Market Trends of APAC Flexible Packaging Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the APAC Flexible Packaging Market according to our research experts:
Food-Packaging Industry to Drive the Market Growth
- According to IBEF, the Indian food and grocery market is the world's sixth-largest, with retail contributing 70% of the sales. The Indian food processing industry accounted for 32% of the country's total food market, one of the largest industries in India, ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export, and expected growth.
- Flexible packaging is mainly used for food, contributing to more than 60% of the total market, according to the Flexible Packaging Association. The flexible packaging industry is witnessing healthy growth, as the industry was able to implement innovative solutions for the many packaging challenges it faced.
- Moreover, in a country such as India, the growing demand for online food ordering is increasing, pushing the usage of packaged food boxes in the food packaging market. For instance, in February 2022, Zomato, one of the prominent food delivery companies, said that the average monthly active food delivery restaurants have grown by 6x, and average monthly transacting customers have grown by 13x on Zomato over the past five years.
- In the food industry, beyond convenience, other characteristics, such as sustainability, transparency, food safety, and reduction in food waste, influence the flexible packaging choice for meat, poultry, and seafood. Sustainability is one of the factors that companies are finding more interest in recyclable and recycled-content flexible packaging solutions. For this, the solutions, such as formable paper, are gaining traction that offers excellent barrier properties, suitable for lunchmeat and portion packs, and reduce plastic use by up to 80%.
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India to Witness the Fastest Growth
- The primary drivers for the growth of the flexible packaging market in the country are increasing per capita income, growing health consciousness, and changing lifestyle patterns. The government also boasts abundant raw materials for manufacturing plastic, metal, and paper packaging.
- The growing competition and packaging standards set by the government for labeling quality, quantity, and price, coupled with the demand for easy and convenient packaging, have been instrumental in driving the adoption of flexible packaging in India.
- In March 2022, the Food Safety and Standards Authority India (FSSAI) issued new, stricter standards to govern the use of recycled plastic for food packaging after facing pushback from a group of concerned scientific experts, which was designed as a positive move toward more efficient management of the country's massive plastic waste.
- Change in the lifestyle and work culture, especially in countries like India, have given rise to the demand for easy-to-use and carry packaged food & beverage products, thereby driving the growth of the Asia Pacific flexible packaging market. The need for flexible packaging is also derived from the development of various end-user industries such as healthcare, food & beverages, among others. In food packaging, there has been a rise in the selection of small pack sizes that are easily consumable.
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