Strong growth for pouches in packaging market
According to a new Canadean report, the global flexible food packaging market is set to reach close to 800 billion pack units in 2018.
As consumers start to favour innovative products such as pouches over traditional glass, paper and metal packaging, an estimated 786,095 million units of flexible packaging will be consumed within global retail food markets in 2018. This means flexible packaging is set to expand its share in the food packaging market even further, reaching 53.1% in the next three years.
The report finds that the global demand for pouches in the food market will grow by 2,489 million pack units between 2014 and 2017 – a 14.9% increase in the total food pouches market size. Metal, on the other hand, will record the slowest growth in the food packaging market, increasing at a marginal 2.5% CAGR between 2013 and 2018.
“Pouches are both lightweight and durable, meaning products can be stored more easily in cupboards, are less likely to get damaged and are lighter to transport,” says Kirsty Nolan, analyst at Canadean. “They also provide time scarce consumers with instant meals and on the go snacks.”
Microwavable pouches, for example, are on the verge of replacing tinned ready meal products.
“The outer plastic layers of microwavable pouches are designed to cool quickly while keeping contents hot, allowing consumers to eat straight from the microwave,” adds Nolan.
