Sealed Air

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Sealed Air Corporation

Type	Public (NYSE: SEE)
Founded	1960
Headquarters	Elmwood Park, NJ, USA (Headquarters)
Industry	Packaging
Products	Protective and Food Packaging
Revenue	$4.7 Billion (US dollars, 2007)
Website	www.sealedair.com

Sealed Air Corporation(NYSE: SEE) is a company that makes a variety of packaging materials, systems and equipment. Its brands include Bubble Wrap, Cryovac, Instapak, Shanklin and Jiffy Mailer. They have recently moved headquarters to Elmwood Park, New Jersey.

The company was founded in 1960 by inventors Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes who developed AirCap cellular cushioning while they were trying to create textured wallpaper by capturing air between two thin layers of plastic. The wallpaper idea didn't work out, but they realized that their invention would make terrific protective packing material and their idea evolved into Bubble Wrap. The company acquired Instapak in 1976. The technology was applied to mailing envelopes, and the company then acquired Jiffy Packaging Corporation in 1987, Sentinel 1991, and the Cryovac Division of W. R. Grace and Company in 1998.

[edit] Brands

Founded in 1896, Jiffy was originally a company making excelsior (wood wool) products, but they branched out into padded shipping envelopes in the mid 1960s. These are made of a kraft (paper) outer, a paper inner, and shredded used newsprint padding. The name Jiffy is synonymous with the product, and, like Hoover, is used by some as a generic term. They were the first company to manufacture this type of product, and Sealed Air's use of the novel plastic bubble technology for packaging was largely inspired by the Jiffy product. Sealed Air acquired Jiffy in 1987, from the Manchester based Baldwin Family.

Nowadays, Jiffy envelopes (often colloquially referred to as 'Jiffy Bags') are widely available in a range of sizes and white or brown colouration. The traditional shredded paper padded bag is still available as well as the more widely used 'Mailmiser' product which is padded with bubble wrap.