Bemis Company, Inc. was a global manufacturer of flexible packaging products (ranging from self-venting cook-in-bag packaging and retort packaging for shelf-stable products, to vacuum packaging for meat products and puncture-resistant, sterile medical packaging) and pressure-sensitive materials. Bemis was headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin in the United States. Its divisions were located in 12 countries and its films for packaging products and adhesive materials were distributed worldwide.
In August 2018, Amcor announced it would acquire the company for $5.25 billion in shares.[5] The deal completed on June 11, 2019, and all operations have been merged with Amcor.
History
Bemis Brothers Bag Company was founded by Judson Moss Bemis in 1858 in St. Louis, Missouri, as a manufacturer of printed cotton bags for food products. Its first location was on the second floor of a machine shop, which provided steam to operate the printing presses and readily available maintenance personnel for machine repairs.
Two key innovations Bemis' company originally pioneered were the printing and machine-sewing of bags. (Traditionally, bags were stenciled and hand-sewn.) Bemis' first order was for 200 half-barrel sacks. To allay worries that machine-sewn bags were inferior to traditional hand-sewn bags, Judson Bemis unconditionally guaranteed every bag his company manufactured.
In 1867, Judson Bemis' brother, Stephen A. Bemis, returned from the gold rush and joined Judson in the bag manufacturing business.