ReleaseWire

The market for chilled processed food packaging is being driven by convenience and freshness. The Dutch value fresh food resulting in healthy growth for chilled processed foods in 2013 as despite leading busier lifestyles, increased awareness for healthy eating and nutrition and driving demand. The fact that people in the Netherlands is devoting less time for cooking, triggers demand for fresh chilled food options that are also used as ingredients to prepare meals. With that in mind, chilled...

As is occurring in other mature categories, in sauces, dressings and condiments manufacturers are pursuing product innovation and promoting alternative packaging types that meet the trend towards convenience, a faster cooking process, but also enjoyment. Across the different categories, traditional packaging types are witnessing the rise of alternatives pursued by manufacturers to generate a visual impact but also growth despite market maturity.

Craters & Freighters Phoenix was selected to provide all of the specialty crating and shipping services for Guernsey's Remembering Waylon auction held earlier this month at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. The auction featured more than 2,000 items owned by the legendary musician Waylon Jennings including Willie Nelson's trademark braids which garnered $37,000 and a desk given to him by Johnny Cash which sold for $87,500.

Wickwire Warehouse Inc. announced the expansion of their Parade Strapping and Baling Division. The expanded division distributes stainless steel strapping in addition to strapping tools and dispensers, clips, buckles, single loop baling wire and bale ties, polypropylene strapping, polyester strapping, shrink-wrap, stretch film, packing tape, and more.

Container Exchanger, a company that specializes in finding buyers and sellers of reusable industrial packaging, has just released an app for iOS and Android mobile device users that makes it even faster and easier to buy and sell their containers, pallets, and other used industrial goods. This will help streamline the process for its customers and simplify both ends of the transaction spectrum.

With a view to provide best-in-class functionality storage sheds, Storage Sheds Outlet is now offering a wide range of Metal Garden Shed Storage at affordable prices. They stock some of the finest quality storage sheds that are reliable, durable, and highly economical. Their metal garden sheds are able to withstand weather extremities and they come in a broad array of shapes and sizes. The best part about these sheds is that they don’t require intensive maintaining, and there’s no need to paint and repaint the metal sheds. Moreover, all the metal sheds at Storage Sheds Outlet comes with a manufacturer’s warranty period so customers can buy them with full confidence.

A leading provider of glass bottles suppliers’ in the UK, Croxsons is now offering premium quality of fresh glass bottles at cost-effective prices. The company stores some of the finest collection of glass bottles that are unmatched in the industry in terms of price and quality. One can visit their website to view the samples of their products. The company has glass bottles to suit varied needs and budgets. One has to place an order of 20,000 units for spirit bottles. With them, one will get glass bottles for almost every type of food and beverages. They are ardent in supplying glass bottles to start-up companies to the most top-notch corporate giants.

But, in light of consumer demands for ever-improving fuel efficiency and performance, as well as the recent auto-industry trend of adding the ‘ECO’ suffix to as much vehicular nomenclature as possible, Eco Trucks are springing up everywhere, and they’re not going away.

The canned/preserved food category saw the consolidation of traditional packaging types across the different sub-categories and the emergence of smaller ones due to a shift towards convenience and the focus by manufacturers to generate further growth in face of maturity. The Dutch are still consider fairly conservative when it comes to packaging chosen for canned/preserved food, with metal food can and glass jars accounting for the majority of sales. Manufacturers continued to offer improved versions of metal food cans and glass jars that either incorporated new production techniques, are more efficient or bring better handling for the consumers due to improved closures.

Despite a slowdown in global economic growth, packaging in Malaysia sustained positive retail unit volume growth in 2013 as consumers continued to show a high level of purchasing confidence. Malaysians continued to demand fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) as necessities in daily life. During the economic slowdown, retailers continued to stimulate volume sales by offering bundle promotions.

Beauty and personal care packaging grew by 3% in unit volume terms in 2012. The growth was supported by the increase in overall consumption of beauty and personal care products in Malaysia. The economic recovery from the global recession continued steadily in 2012, with 5% GDP growth, and is supporting the growth in beauty and personal care products consumption. While the slow economies in the US, Europe and Japan are still preventing a full recovery of the Malaysian economy, the strong growth in the services, communications, real estate and business sectors is driving economic growth in Malaysia. The number of households and the population in Malaysia consistently increased over the review period, respectively reaching 6.8 million households and 28.9 million people in 2012. The growth was also supported by increasing numbers of new products targeted at new segments of the population, such as male consumers who are conscious of their health and appearance.

Ray McKenzie and Mac Chaney of Dothan and Madison, Ala., have developed a new product that has the potential to revolutionize the HVAC and refrigeration industries.

The market for baby food in the Netherlands continues to exhibit higher sophistication regarding formulas but in packaging it remains fairly stable. Unlike other packaged foods categories, baby food is considered more traditional in terms of packaging translating in relative fewer innovations that result in new packaging types. For Dutch parents, the product freshness and quality are key elements that seek for baby food, with current and most popular packaging types across the sub-categories consolidating their presence in 2013.

Steel food packaging is widely preferred all across the globe for its easy-to-use and transport feature. Besides, it can also preserve the food for a long time, locking in freshness and nutritional value. Most food-related industries rely on the packaging solutions to protect from the contamination of microorganisms like harmful bacteria, viruses, chemicals, fungi, etc. With the increase in overall food consumption worldwide, the demand for food packaging is surmounting globally and industries look out for reliable packaging options to promote their products.

Consumers' rising health consciousness has benefitted the performance of chilled processed food, as they perceive the latter to be healthier and fresher than canned/preserved as well as frozen processed variants. The same reason also boosted consumers' demand for chilled ready meals, which are easy to prepare, making it a convenient meal solution for busy consumers.

In 2012, unit volume of alcoholic drinks packaging grew positively, mainly backed by volume sales growth of major alcoholic drinks products such as beer and Soju. Soju is a low-priced local spirit that is classified under "other spirits". Beer and other spirits make up the major share of alcoholic drinks packaging volume, because these product categories hold a dominant share of total alcoholic drinks sales volume in South Korea. In 2012, beer and other spirits accounted for 86% of total unit volume of alcoholic drinks packaging. As the sales volume of these large product categories continued to rise, unit volume of alcoholic drinks packaging grew positively in 2011 and 2012 in all major pack types, including glass, metal and rigid plastic.

The consumption of canned/preserved food was stable in 2013. Consumers continued to buy and stock non-perishable foods (including canned/preserved food) for emergencies. As canned/preserved food types are easy to cook and quick to prepare, they are well received by busy consumers. Manufacturers have expanded their selections of canned/preserved food with better tastes to meet various consumer needs.

Canned/preserved food packaging clocked a slower total volume growth in 2013 than 2012, due to consumers' reduced consumption of canned/preserved food in view of their rising health consciousness. Perceiving it to be high in salt and preservatives content, consumers increasingly cut back on canned/preserved food towards the end of the review period. Canned/preserved food players thus increasingly introduced better-for-you variants so as to sustain consumer interest.

In 2012, unit volume of tobacco packaging continued to decline due to the falling sales volume of cigarettes. In South Korea, cigarettes account for nearly 100% of unit volume of tobacco packaging, because sales volume of cigars is almost negligible and other types of tobacco products are not available. With Korean consumers' growing concerns about health, prevalence of smoking has decreased steadily and strict restrictions on public smoking have driven more Korean consumers to quit smoking or to reduce their consumption of cigarettes. In addition, major cigarette companies - British American Tobacco Korea Ltd, JT International Korea Inc and Philip Morris Korea Inc - raised the price of most of their major cigarette products from Won2,500 per pack to Won2,700 in 2011 and early 2012 and this price rise has adversely affected the sales volume of cigarettes in 2011 and 2012. Although the prevalence of smoking is falling in South Korea, the rate is still relatively high and major cigarette manufacturers have continued to introduce new products competitively in South Korea.

Unit volume of hot drinks packaging continued to register healthy growth in 2011 and 2012 due to the growing demand for coffee. In South Korea, coffee has been increasingly regarded as an indispensible item in daily lives for many people and the popularity of Western-style chained coffee shops has contributed to raising Korean consumers' interest in fresh brewed coffee and premium coffee products. As a result, sales of coffee increased strongly in both the retail and foodservice channels over the review period, boosting the volume growth of hot drinks packaging in the retail channel. In contrast, demand for tea continued to decrease over the review period, resulting in a decline in the packaging unit volume of tea. As a result, coffee makes up a dominant share of hot drinks packaging in the retail channel, accounting for 78% of unit volume share in 2012.

While other categories of beverages have been negatively impacted by the current deep recession in Italy, the performance of hot drinks was positive in 2011/2012 and over the entire review period. In fact, an argument can be made that the current negative economic conditions may be benefitting sales of hot drinks through the retail channel as consumers increasingly cut back on spending in bars, cafes and restaurants. Italians' deep-seated and sophisticated coffee culture means that, despite these cutbacks, they are unwilling to give up their daily intake of coffee. It is therefore not surprising that demand for coffee has increased steadily over the past several years. The fastest-growing packaging types for coffee include aluminium trays, folding cartons and stand-up pouches, all of which experienced double-digit percentage growth in 2012.

While sales of dog and cat food appear to be less vulnerable to the adverse effects on consumption of a recessionary economic environment, the current steep and prolonged economic downturn in Italy showed only negligible growth in 2012 as well as slightly altered purchasing habits. Private label share has grown slightly over the past several years, while there has been a modest shift towards the economy end of the price spectrum as economically battered consumers seek to save money on their shopping bills. Italians overwhelmingly prefer wet dog and cat food to dry varieties, a pattern that has not been altered by the current recession, despite the fact that dry pet food is generally more inexpensive. In terms of packaging, this preference has made aluminium/plastic pouches the biggest form of packaging type, accounting for over 40% of volume sales of dog and cat food in Italy in 2012. In fact, over the review period, the importance of aluminium/plastic pouches in dog and cat food grew more pronounced, coinciding with the precipitous decline in the use and purchasing of metal packaging, particularly aluminium trays, for wet dog and cat food. Consumers increasingly prefer stand-up pouches and flexible plastic packaging as they offer greater ease of use and convenience and are resealable.

In 2012, home care packaging posted moderate unit volume growth backed by sales volume growth of major product categories and volume growth of relatively small-sized packs. In the home care market, relatively small packs have maintained a significant share in many product categories, including hand dishwashing, liquid detergents and liquid fabric softeners, as the number of small households such as single-person households increased rapidly in South Korea over the review period. In addition, manufacturers frequently introduced promotional packs such as bundle packs, which consist of a regular pack and a refill pack at a discounted price, and many consumers who look for value for money often purchased these promotional packs instead of purchasing large-sized packs.

In 2011 and 2012, soft drinks packaging unit volume recorded positive growth, driven by volume sales growth in major soft drinks categories, including bottled water, carbonates and RTD coffee. Bottled water and carbonates, which generate the largest share of soft drinks packaging, registered positive volume sales growth and RTD coffee also posted strong volume sales growth in 2011 and 2012. Driven by the volume sales growth of these major soft drinks categories, unit volume of soft drinks packaging continued to increase in 2011 and 2012. However, the pace of packaging unit volume growth was slower in 2012 due to the slower volume sales growth of soft drinks in most product categories.

Smoking in Italy has been on a steady, long-term negative trajectory. Not only has the prevalence of smoking among the overall population dropped sharply in recent years, the intensity of the habit among smokers has also fallen. According to the Italian Observatory of Smoking, Alcohol and Drugs (OSSFAD), average daily cigarette consumption in Italy declined from 16 to 13 cigarettes between 2002 and 2012. Not surprisingly, tobacco packaging in Italy saw a further decline in volume sales in 2012, affecting all packaging types, with the exception of flexible paper/plastic. While the carton of 20 cigarettes remains the overwhelmingly dominant pack size sold in Italy, growth has been better in smaller sizes, as consumers cut back on their daily intake of cigarettes. Much of this decline is due to aggressive governmental policy aimed at achieving important reductions in smoking prevalence in Italy, particularly among the younger segments of the population. In addition to the ban on smoking in indoor public places, including offices, bars, restaurants and discos, which was implemented in 2005, recent increases in cigarette taxes and the minimum price for cigarettes has increased the unit price of cigarette packs significantly. In addition, this multi-pronged strategy implemented by the Italian government has included aggressive education and awareness campaigns aimed primarily at younger people.