Sonoco named one of 2011's 100 Best Corporate Citizens

HARTSVILLE, SC, March 8, 2011 (Business Wire) - Sonoco, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, is ranked number 61 on Corporate Responsibility (CR) Magazine's recently released 12th annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List 2011.

CR's 100 Best Corporate Citizens List documents more than 320 data points of disclosure--harvested from publicly available information in seven categories: environment, climate change, employee relations, human rights, governance, finance and philanthropy. Sonoco received its highest rankings from CR Magazine in the Environment, Human Rights and Employee Relations categories.

"It is a real honor to be included on this important list again this year,"said Harris E. DeLoach Jr., Sonoco chairman and chief executive officer. "For more than 100 years, Sonoco has worked hard to be a good corporate citizen. Recognition like this proves that our commitment to transparency, sustainability, our employees and community outreach is the right thing to do and good business."

Overall performance improved among the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by some 5 percent in 2010 over 2009, and three-year average returns to shareholders of the companies included on the 100 Best Corporate Citizen List 2011 outpaced the S&P average by more than 4 percent.

"The financial performance differential is most striking," said Dirk Olin, editor and publisher of CR Magazine. ""This new standard of disclosure has become table stakes-not because some regulator imposed it but because the market demands it. Put simply: Transparency pays."

About Sonoco

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a $4.1 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and provider of packaging services, with about 300 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations. For more information on the Company, visit our Web site at http://www.sonoco.com/.