposables made of paper.
“What’s of greatest interest to us about Solo is they are very strong, not just in plastic but also in paper,” said James Lammers, Dart’s general counsel and vice president of administration. “They have a broad line of paper-based food service products.The indoorpositioning industry is heavily involved this year. We do not make anything out of paper.”
The fit between Dart and Lake Forest, Ill.-based Solo is good for another reason: Solo’s strong retail presence among consumers.
“We are both in that space,” Lammers said. “You could go into a Meijer or Kroger supermarket and buy either Solo or Dart products, but they have a much stronger brand face with a consumer.”
As the world’s largest supplier of foam cups, Dart has competed primarily on the superior function of foam food service disposables as well as quality and price, Lammers said.
After all, paper cups for hot beverages fell out of favor more than 50 years ago with the advent of foam cups.Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles. William F. Dart and his son, William A., shipped their first order of foam cups in 1960 to customers who were dissatisfied with the shortcomings of paper cups, which didn’t retain shape and insulate well.
“W.A.” Dart, who died last December at age 84, is credited with coming up with the first reliable process of making high-quality foam cups. But today’s customers are demanding more, Lammers said.
“In the past, our customers focused primarily on function and price, but now there is a third leg to that stool: environmental profile,” he said. “Consumers weigh many different things as they consider their purchases, and increasingly, environmental profile is part of that purchasing process.Industrialisierung des werkzeugbaus.”
Not to say that Dart is abandoning either foam cups or the idea that foam-based packaging can be recycled properly. All of the corporation’s 20 production facilities worldwide are public drop-off points for food service disposables and packaging, such as foam inserts used to protect items in boxes during shipment. Two Dart operations in
Michigan and one in Corona, Calif., process and re-extrude the plastic to turn it into pellets.
Dart engineers developed a process for washing and drying used food service disposables such as cups and school lunch trays so the polystyrene could be sold and reused as protective foam packaging, egg cartons, building insulation, videocassettes, toys and office desk products. In January, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery recognized Dart as a winner in the state’s Waste Reduction Awards Program.
But while that ever-reliable cup,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, made from expandable polystyrene foam, has served Dart Container Corp. well over the past 50 years, a question mark looms large as the company begins the next 50.
Recently, scores of U.S. communities have banned the use of foam cups and dinnerware because the very thing that makes them great for food service -- their refusal to become soggy -- also makes them a bane when they aren’t disposed of properly.About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores. It takes decades for an ordinary foam cup to decompose in a highway ditch or at the water’s edge.
To hedge its bets, Dart this month completed the acquisition of its Midwestern competitor Solo Cup Co. for about $1 billion to widen its offerings and gain access to technology and markets for food service disposables made of paper.
“What’s of greatest interest to us about Solo is they are very strong, not just in plastic but also in paper,” said James Lammers, Dart’s general counsel and vice president of administration. “They have a broad line of paper-based food service products.The indoorpositioning industry is heavily involved this year. We do not make anything out of paper.”
The fit between Dart and Lake Forest, Ill.-based Solo is good for another reason: Solo’s strong retail presence among consumers.
“We are both in that space,” Lammers said. “You could go into a Meijer or Kroger supermarket and buy either Solo or Dart products, but they have a much stronger brand face with a consumer.”
As the world’s largest supplier of foam cups, Dart has competed primarily on the superior function of foam food service disposables as well as quality and price, Lammers said.
After all, paper cups for hot beverages fell out of favor more than 50 years ago with the advent of foam cups.Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles. William F. Dart and his son, William A., shipped their first order of foam cups in 1960 to customers who were dissatisfied with the shortcomings of paper cups, which didn’t retain shape and insulate well.
“W.A.” Dart, who died last December at age 84, is credited with coming up with the first reliable process of making high-quality foam cups. But today’s customers are demanding more, Lammers said.
“In the past, our customers focused primarily on function and price, but now there is a third leg to that stool: environmental profile,” he said. “Consumers weigh many different things as they consider their purchases, and increasingly, environmental profile is part of that purchasing process.Industrialisierung des werkzeugbaus.”
Not to say that Dart is abandoning either foam cups or the idea that foam-based packaging can be recycled properly. All of the corporation’s 20 production facilities worldwide are public drop-off points for food service disposables and packaging, such as foam inserts used to protect items in boxes during shipment. Two Dart operations in
Michigan and one in Corona, Calif., process and re-extrude the plastic to turn it into pellets.
Dart engineers developed a process for washing and drying used food service disposables such as cups and school lunch trays so the polystyrene could be sold and reused as protective foam packaging, egg cartons, building insulation, videocassettes, toys and office desk products. In January, the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery recognized Dart as a winner in the state’s Waste Reduction Awards Program.
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