A Storied History

At the turn of the 20^th century, Joseph Kruger, a paper merchant from New York City, settled in Montréal with his family and founded Kruger Paper Company Limited in 1904.

Under the second generation of Kruger family leadership, the Company grew exponentially thanks to the ambition and bold strategic vision of the founder’s son, Gene H. Kruger. In 1950, Kruger acquired its first newsprint mill in Bromptonville, Québec. During the three decades that followed, the Company continued to expand in Canada, adding paper and containerboard mills, corrugated packaging plants and sawmills to its portfolio.

Always on the lookout for growth opportunities and anticipating the adverse impact of digital technology on demand for publication papers, the Company started to expand into new activity sectors in the late 1990s. One of its most remarkable developments was the acquisition of Scott Papers’s Canadian assets in 1997, which led to the creation of its Tissue Products division. The Company also created an Energy division in 2004.

After emerging from the Great Recession, which turned out to be one of the most challenging periods in the history of the paper industry, Kruger valiantly forged ahead and continued to invest in its operations. In 2014, the Company became a pioneer in cellulosic biomaterials, building the world’s first cellulose filament plant. A year later, Kruger announced its ambitious plan to convert its largest newsprint operation for the manufacture of 100%-recycled lightweight linerboard used to make eco-friendly packaging products. In 2018, Kruger Energy unveiled a project to build its fourth wind farm in Canada, and Kruger Products announced massive investments in Sherbrooke, Québec, to build Canada’s largest and most advanced TAD tissue plant.

Thanks to the determination and dedication of our 5,500 employees across North America, Kruger has been able to maintain efficient operations throughout the global pandemic, keeping its promise to deliver high-quality essential products that businesses and consumers rely on for their everyday needs. In 2021, Kruger Products completed the construction of its Sherbrooke TAD tissue plant. A few months later, the Company announced further investments to expand the Sherbrooke site with an additional tissue plant and more production lines by 2024, bringing the total invested in the Estrie region to nearly $1 billion since 2018. In 2022, Kruger acquired the Kamloops Pulp Mill in British Columbia, and it completed the construction of a new packaging plant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. With these recent investments and its strong emphasis on product quality, sustainability, innovation, and the integration of artificial intelligence to its operations, Kruger is poised for continued growth well into the future.