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Employee Benefit Plans
 3 Months Ended
Apr. 03, 2022
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefit Plans Employee Benefit Plans
Retirement Plans and Retiree Health and Life Insurance Plans
The Company provides non-contributory defined benefit pension plans for certain of its employees in the United States, Mexico, Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, and Turkey. The Company also sponsors contributory defined benefit pension plans covering certain of its employees in the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands, and provides postretirement healthcare and life insurance benefits to a limited number of its retirees and their dependents in the United States and Canada, based on certain age and/or service eligibility requirements.
The components of net periodic benefit cost include the following:
Three Months Ended
April 3, 2022April 4, 2021
Retirement Plans
Service cost$826 $961 
Interest cost2,710 10,107 
Expected return on plan assets(2,865)(9,661)
Amortization of prior service cost221 226 
Amortization of net actuarial loss1,135 6,871 
Effect of settlement loss356 — 
Net periodic benefit cost$2,383 $8,504 
Retiree Health and Life Insurance Plans
Service cost$82 $94 
Interest cost64 50 
Expected return on plan assets(112)(113)
Amortization of net actuarial gain(185)(196)
Net periodic benefit income$(151)$(165)

The Company made aggregate contributions of $6,147 and $3,673 to its defined benefit retirement and retiree health and life insurance plans during the three months ended April 3, 2022 and April 4, 2021, respectively. The Company expects to make additional aggregate contributions of approximately $10,000 to its defined benefit retirement and retiree health and life insurance plans over the remainder of 2022.
Settlement Charges
The Company recognized settlement charges of $356 during the three months ended April 3, 2022. These charges resulted from payments made to certain participants in the Company's non-union Canadian pension plan who elected a lump sum distribution option upon retirement. Additional settlement charges related to the Canadian pension plans may be recognized over the remainder of 2022 as a result of ongoing lump-sum distributions.
Sonoco Retirement and Savings Plan
The Sonoco Retirement and Savings Plan is a defined contribution retirement plan provided for certain of the Company’s U.S. employees. The plan is comprised of both an elective and non-elective component.
The elective component of the plan, which is designed to meet the requirements of Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code, allows participants to set aside a portion of their wages and salaries for retirement and encourages saving by matching a portion of their contributions with contributions from the Company. The plan provides for participant contributions of 1% to 100% of gross pay. Effective January 1, 2022, the Company's match on elective contributions to the plan increased from 50% of the first 4% of compensation contributed by participants to 100% of the first 6% as a result of changes to the plan, described below.
The non-elective component of the plan, the Sonoco Retirement Contribution ("SRC"), was eliminated effective January 1, 2022. The SRC provided for an annual Company contribution equal to 4% of the participant's eligible pay plus 4% of eligible pay in excess of the social security wage base to eligible participant accounts. SRC contributions, which are funded annually in the first quarter, totaled $21,948 and $22,665 during the quarters ended April 3, 2022 and April 4,
2021, respectively. No additional SRC contributions will occur. The Company recognized expense related to the SRC of $6,335 for the three months ended April 4, 2021.