Market Trends of United Kingdom Packaging Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the UK Packaging Market according to our research experts:
Food Segment is Expected to Drive the Market's Growth
- Several factors, like a steady rise in demand for processed food and increasing adoption of lightweight flexibles, drive the market with varying impacts over the short, medium, and long-term periods. Further, the market for frozen food packaging is witnessing an upsurge in demand with the consumer appreciation of the product quality in the country. The demand for frozen food packaging has increased in the UK due to changing lifestyles, and market growth is anticipated over the coming years.
- Further, food takeaway is a crucial segment of the food segment. For instance, in August 2021, as the demand for takeaways grew despite the reopening of bars and restaurants, Deliveroo, a British online food delivery service, reported that it registered more than double its number of customer orders to 149 million in the first six months of 2021. The food delivery service announced that it now offers takeaways from more UK restaurants and food merchants than any other service, with orders across the United Kingdom and Ireland up 110% from the first half of 2020.
- Due to their capacity to maintain the freshness of food products and increase product shelf life, stand-up pouches are anticipated to become a standard form of packaging throughout the forecast period. In addition to this, the pouches also offer a great visible aesthetic which adds to the marketing benefits of the products. This has led to the wide adoption of pouches as a stable alternative to other formats and is expected to take further momentum in terms of demand and customer acceptance during the forecast period.
- In the United Kingdom, sustainability and recyclability play a significant role in raising consumer preference for brands. Last year, responding to the expanded market demand for post-consumer recycled (PCR) packaging solutions, a flexible packaging company, ProAmpac, announced the launch of its ProActivePCR Retort pouches. The retort pouches are intended for pet and human food packaging and are both FDA and EU-compliant for food contact in retort applications. They provide packaging with a post-consumer recycled (PCR) content of 30 weight percent or more, which minimizes the use of virgin resins. These inventive pouches also adhere to United Kingdom Plastics Packaging Tax regulations (PPT).
- Further, last year, it was announced by Mondelez International that the packaging for Cadbury Dairy Milk, which is produced in Bournville and sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland, will contain up to 30% recycled plastic. It is a component of a larger global commitment by the company to, assuming a constant portfolio mix, reduce the use of virgin plastic material in its total plastic packaging portfolio by 5% by 2025. The packaging for Dairy Lunchables and Snackers in the UK already contains 75% recycled plastic (RPET).
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Bottles Segment is Expected to Hold a Major Market Share
- In the United Kingdom, plastic bottles are widely used in a variety of industries. Due to the beverage companies' growing use of recyclable plastics, the food and beverage market is one of the major users of plastic bottles and containers. The average European Union member state citizen consumed 89.7 liters of soft drinks annually in 2020, according to the Union of European Soft Drinks Associations (UNESDA). The British Soft Drinks Association Annual Report 2021 stated that approximately 5.16 billion liters of carbonates were consumed in the United Kingdom in 2020. Such instances are expected to drive the growth of the market.
- The country's plastic bottle market is driven by the rising use of PET bottles due to their simplicity, low cost, and light weight in a variety of end-user applications, including food, beverage, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. 70% of soft drinks are packaged in PET plastic bottles, according to the British Plastics Federation.
- Furthermore, newer filling technologies and the development of heat-resistant PET bottles provided new possibilities and options in the market. While PET bottles are standard in multiple segments, beverages, cosmetics, sanitary products, and detergents are largely sold in polyethylene (PE) bottles. According to Recycling Bins.co.uk, the country uses 7.7 billion plastic bottles, accounting for 117 bottles per person per year.
- Market players are also increasingly investing in bottles as a packaging product. For instance, in November 2021, Amcor Rigid Packaging (ARP), a multinational packaging manufacturer, created a container design to enable more small plastic bottles to be recycled. The design is being used on recyclable polyethylene terephthalate 50ml alcohol bottles (PET).
- Owing to various sustainability initiatives, recycling and using PCR content in bottles has been growing in the country. For instance, in February 2022, the Coca-Cola Company set an industry-leading objective to increase its reusable packaging usage significantly. By 2030, the firm hopes to have at least 25% of all beverages sold in refillable/returnable plastic bottles or refillable containers through a traditional fountain or Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers across its portfolio of brands. Such developments are expected to increase the demand for plastic bottle manufacturing in the market.
