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U.S. Plastics in Flexible Food Packaging Markets
Frost & Sullivan, June 2006
This Frost & Sullivan research service titled U.S. Plastics in Flexible Food Packaging Markets provides the market measurements, share of different flexible packages and analysis of share in end-use markets. In this research service, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets/applications/technologies: plastic flexible food bags, thermoformed products, films and wraps, as well as lids and pouches.
Market Sectors
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:
By Application:
- Plastics
- Packaging
By Technologies:
- Flexible Food Packaging
Market Overview
Increasing Shift from Rigid Packaging to Flexible Packaging
Considering their high value for money and better convenience in comparison to other types of food packaging, flexible food packaging has gained preference among end users in the United States. The films used in flexible packaging have good barrier properties as well as tensile strength and the rising cost of aluminum has forced several manufacturers to shift from metal containers to flexible plastic packages. Being lightweight, flexible plastic packages also help reduce transportation costs while occupying less shelf space, thereby allowing end users to display more products on the same shelf.
However, despite the high level of convenience, lower costs (manufacturing and transportation), as well as lesser use of resins, flexible packages still fall short of rigid packaging with regard to filling systems. Rigid package filling is more efficient and almost five times faster when compared to that of flexible packages. Also, current filling lines are dedicated to rigid packaging and many manufacturers are unwilling to dismantle and install new flexible lines until they recover their investments in rigid lines. The flexible package manufacturers need to work closely with equipment manufacturers to come up with packages that increase the speed of filling. With increasing resin prices, the challenge for manufacturers is to develop films that are not only thin, but also have the necessary barrier properties required for the extended shelf life of food products, notes the analyst of this research service. While large manufacturers with long-term contracts with resin manufacturers are less affected by the increase in resin prices, small- and medium-sized companies are being forced to sell their products at competitive prices, thereby reducing their margins.
Technology Advances and Introduction of Stand-up Pouches Aid Growth
Among the many growth factors, the introduction of stand-up pouches is fast developing as a key driver for the growth of the U.S. plastics in flexible food packaging markets. In addition to their being lightweight and offering most of the features of rigid packages, stand-up packages also offer a tremendous advantage in being able to deliver a high degree of product differentiation. With highly attractive flexographic printing, stand-up pouches clearly distinguish themselves on the shelf.
Flexible plastic food packagers are made from mono as well as multi-layered films. While mono-layered films accounted for around 58.0 percent of market share in 2005, the market is seeing the rapid growth of multi-layered films and a decline in the market share of mono-layered products. The share of mono-layered films is declining to the tune of 5-10 percent a year and its dominance is expected to be overtaken by multi-layered films in the next 12-18 months, says the analyst. Among the multi-layered films, the ones with three, five, and seven layers are most used and it was found that three-layered films accounted for 32.0 percent of the market whereas five and seven-layered films accounted for 10.0 percent.
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