Gains will be driven by improved growth in meat, poultry, and seafood production along with the growing presence of smaller sized and single portion items, and products that are further processed for convenience of preparation.
US demand to exceed $9.5 billion in 2017
Demand for meat, poultry, and seafood packaging is forecast to exceed $9.5 billion in 2017. Gains will be driven by improved growth in meat, poultry, and seafood production along with the growing presence of smaller sized and single portion items, and products 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 US, as well as efforts among processors and retailers to hold down selling prices of beef in the face of escalating prices. Products that are further processed generally employ more packaging relative to their volume than larger unprocessed items.
The significant shift to case-ready packaging among grocery retailers as a means to reduce labor costs will also drive value gains, as case-ready formats typically utilize more costly trays and high barrier films. Additional underlying growth factors will be the importance of packaging in the merchandising of protein products, and the need for packaging designed to provide longer shelf life and user friendliness in terms of resealability and storage.
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