Convenience food spurs Asia-Pacific sales growth in packaging technology

The US-based company predicts that sales in the region will grow at a CAGR of 9.1%.

Global food packaging technology sales will hit $46.69bn by 2019, rising at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2014 to 2019, according to MarketsandMarkets.

Meanwhile, it predicts that global food packaging equipment sales will hit $19.21bn by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% during this same period.

Intense competition but still space for newcomers​

Malarkodi Mahendran, senior research analyst, MarketsandMarkets, says there is ‘intense competition’ in the food packaging equipment and technology sectors, but believes there is still room for new entrants.

“There are many large and small scale firms for food packaging technology and equipment in the market,​” she said.

“The markets for new entrants are not fully saturated. But the entering player should have advanced technology in order to produce globally competitive products.  ​

"New entrants should also have strong financial backup to invest heavily in R&D to develop new advanced technologies to compete other established players in the market,"​ Mahendran said.

Growth strategies adopted by big companies in the sector over the last few years include expanding and investing, launching different products and entering partnerships or joint ventures.

All eyes on Asia Pacific​

MarketsandMarkets identifies Asia Pacific as the growth engine for food packaging technology and equipment sales; food packaging technology sales here are projected to reach $16.2bn by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 9.1% (higher than any other world region).

The Asia-Pacific food packaging equipment market is projected to reach $8.48bn by 2019 - again, with the highest regional CAGR of 5.9%.

“There is increasing demand for convenience food products in developing countries in the region,​” said Mahendran. “Convenience food accounts for the major share of food packaging technology and equipment market.​”

“Organized retail sectors are slowly shifting the trend from selling loose items to branded packs on items like food grains and vegetable oils,"​ she added.

Controlled packaging​

MarketsandMarkets looked at various food packaging technologies (controlled packaging, active packaging, advanced packaging, intelligent packaging, and aseptic packaging)

Controlled packaging accounted for a third of food packaging technology and equipment sales by value in 2013. This is defined as packaging with a storage atmosphere that is different to the normal atmosphere, with component gases adjusted to specific concentrations.

Other sizable categories behind controlled packaging include active packaging and intelligent packaging.

MarketsandMarkets also looked at food packaging equipment (form, fill & seal, labeling and coding, wrapping, and case packing). Form, fill and seal equipment accounted for the largest proportion of this category.