30th Anniversary Special: The Jiffy name: still strong after all these years

Jiffy Packaging advertised in the very first issue of Packaging Today: in fact it is one of the few companies that are still recognisable among those that have been taken over, disappeared or merged into bigger groups. The brand is as strong today as it has always been, but how has it survived the ups and downs of the past few decades?

Jiffy Packaging was founded in 1963 by two cousins, Jonathan and Brian Baldwin, and production started in 1964 of the Padded Bag, which is still going strong today, along with Classic mailers, bubble films and polyethylene foam. After going through several acquisitions, the present owner Pregis has a truly international reach, with operations in eight countries across Europe and several in the USA and Canada.

Sustainability is high on the agenda. Christophe Magnin, marketing director, Europe, comments: “With this in mind we launched the Jiffy Green range of products, which includes the Jiffy Padded Bag, our all-plastics lightweight mailer the Superlite, and a variety of environmentally friendly bubble films, these by the way containing up to

100% pre-consumer recycled raw materials. Our latest innovation is EP-Flex, Renew, a biodegradable polyethylene film used for cushioning and void filling. More of such products are being developed continually.”

Surviving in a market where competitors are springing up every day is a challenge, but Mr Magnin says Pregis stays ahead of the game by listening to customers and their needs, maintaining quality and value and addressing green issues.