News Release

HARTSVILLE, S.C., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonoco (NYSE: SON) In celebration of Sonoco's 100th year of business in the packaging industry, the company has published a web site focused on its centennial.

The site, which can be accessed from www.sonoco.com , houses historical photographs, a complete text of a speech on the company's history given by former CEO Charles W. Coker, Sr., past employee/customer comments, a place to shop for Sonoco-related centennial logo items, and even a contest to engage visitors.

The site was created in-house by Bill Gilmer, who serves as the Sonoco web master for content. "We plan on making this a vibrant site by continually changing and adding content to keep it fresh and interesting for visitors," said Gilmer. "It's difficult to put 100 years of information into one web site at one time. Our idea is to continually change the content, pulling from a vast resource of historical materials," added Gilmer.

"The theme of Sonoco's Centennial is 'A proud past, An exciting future.' We thought the use of some of the most modern communication technology was a great way to showcase this theme," said Allan Cecil, vice president -- investor relations and corporate affairs for Sonoco. "We think this site will be an important, informative resource of information, not only for those interested in Sonoco, but for students and others interested in the rich history of manufacturing and of the South," he said.

The creation of a specific web site for information on Sonoco's centennial is one of the many events Sonoco is using to celebrate its first 100 years," said Cecil. "We have created a Sonoco centennial video, a centennial brochure and on May 15, we will be celebrating this milestone with a special centennial event at our headquarters in Hartsville, S. C.," he added.

"The world-wide-web allows Sonoco to provide its Centennial story to an international audience, including our more than 16,500 employees located at more than 275 operations in 32 countries," added Cecil. Sonoco is one of the world's largest packaging companies.

Founded on May 10, 1899, in Hartsville, South Carolina, today Sonoco is a $2.6 billion provider of industrial and consumer packaging solutions for customers in some 85 nations.
SOURCE Sonoco
Web site: http: //www.sonoco.com
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CONTACT: Allan V. Cecil, Sonoco, 843-383-7524