Who was Ruben Rausing, the Swede who revolutionized the world of packaging with the Tetra Pak and became a multimillionaire

Ruben Rausing He was one of the businessmen who revolutionized the food market, being creator of tetrapack packaging. His idea made him one of the greatest millionaires Sweden. His family continued his business and currently their sales from 10 factories around the world amount to more than 10.8 million euros.

This type of packaging offers great benefits to the food sector. because it allows you to package your products without the need for preservatives or refrigerants. In addition, this packaging saves energy both during production and storage, allowing you to protect food in a more environmentally friendly and safe way.

The story of Ruben Rausing, creator of the tetrapack

The Swede has always studied the market; his passion led him to study at the Stockholm School of Economic Sciences in the early 20th century. He later traveled to the United States to obtain a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York. In this large city he became interested in the evolution of urbanization. Reuben observed how these changes affected products and their packaging.

Their research showed that the above trend will soon move to Europe and increase the demand for packaged products. His vision led him to found one of the The first Scandinavian packaging company in 1929 was Åkerlund & Rausing. He was responsible for ideas and production management, while his partner Eric Åkerlund contributed capital.

The company was barely staying afloat, and Åkerlund abandoned the project. Ruben Rausing continued to be the sole owner and his success was the result of a project that was looking for an alternative to traditional milk bottling. This new packaging had to hold liquids, but at the same time had to protect it from the sun without imparting any different smell or taste to the product. He and his team formed the idea of ​​a box with four triangular faces that together form a tetrahedron. In 1944, this container was named AB Tetra Pak.

The first machine to use Tetra Pak was created by Ruben Rausing’s company in 1946, although it took them almost another ten years to find suitable materials for its packaging. This continued until they came up with their multi-layer formula of paper, polyethylene and aluminum. They came onto the market in 1952 to sell milk cream in 100 ml packs.

Rausing’s children’s property in 2024

The product created by his father was difficult to transport, but his descendants found a quick solution starting in 1959. Hans and Gad Rausing, suggested making the container rectangular to make it stackable and easier to distribute. This new product It retained the laminate formula of its original inspiration, but was renamed Tetra Brik.

Since the 90s, The family firm began to expand throughout the world.. Factories opened in countries such as Italy and Germany, Lebanon, Japan and Mexico. This growth The same thing happened with the purchases of other companies, and Rausing’s children united them into the Tetra Laval group. It includes Sidel, which produces PET containers, jars and glass packaging; DeLaval, which makes dairy equipment; and Tetra Pak, which generates 80% of the conglomerate’s revenues. All this, He leaves Rausing’s children a fortune of $12 billionAccording to Forbes magazine.