CDF Corporation

What CDF Corporation does

CDF Corporation is a private, US-headquartered manufacturer of flexible and semi-rigid liquid packaging solutions, founded in 1971 and based in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The broader CDF Group employs over 600 people across seven manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe (including Sweden via the Quad Pak affiliate and Germany via a partnership with J. Natzan Kunststoffverarbeitung) and serves enterprise customers in food and beverage, chemicals and industrial, cosmetics and personal care, medical and pharmaceuticals, and pet food. Its product portfolio centers on four pillars: drum and pail liners, the Smart Pail system, bag-in-box liners (Cheertainer form-fit and pillow-style), and IBC liners including Form-Fit, Air-Assist, and Squiz One evacuation technologies — all built on proprietary processes in deep draw vacuum-forming, blow molding, and heat sealing, plus Smart Seal Technology that monitors temperature, time, and pressure on every seal.

The company generates revenue through direct B2B sales of physical packaging products via two dedicated divisions (Drum & Pail; Flexible Packaging), with quote-based pricing under multi-year contracts and no e-commerce or public tier pricing. Its go-to-market is consultative enterprise field sales supported by technical engineers, amplified through industry events (notably Interpack 2026), case-study-driven content marketing, and a "Mindful Packaging" sustainability narrative. Marquee customers include BASF, Dow Chemical, 3M, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Estée Lauder, Chevron, Valvoline, Kikkoman, Tropicana, Ben & Jerry's, and NASA. Certifications — ISO 9001:2015, SQF Level 2, UN (class II/III hazardous goods), IMS, Kosher (cRc), and CFIA — underpin its ability to compete in regulated food, pharmaceutical, and chemical end markets. The company is privately held by its executive leadership (President Joseph Sullivan, Jr. since 1986; CFO Mark Kasberg since 2005) with no disclosed parent, institutional investor, or public-market listing.

Name

CDF Corporation

Legal name

CDF Corporation

Website

https://cdf1.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

CDF Corporation is a private US-headquartered manufacturer of flexible and semi-rigid liquid packaging — drum and pail liners, bag-in-box systems, IBC liners, and the Smart Pail — serving enterprise customers in food and beverage, chemicals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and industrial markets via direct B2B sales from facilities in North America and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Plymouth

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Flexible Packaging Products: CDF generates revenue through the manufacture and sale of flexible and semi-rigid liquid packaging products including drum & pail liners, IBC liners, bag-in-box solutions, and Smart Pail systems. Products are sold directly to enterprise customers in food & beverage, chemical, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and industrial sectors. Revenue is derived from product sales with no recurring subscription component.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CDF Corporation manufactures and sells flexible and semi-rigid liquid packaging products, including thermoformed drum and pail liners, Smart Pail vacuum-formed containers, bag-in-box liners (Cheertainer and pillow-style), and intermediate bulk container (IBC) liner systems with proprietary evacuation technologies. Products range from 1 liter to 1,200 liters and are engineered for food and beverage, chemical, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and industrial customers under the "Mindful Packaging" philosophy.

Product overview

CDF Corporation is a flexible and semi-rigid liquid packaging manufacturer offering a comprehensive portfolio of Mindful Packaging solutions. The core product lines include: Drum & Pail Liners (thermoformed semi-rigid liners for containers from 1 liter to 1,000 liters), Smart Pail® (vacuum-formed plastic pail replacement), Bag-in-Box solutions comprising Cheertainer® Form-Fit and Pillow-Style liners, and IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) liner systems including Form-Fit™ Liners, Air-Assist®, and Squiz® One technologies. The company also offers the Defender™ Liner for stainless steel IBCs and proprietary Smart Seal Technology™. Products serve food & beverage, chemical, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and industrial markets, manufactured in ISO 9001:2015 and SQF-certified facilities in Plymouth, Massachusetts and Lienen-Kattenvenne, Germany.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cheertainer: Form-fit bag-in-box liner brand that conforms to box shape, enabling up to 99% evacuation.
• Smart Pail
• Smart Seal Technology
• Air-Assist
• Squiz
• Squiz Station
• Defender Liner

Products and services

• Drum & Pail Liners Thermoformed and heat-sealed semi-rigid liners for steel, plastic, fiber, and round-bottom drums and pails, designed to protect products, enable container reuse, and minimize waste across food and beverage, chemical, and industrial markets.
• Smart Pail Semi-rigid, vacuum-formed plastic pail insert with hermetically sealed laminated film lid housed within an 8-sided corrugated box container. A sustainable replacement for traditional plastic pails using 80% less plastic, providing 33% more product per outbound shipment, and is collapsible and recyclable.
• Cheertainer Form-Fit Bag-in-Box Liners Form-fit liner engineered to conform to the box shape, eliminating folds that trap product and enabling up to 99% evacuation. Prevents glugging during dispensing, reduces headspace for pallet efficiency, and minimizes flex cracking in transit. UN-certified for food, lubricants, greases, detergents, and cosmetics applications.
• Pillow-Style Bag-in-Box Liners Simple, versatile, and cost-effective pillow-style flexible bag-in-box liners trusted for reliable performance across food, chemicals, lubricants, and personal care products, produced with Smart Seal Technology for stronger seals and reduced leak risk.
• Form-Fit IBC Liners Precision-engineered form-fit liners that contour exactly to the interior walls of intermediate bulk containers, eliminating pooling and product trapping. Available for top and bottom fill/discharge configurations with Smart Seal Technology for leak-free seam reliability.
• Air-Assist IBC Tote Liners Pairs a form-fit IBC liner with an inflatable air bladder for hands-free evacuation of high-viscosity products in the 2,000 to 80,000 cP range. Achieves up to 99.5% product recovery with FDA-compliant films and EVOH barrier options.
• Squiz One Pneumatically powered evacuation system for extreme viscosity products up to 250,000 cP and beyond, using mechanical winding to compress a dedicated Squiz liner from top to bottom. Achieves less than 0.2% residual product loss for nut butters, yogurts, heavy creams, and industrial epoxies.
• Defender Liner Liner for stainless steel IBC totes designed to reduce cleaning costs and support sustainability initiatives. Provides protection between the stainless-steel tote and product while drastically reducing cleaning and logistics costs for chemicals, inks, food and beverage, and paints and coatings applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 99.8% product recovery with Squiz system; up to 99.5% with Air-Assist; up to 99% with Cheertainer
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers29 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, notable and minor.

• J. Natzan Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH & Co. KGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026CDF expanded its European manufacturing capabilities through a partnership with J. Natzan Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH & Co. KG in Lengerich/Lienen-Kattenvenne, Germany. The partnership adds a new manufacturing line for Form-Fit IBC liner production, shortening lead times and strengthening logistical support throughout the European market.
• Cleveland Steel ContainernotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCleveland Steel Container, one of the leading steel pail manufacturers in the United States for over 50 years, partnered with CDF on innovative drum and pail packaging solutions. A case study on the partnership is featured on CDF's website.
• Cheer PackminorOthersCheer Pack is referenced as part of the CDF Group, suggesting a related company or affiliated entity under the same corporate umbrella. Referenced alongside Quad Pak as group companies.
• Quad PakminorOthersQuad Pak is referenced as part of the CDF Group, suggesting a related company or affiliated entity under the same corporate umbrella. Referenced alongside Cheer Pack as group companies. Quad Pak is based in Sweden.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Scholle IPN: Global leader in bag-in-box and pouch packaging for liquids and viscous products. Direct competitor in Cheertainer's bag-in-box category across food, beverage, and industrial fluids.
• Liquibox: Specialty manufacturer of flexible liquid packaging and bag-in-box films including fitment solutions. Overlaps directly with CDF's pillow and form-fit bag-in-box product lines for food, cosmetic, and industrial customers.
• Mauser Packaging Solutions: Industrial rigid and IBC packaging supplier including steel/plastic drums, IBCs, and reconditioning. Closely comparable to CDF's drum/pail liner and IBC liner business serving chemicals and industrial customers.
• Greif Inc: Global industrial packaging producer of steel, plastic, and fibre drums plus IBCs. Direct competitor in the drum and IBC container/liner markets where CDF's Form-Fit, Air-Assist, and Squiz technologies compete.
• Cleveland Steel Container: Leading US steel pail manufacturer and existing CDF case study partner. Direct adjacency in steel pail container systems where CDF provides complementary thermoformed liners and accessories.

Broad incumbents

• Sealed Air Corporation: Large public packaging company with overlapping food and protective packaging portfolios. Competes with CDF in food and beverage liquid packaging but at a much broader, multi-category scale.
• Sonoco Products Company: Diversified global packaging manufacturer with rigid plastics, paperboard, and protective packaging. Overlaps with CDF's industrial and consumer packaging exposure but spans many more end markets.
• Amcor: Global packaging giant with flexible packaging, rigid containers, and healthcare packaging. Comparable at the category level in flexible liquid packaging, though Amcor operates at significantly larger scale across more geographies.
• Smurfit Kappa: World leader in paper-based packaging including corrugated and Bag-in-Box. Competes with CDF in paperboard-based bag-in-box and transit packaging formats across food and beverage end markets.
• DS Smith: International packaging manufacturer with strong corrugated and industrial packaging presence. Comparable through its sustainable transit packaging and bag-in-box adjacent offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/cdfcorp?lang=en
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CDFCorporation/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/CDF-Corporation-209425639172289
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cdf-corporation
• Instagraminstagram.com/cdfcorporation/?hl=en

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CDF Corporation