Abstract
US demand to exceed $5.6 billion in 2010
Snack packaging demand is forecast to exceed $5.6 billion in 2010, with growth
fueled by rising snack product shipments,a favorable outlook for disposable
personal income and changes in food consumption patterns. Other important
trends include the fading in popularity of low-carb diets and a greater
promotion of "whole grain" snacks.
Reported health benefits associated with consumption of snack foods such as
dark chocolate and nuts will also stimulate shipments, which will boost
packaging demand. While snack packaging demand will benefit from favorable
shipment growth, the expanding array of products made in single-size servings
for better convenience, portability and portion control will have a greater
impact on demand as such products tend to require more packaging relative to
their volume.
Savory snacks to exhibit healthy growth prospects
Above-average demand in savory snack applications will be aided by rising
product shipments and heightened use of rigid containers for product
differentiation and increased portability. Solid prospects for quick casual
sandwich restaurants, which sell single-serving bags of chips as side items,
will also bode well for related packaging. Packaging opportunities will also
be driven by robust demand for nutrition bars, a result of rising interest in
healthier snack alternatives. In addition, increasingly active lifestyles will
drive heightened requirements for convenient and portable meal replacement
options, along with related packaging.
Flexible packaging to take further share from rigid
Flexible packaging will present above-average opportunities, benefitting from
a favorable outlook for snack product shipments along with expanded offerings
of snacks in single-serving sizes, which tend to be packaged in bags and
pouches and frequently use film overwraps for boxes of multipacks. While
continuing to expand its overall share of snack packaging, flexible packaging
will face growing competition from rigid packaging such as cups, canisters and
other molded containers as these latter types can differentiate products, and
their compatibility with car cup holders provides greater on-the-go
convenience.
Although rigid packaging demand is expected to increase at a below-average
pace due to the maturity of most product types and inroads from flexible
packaging, the trend toward single-serving packages will provide opportunities
in some rigid packaging segments. For example, box demand will benefit from a
plethora of new product introductions aimed at limiting portion size as
folding cartons are frequently used for multipacks of single-serving bags of
these items.
Study coverage
These and other findings are contained in the new Freedonia industry study,
Snack Food Packaging. This study presents historical US demand data (1995,
2000, 2005) plus forecasts to 2010 and 2015 by application, product type and
material. The study also details market environment trends, evaluates company
market shares and profiles 33 US industry competitors.
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