Sonoco reshapes consumer packaging leadership

Sonoco reshapes consumer packaging leadership

Vidhya Edwards Munnangi

Wed, August 5, 2026 at 12:51 PM GMT+3 2 min read

Sonoco Products Company has brought its global consumer packaging activities under one management set-up, with Ernest Haynes taking charge as global consumer packaging president.

In the role, Haynes will oversee the company's biggest business area, which records about $5.2bn in annual revenue.

The division includes 98 sites across 25 countries and employs 11,250 people.

Haynes will report to Sonoco president and CEO HowardCoker.

Coker said: "I'm pleased to have an experienced leader like Ernest taking over this important role. He has nearly 30 years of operating and commercial leadership at Sonoco and will bring the best of our Americas and EMEA/APAC businesses together to leverage our technology, supply chain and research and development to meet the changing needs of our global customers."

Haynes joined Sonoco in 1997 and has worked in senior positions in both its consumer and industrial operations.

Before this change, he led Sonoco's consumer unit in the Americas and served as president of metal packaging North America after the Ball Metalpack acquisition in 2022.

Haynes said: "I'm excited by the opportunity to further grow our strong metal and paper can businesses around the world.

"This new structure simplifies and improves the efficiency of our operating model enabling our teams to better collaborate, innovate and grow. I am passionate about fostering a culture of innovation and ensuring world-class manufacturing, quality and technical service for our brands worldwide."

The industrial paper packaging segment will remain under the leadership of James Harrell, president.

Sonoco EMEA/APAC president Sean Cairns is departing the business after 17 years at the company and 30 years in the packaging sector.

In the previous year, Sonoco combined its metal packaging and rigid paper containers businesses within one consumer packaging structure based on geography.

That arrangement comprises two divisions: consumer packaging EMEA/APAC and consumer packaging Americas.

"Sonoco reshapes consumer packaging leadership" was originally created and published by Packaging Gateway, a GlobalData owned brand.