'Luxuriously Responsible'

Don Droppo, Jr., president of Curtis Packaging

There are times when Don Droppo, Jr., wonders what he would find if he took a look inside one of the walls of his company’s building.

Curtis Packaging, based in Sandy Hook, Conn., is a leader in folding carton production and a pioneer of packaging sustainability. But its roots date back to 1845, when it was founded as a manufacturer of buttons and combs.

For a half century, Droppo explains, the company developed these incredibly ornate items from horse hooves, antlers, horns and bone, which left intricate patterns that are replicated today by plastics.

“I would love to open up a wall and find thousands of these buttons and combs,” he says. “The original ones … we have just a few left. They’re worth a lot of money.”

Curtis got its start in this industry because as Droppo explains, its region of Connecticut was a central location for the cattle husbandry industry. But as husbandry eventually moved from the Northeast to the Midwest in the early 1900s, Curtis had to reinvent itself.

Since the company had already amassed a great deal of experience in making boxes for its buttons and combs, it decided to focus specifically on packaging. Droppo says that in those early days, Curtis packaged goods from a vast array of industries including brass, ball bearings, ice cream cones and spaghetti.

In 1980 though, the Curtis family, which was in its fifth generation of ownership, decided it was time to sell the company. It was purchased by five principals who ran Curtis Packaging until 1988, at which point one of the principals passed away. Droppo’s father was part of the team that was tasked with evaluating that principal’s estate. After seeing firsthand that Curtis was a strong company, he made the move to buy Curtis Packaging himself.

“He knew nothing about printing or packaging manufacturing,” Droppo says. “But what he did know was the balance sheet was strong. He knew we had great customers, great employees and the latest technology.”

Droppo, Jr., took over as president of Curtis Packaging in 2009, having gained some prior experience with the company through part-time work during his high school and college years.

Though Curtis Packaging had established itself as a leader in the packaging industry, working with major accounts like Stanley Tools, Titleist golf balls and having the distinction of making all of the boxes for the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, Droppo said the company had to make changes to better position itself for the future.

Nationally, a lot of manufacturing was being outsourced, and as a small, family-owned company, Curtis Packaging had to find its niche.

Droppo says that he steered the company toward accounts with high-end, luxury products and helped develop the company’s specialty as a printer and converter of high-end folding cartons.

While this was an essential shift for the company to make, Droppo also implemented a heavy focus on sustainability — before it was the trendy thing to do.

“We became leaders of sustainable packaging,” he says. “[Long] before people were talking about it, we were talking about it. We were the first packaging company in North America to go 100% renewable energy in our facility. We were the first packaging company to go 100% carbon neutral.”

Through the combination of these two initiatives, Droppo says Curtis Packaging developed its slogan of “Luxuriously Responsible.” To maintain this edge the company has on the industry, Droppo says Curtis Packaging has been an innovator in finding ways to enhance its packaging’s visuals, while driving its
green approach.

For example, Curt Coat, Droppo says, is a very high gloss UV coating, which simulates an acetate high-gloss lamination, but Curtis’ formulation is much easier to recycle.

Droppo says that when Curtis started to push its sustainability initiatives in the early 2000s, many of its customers didn’t fully understand why it was taking these measures so seriously. But as environmentalism caught on, Droppo explains that his competitors told him that Curtis Packaging made them change their
own approach.

“There were companies that weren’t believing it,” Droppo says. “That Curtis Packaging from Sandy Hook, Conn., was starting to create this path of sustainability and others had to adapt and change their philosophy.”

Though Curtis Packaging has been in business for more than 170 years, Droppo says that there is always room to learn more. For the last eight years, Curtis has partnered with the Yale School of Forestry to give students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and help the company learn more about environmental practices.

“It’s amazing because you have some of the brightest minds that really are passionate about the environmental side of packaging,” he says.

While the walls of Curtis Packaging may contain history dating back to a very different time in Connecticut’s past, the company is blazing a path forward for an industry that will need to rely on both attractive packaging and a green conscience.

“We want to change behaviors,” Droppo says. “We want to change how everyone does business in the packaging world.”