Wood Elected Vice President, Industrial Europe and Sonoco Officer

HARTSVILLE, S.C., July 31, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoco SON, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, announced today Adam Wood has been elected vice president of Industrial Europe and a Corporate Officer by the Company's Board of Directors. The appointment is effective Aug. 1, 2014.

Wood, 46, is responsible for the Company's Sonoco-Alcore subsidiary, based in Brussels, Belgium, which operates 30 tube and core plants and five paperboard mills in Europe. Wood began his career with Sonoco in 2003 as European sales director. Over the next 10 years he progressed through various positions of increasing responsibility, including serving as regional sales manager for the Company's North America Industrial Products Division. Prior to this appointment, Wood was division vice president and general manger, Industrial Europe.

"We are fortunate to have someone with Adam's knowledge and experience leading our European Industrial operations," said Jack Sanders, Sonoco's president and chief executive officer. "Adam is uniquely qualified for this new leadership position given his track record of steadily improving the performance of our market leading tube and core business in Europe. His perspective on key markets we serve, combined with his service as a member of our global management team, will prove to be invaluable to our organization as we strive to expand our business in both established and emerging regions of Europe and the Middle East."

Wood holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Bradford University School of Management and was qualified by the Chartered Institute of Management. He reports to John Colyer, senior vice president, Global Industrial Products and Protective Solutions.

About Sonoco

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately $4.9 billion, the Company has more than 19,900 employees working in 335 operations in 33 countries, serving many of the world's best-known brands in some 85 nations. Sonoco is a proud member of the 2013/2014 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. For more information on the Company, visit our website at www.sonoco.com.