CINCINNATI — On May 17, ProAmpac and C&D Foods, the pet food segment of ABP Food Group, announced a partnership naming ProAmpac as the manufacturer’s strategic flexible pet food packaging supplier.

ProAmpac’s facility in Donegal, Ireland will now be the primary flexible packaging supplier for C&D, which co-manufactures for pet food brands across Europe. Specific terms of the contract were not disclosed, but ProAmpac shared it is a “multi-year, multi-million euro” agreement.

“This is an opportunity for our firms to collaborate in developing leading-edge packaging innovations in Ireland and across Europe,” said John McDermott, operations director at ProAmpac’s Donegal facility. “But it is also a partnership that will facilitate expansion of production and employment at ProAmpac Ireland and reposition our facility there as a global hub for sustainable packaging innovation for both petfood as well as ready-to-eat meals.”

Greg Tucker, chief executive officer of ProAmpac, referred to its partnership with C&D Foods as “a significant sourcing arrangement and more.” Both companies are developing a sustainable, fully recyclable pet food pouch to launch in European markets later this year.

According to ProAmpac, C&D Foods is one of the largest private label contract manufacturers of pet food throughout Europe. Its headquarters are in Edgeworthstown, Ireland and operates seven co-manufacturing plants across Austria, Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The co-manufacturer’s facilities in Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria produce wet pet food in canned, pouch and tray formats, while its plants in Driffield and Larkshall, United Kingdom, and Spain produce dry pet foods.

C&D Foods employs 452 people in Ireland alone, in addition to nearly 1,150 people across its six other plants.

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