Ron Sasine is the principal of Hudson Windsor, a boutique consultancy focused on packaging strategy, innovation and sustainability. The firm draws on extensive experience in retail merchandising and consumer packaged goods and works with a wide range of packaging manufacturers, private-equity investors and independent packaging companies.

Ron is also the project development lead for Crossroads Paper and is frequently sought out by industry groups to share his insight on issues related to packaging innovation, manufacturing and the evolution of retail.

Prior to founding Hudson Windsor, Ron served as senior director of packaging for Walmart from 2009 to 2015, where he was responsible for packaging design, execution and sourcing for the company’s largest global brands. He created a new visual look for more than 7,000 individual retail items, bringing a national brand design standard to the Great Value, Spring Valley, Equate, Ol’ Roy and Parents’ Choice brands. He created first-of-its-kind supply chain visibility for the company’s global packaging network, working with more than 5,000 packaging providers that supply Walmart worldwide. He led Walmart’s sustainable packaging initiative and implementation of the sustainable packaging scorecard, building supplier accountability into purchasing decisions and achieving a 9.4 percent global reduction in the greenhouse gas impact of the company’s packaging.

Before joining Walmart, Ron was a global marketing and manufacturing executive with MeadWestvaco (now WestRock). He directed international sales integration, business development and packaging design from 2002 to 2009 across multiple substrates, printing technologies and geographies. In a previous role, he led strategic planning, M&A and marketing for the company’s operations in Brazil and Latin America.

He began his career in the packaging sector in 1990, with responsibility for sales of linerboard and converting grades to corrugated box plants and printing companies throughout Central and South America.

Ron is a graduate of the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Brigham Young University. In addition, he served as an adjunct professor at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. He is a frequent commentator on the packaging industry and has been published and quoted in The New York Times, CNBC, Forbes.com, USAToday and by the Associated Press, as well as in many industry publications and conferences. His industry research and consulting engagements have taken him to manufacturers, distribution centers and retailers in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and throughout the United States.