Packaging of protein foods to reach $9.7 billion in 2017

Demand for meat, poultry, and seafood packaging is forecast to increase 3.2% annually to $9.7 billion in 2017. Gains will be driven by increased meat, poultry, and seafood production along with accelerated foodservice revenue increases. Prospects for packaging will further benefit from the significant shift to case-ready packaging among grocery retailers as well as the growing share of smaller sized items and items that are further processed for convenience of preparation. Heightened demand for single portion and other smaller sized products will reflect the significant level of one and two person households in the U.S. as well as efforts among processors and retailers to hold down selling prices, especially in beef.
These and other trends are presented in Meat, Poultry, & Seafood Packaging, a new study from The Freedonia Group.
Flexible packaging demand growth will outpace that of rigid packaging as a result of solid prospects for pouches and high barrier film, along with inroads into rigid packaging due to sustainability benefits via reduced material use and significantly lower shipping costs. Rigid packaging growth will be limited by maturity and/or competitive drawbacks in corrugated boxes, metal cans, folding cartons, and paperboard sleeves (Daily Packaging News, 4 June 2013).