Packaging is one of the fastest growing industries and stands at USD 700 billion globally. It has grown higher than GDP in most of the countries. In developing country like India, it grew at a CAGR of 16% in the last five years and touched ~USD 32 Bn in FY 15. The Indian packaging industry constitutes ~4% of the global packaging industry. The per capita packaging consumption in India is low at 4.3 kgs, compared to developed countries like Germany and Taiwan where it is 42 kgs and 19 kgs respectively. However in the coming years Indian packaging industry is expected to grow at 18% p.a. wherein, the flexible packaging is expected to grow at 25 % p.a. and rigid packaging to grow at 15 % p.a.
The food packaging industry is vibrant and highly competitive, with food manufacturers always on the look-out for packaging that can provide consumers with increased convenience as well as longer shelf life at a lower cost than their existing packaging. The food industry is well aware that consumers want innovation and value novelty, and therefore the packaging industry must innovate or stagnate.
The growth of the global packaging industry is being driven by a number of trends, depending on various geographical regions. Growing urbanisation, investment in housing and construction, the development of retail chains and the burgeoning healthcare and cosmetics sectors are driving packaging demand in China, India, Brazil, Russia and other emerging economies. An increase in living standards and personal disposable income in the developing regions fuels consumption across a broad range of products, with subsequent growth in demand for the packaging of these goods.
In the dynamic food and beverage industry, manufacturers constantly need to not only cope with increasing consumer demands, but also keep up with the latest trends and continuously innovate to retain consumer interest. Consumers favour brands and products with ‘clean-label’ messaging that enhances brand transparency and builds purchasing confidence. The term refers to products that are free from artificial ingredients and are natural or organic. Brand owners, design agencies and packaging manufacturers are increasingly incorporating this messaging into packaging materials. The sustainability agenda means weight reduction and the recycling of packaging has become key. Packaging must be adaptive, diverse and complex.
The global packaging market is divided into five main categories of materials: plastics, paper and board, glass, metal and wood (textile is marginal). For many years, this market has been seeing growth in the use of rigid plastic materials and flexible materials. In terms of packaging units, the main packaging materials used in the world are also flexible materials (36%), paper and board (24%) and rigid plastic materials (20%). The most used types of packaging are bags and sachets (875.59 billion units), bottles (810.32 billion) and cans (412.95 billion).