Better Earth acquired Roswell-based Meristem Packaging’s Sustainable Packaging Division, effective August 1, 2022, increasing its foray into building a strong bio-focused, closed-loop production circuit, aiming to increase the 8% foothold compostable packaging has in the foodservice industry.
Better Earth is an Atlanta-based Sustainable Packaging Solutions Provider with a mission to make sustainability accessible, beginning with the South. The company has grown significantly over its seven year history, demonstrating an incredible rise of 400% in sales over the last four years. Since its beginnings in Tucker, GA as American Fiber Packaging, Better Earth has become a global sustainable packaging provider for customers across North America, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean.
Despite its ballooning momentum, Better Earth remains grounded in its Southern roots and its undertaking in expanding sustainability efforts. The acquisition of fellow metro Atlanta-based packaging company Meristem’s Sustainable Packaging Division will accelerate Better Earth’s goals to nurture the South’s green economy, catalyze a plastic-free future and build a regenerative workplace for its employees. To continue its upward trajectory, Better Earth has made investments in other organizations and companies that can help it accomplish its goals. These partners include composters to facilitate composting services for residents and businesses throughout the southeast, as well as agricultural fiber and bioplastics manufactures, which are transforming tree-free based alternatives in fiber, and biobased plastic packaging that replenishes the social and ecological systems harmed by petroleum plastics.
Better Earth’s growth is matched by a global fervor to replace single-use plastic in the foodservice industry, which has been seen to contribute to plastic pollution, climate change and deleterious health impacts. According to a 2022 Ipsos Survey, over three-fourths of Americans agree that companies need to stop producing so much single-use plastic, and worldwide, three in four people surveyed globally want single-use plastics to be banned as soon as possible.
“The acquisition of our strategic partner Meristem Packaging’s Sustainable Packaging Division expands Better Earth’s geography, product line, national accounts talent pool, and fulfillment capabilities to better service our growing domestic and international customer base,” says President and CEO of Better Earth, Joseph Bild. “All of this is grounded in advancing our mission to make sustainability accessible across the foodservice industry, every step of the way.”
The acquisition of Meristem Packaging’s Sustainable Packaging Division comes on the heels of Better Earth’s recent investment in Appeel, a company dedicated to extending the shelf life of fresh produce through compostable packaging solutions made from agricultural waste.
The strategy is one Better Earth hopes to use to fortify its industrial symbiosis and circular economy, expanding the scope of the environmental-conscious packaging niche. The sustainable packaging sector is gaining steam and is expected to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 510 percent over the next 6 years.
“Better Earth’s expertise and dedicated focus on sustainable packaging further delivers on Meristem’s promise to deliver value in packaging solutions to our customers,” says Chairman of Meristem Packaging Company, Louis Herrera. “We look forward to working with the expanded Better Earth Team in helping our mutual clients achieve circularity in their sustainability efforts so we can protect the Earth and our resources” he concludes.
