Page 36 - Packaging News Jan-Feb 2020

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FMCG PACKAGING
APAC drives retail-
ready packaging
Emerging and transitional economies are set to drive demand for retail-ready packaging in the next five years, according to a market report from industry analyst Smithers.
items, however, will enjoy a slight shift in market share in their favour through 2024.
According to Smithers, RRP offers benefits not just to retailers them- selves, but to brand owners.
“Retail-ready packaging allows brand owners greater control over how their products are displayed within the retail environment, and thus how they connect with the shopper. In an era when brand loy- alty has diminished significantly, this creates a clear opportunity to improve shopper engagement.
“In order to create more connec- tion with shoppers and maintain their positions in the retail space, however, brands must also look to- ward innovation and increasing con- sumer convenience,” says Smithers.
The report highlights several tech- nology factors, such as digital print- ing, that are providing brands with benefits for retail packaging.
“It is easier to commission short- run corrugated jobs, in low order numbers, and receive them quickly from the print service provider, which allows greater flexibility in ordering corrugated RRP and allows more use of promotional RRP.
“While this has always been pos- sible for major consumer holidays, such as Christmas, wider availabili- ty of digital print means this can be extended to more minor events, such as Halloween,” says Smithers.
Die-cut containers accounted for 55 per cent of RRP volume demand in 2018, with plastic making up almost a quarter of the total; Smithers predicts that these two formats will maintain their relative positions, with the ma- jor shift being from shrink-wrapped trays to modified cases.
“Through 2024, the growth will be fastest in modified cases, with a 10.1 per cent CAGR by volume pushing consumption from 2.44 million tonnes (2019) to 3.93 million tonnes (2024). The new demand for shrink- wrap trays will be low, at a sluggish 1.8 per cent CAGR, and demand will actually drop in developed econo- mies – Western Europe, the US, Can- ada and Japan,” says Smithers. ■
The Future of Retail-Ready Packag- ing to 2024 is available from Smithers at www.smithers.com.
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January-February 2020
HE global market for retail-ready packaging (RRP) was worth an estimated $57.4bn in 2018 with a total demand in value of more than 29.1 million tonnes, ac- cording to Smithers’ report, The Future of Retail-Ready Packag-
ing to 2024.
The Asia-Pacific region is driving
this growth, with a compound annu- al growth rate of 7.63 per cent fore- cast from 2019 to 2024; Africa is just behind at 7.41 per cent, and South and Central America third at 6.06 per cent. Mature Western markets are predicted to show below-average growth through 2024.
Smithers expects RRP consump- tion to increase by an average of 5.4 per cent per annum from 2019-24, eventually reaching a total of almost 40 million tonnes, valued at $77bn at constant 2018 prices.
“A range of demographic, social and technological drivers will stimulate demand for RRP, ranging from simple population growth to the increasing use of flexible packaging with its con-
sequent requirement for RRP to dis- play and merchandise the packs.
“As with much packaging con- sumption, there is a correlation between demographic factors and future demand in RRP. In particular, greater urbanisation in Asia-Pacific is introducing more consumers to Western-style supermarket retailing for the first time – and hence retail display formats,” says Smithers.
More than half the total volume of RRP consumed in 2018 was account- ed for by the fresh food and produce, dairy, and bakery markets, with these three sectors expected to re- tain their dominant market share over the medium term; non-food
Retail-ready packaging allows brand owners greater control over how their products are displayed within the retail environment, and thus how they connect with the shopper.”