 Tetra Pak・s History
Tetra Pak・s History
Tetra Pak・s first product was the concept of a package. The Tetra Classic, Tetra Pak's first commercial product, was launched in 1952. Until then, milk had been sold by volume over the counter or in glass bottles.
Development of the Company
Dr. Ruben Rausing founded Tetra Pak. He was born in 1895 in Raus, near Helsingborg, Sweden, and graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics in 1918 (see picture 1). By 1920, he had earned his Master・s of Science Degree from Columbia University in New York. During his studies in the USA, Rausing was first exposed to ：self-service； stores. He noted that this concept was going to be adopted in Europe, thus increasing the demand for pre-packaged goods. In 1929, the Wall Street crash triggered the Great Depression, and he and Erik Akerlund founded Scandinavia・s first factory specialising in packaging in Sweden. The firm, Akerlund & Rausing, was to become one of the largest packaging manufacturers in Europe. A primary objective of the company was to produce packaging for flour and reduce waste when selling by bulk and transporting the products.
During World War II, much of Europe・s rural population moved into urban areas. The distance between food production sites and people・s homes increased, and consumers became very aware of the food distribution process.
At a time when consumers still had to return the glass bottles to milk manufacturers, Rausing knew that conventional food distribution methods had a strong effect on the sales of bottled milk at self-service stores. He brought together a group of dynamic individuals and persuaded them to create new packaging techniques. The group developed disposable paper-based milk containers that later revolutionised the entire dairy industry, thanks to their high safety standards and convenient transportation options.
Tetra Pak・s Expertise
In 1951, Tetra Pak was established in Lund, Sweden, by Rausing and Erik Wallenberg, starting life as a subsidiary of Akerlund & Rausing. In 1952, the first Tetra Pak machine designed to manufacture tetrahedron-shaped cartons joined the production line.
In 1965, Akerlund & Rausing and other companies owned by the Rausing family were sold, although Rausing retained the subsidiary Tetra Pak. From then on, Tetra Pak had more resources to focus on developing and supplying complete packaging production systems, packaging materials and food distribution systems and, until 1991, Tetra Pak focused on the production of carton packaging.
A New Milestone
In 1991, Tetra Pak achieved another new milestone with its successful acquisition of Alfa-Laval, one of the world・s largest suppliers of equipment to the food and processing industries, and agriculture. In 1992, Tetra Pak was reconstructed, setting up a subsidiary called Tetra Laval on January 1, 1993.Three companies - Tetra Pak, DeLaval and Sidel - are currently also included in the group. After Alfa Laval was integrated into Tetra Pak, the company had access to suitable equipment and specialised knowledge that enabled it to develop the business of processing and production systems for liquid food.
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