Industry Trends

The Amcor-Bemis Merger: 5 Questions Procurement Managers Still Ask About Packaging Costs

What the Amcor-Bemis Merger Means for Your Packaging Budget

When Amcor acquired Bemis back in 2019, it was a big deal in the packaging world. Two giants combining. But if you're like me—someone who has to justify every line item on a P&L—you probably had the same reaction I did: "Great, another layer of corporate overhead I'm going to end up paying for."

Look, I'll be honest. I've been managing procurement budgets for about six years now. We spend roughly $180,000 annually on packaging across food and medical device lines (sharps containers, barrier films, pouches—the whole works). When I first heard about the Amcor-Bemis merger, I braced for price hikes and supply chain disruption. And I wasn't totally wrong. But I also wasn't totally right.

So for this post, I'm going to answer the five questions that kept me up at night after the acquisition—the ones I wish someone had handed me a straight answer to from the start. Not the fluffy marketing version. The real version, with the numbers and the caveats.

1. Did the merger actually raise prices for Bemis products?

Short answer: Yes, for some items. No, for others.

If I remember correctly, in the first year after the acquisition closed, we saw roughly a 3-5% increase on custom barrier films—specifically the ones Bemis made for our medical device line. But here's the thing: we'd also been budgeting for that. The merger was going to create a monopoly-like leverage on certain technologies. That was inevitable.

What most people don't realize is that the same merger gave us access to Amcor's global raw material sourcing network. So while some prices went up, our costs for standard flexible packaging (the non-specialty stuff like plain pouches) actually dropped by about 2% because Amcor's volume let them negotiate better resin prices. It's a trade-off.

2. Does Bemis still operate independently for sharps containers?

This one tripped me up when I first started researching. You see, there are actually two Bemis companies. It's a common confusion.

Bemis Company, Inc. (the packaging giant, now part of Amcor) handles flexible packaging and healthcare packaging. But Bemis Manufacturing Company (the makers of toilet seats and sharps containers) is a completely separate entity. They were never part of Amcor.

So if you're asking about bemis sharps container pricing post-merger? That's got nothing to do with the Amcor acquisition. Those are two different companies with the same name. I still kick myself for not making that distinction sooner—wasted a whole week of vendor research. If I'd checked the SEC filings from the start, I'd have saved a lot of time.

3. Is envelope printing through Bemis cost-effective for small runs?

Let's be direct: Bemis isn't really set up for cd envelope printing or small-run custom orders. They're a volume player. Their sweet spot is high-volume, consistent runs for enterprise clients.

In Q4 2023, I needed 5,000 custom envelopes for a product launch. I got a quote from them: $0.35 per unit with a 4-week lead time. A local specialty printer quoted $0.42 per unit with a 2-week lead time. I went with the local option because the timeline was more important than the per-unit cost. (Should mention: the local printer's color match was off by a noticeable margin—Delta E of about 3.5. Not ideal, but workable for that campaign.)

Here's something vendors won't tell you: Bemis's structure isn't built for flexibility. Their "standard turnaround" often includes buffer time for production queue management. It's not necessarily how long your order takes—it's how they keep their own operations predictable. For flyer online or small-batch mailing envelopes, you're better off with a specialized digital printer.

4. When is paying extra for rush delivery worth it?

This is where the time certainty argument comes in. And I've learned this one the hard way.

In March 2024, we had a medical device product that needed resealable pouches—specifically ones compliant with ISO 11607 for sterile barrier systems. Our regular line went down unexpectedly, and we faced a 6-week lead time for a replacement order. That would have blown past our FDA submission deadline for a new product variant. The cost of delay? Roughly $15,000 in lost revenue from the delayed launch.

Amcor offered rush delivery at a $400 premium over standard pricing. I paid it without blinking. Here's the math:

Rush fee: $400. Alternative cost: $15,000 in delayed launch revenue—and that's before factoring in the hit to our reputation with the distributor.

The most frustrating part of this scenario is that people treat rush fees as if they're a sign of inefficiency. They're not. They're a hedge. After getting burned twice by 'probably on time' promises from cheaper vendors, I now budget for guaranteed delivery on critical orders. It's not about being profligate. It's about understanding that uncertainty has a cost, and sometimes the cheapest option is the one you can trust to show up when needed.

To make a tiny envelope analogy: you can pay a dollar for a priority envelope that gets there on Tuesday, or fifty cents for one that might arrive Tuesday but could arrive Wednesday. For an urgent contract signing, that fifty-cent savings could cost you a lot more.

5. How can I calculate the real cost of switching to a post-merger packaging supplier?

This is the question that actually matters, and most advice you'll read glosses over it because it's messy.

I've been tracking our vendor performance for 6 years now. When evaluating whether to stick with Amcor/Bemis or look elsewhere, I built a simple spreadsheet. Here are the line items:

• Per-unit cost difference (obvious, but only the start)
• Tooling/setup fees — One vendor quoted $2,000 in "initial setup" that magically disappeared after we committed to a 12-month contract.
• Lead time variability — A vendor with 3-day late deliveries 20% of the time costs more than a vendor with consistent 5-day lead times if you have to build in buffer stock. Buffer inventory costs money.
• Testing and validation — For medical packaging, switching vendors means new biocompatibility tests. That cost us $3,800 and 6 weeks of lab time when we tried a cheaper alternative. (Still kicking myself for not checking that earlier.)
• Rush order markups — The 'cheap' vendor charged 25% for rush orders. Our primary vendor? Only 10%. That adds up over 20 orders a year.

Add it all up, and what I found is that for our specific mix—high-volume standard pouches plus specialty medical barrier films—staying with the Amcor/Bemis ecosystem was actually cheaper by about 7% total cost of ownership than switching to a smaller specialist. The economies of scale on raw materials and the established testing protocols outweighed the slight per-unit premium.

But that's my data. Yours will be different. The point is: don't just look at the line item. Look at the system.

The bottom line on Bemis after Amcor

I won't pretend the merger has been a net positive for every buyer. For small runs or niche applications? You're probably better off with a specialist. But if you're ordering consistent volume—especially in regulated industries like medical devices—the combined Amcor-Bemis network offers real cost advantages that a per-unit price comparison won't capture.

Just, you know, make sure you're talking to the right Bemis company first. I'll never get that month of research back.