INTRODUCTION
STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
BCC Research’s goal in conducting this study is to measure, analyze, and forecast the global market for active, controlled, and intelligent packaging for the food and beverage industry, including current trends in packaging; current and emerging industry trends; market segments by products and applications; and market growth drivers, inhibitors and regulatory factors. Packaging is an essential component market that affects virtually every industry. In particular, the food and beverage industry is continually evolving with new active, controlled, and intelligent packaging that enhances the quality of the products, prolongs shelf life, and positively impacts the profitability of a product by reducing waste and spoilage.
By exploring current and anticipated trends in food and beverage value-adding packaging in a broad context, it is more possible for professionals in the industry to understand how its own product lines are impacted and how it can benefit from general and specific industry trends and innovations. Although few food and beverage organizations are ignorant of their own packaging needs, the fast pace of ongoing operations generally does not provide the luxury of conducting extensive research in regard to options and alternatives in packaging that may provide immense value and increased profitability to their businesses. Through this market research report we present a more comprehensive picture of market economics, product categories and growth trends, as well as current and impending technology innovations through emerging innovator companies and intellectual property trends.
REASONS FOR DOING THE STUDY
Packaging has several essential purposes for the food and beverage industry. Primarily, packaging is intended to protect and preserve a food or beverage from manufacture through transportation and distribution to the retailer and then ultimately to the consumer. Foods or beverages that are inadequately packaged and are spoiled or damaged before reaching their ultimate destination provide nothing but a loss for all stakeholders involved.
New active, controlled and intelligent packaging not only provide the essential product protection but also add value to the product either by interacting in some way with the product itself or by enhancing some product quality, or even by providing interactive information such as temperature over time to ensure that perishable products are sold and consumed at the peak of their quality. For many organizations actively in the food and beverage industries, their profit margins are quite low and they depend on high volume and low waste.
Conventionally, choosing a packaging type and partner was simply a bottom-line consideration of getting the most for the least expenditure. The advent of advanced packaging materials and techniques makes packaging considerations much more complex, even for the most basic food and beverage necessities. In addition, increasingly informed consumers bring considerations such as environmentally responsible practices and aesthetic expectations for foods and beverages in an exceptionally competitive market. These considerations involve researching and exploring a number of different aspects of packaging and research that are based on measurable data that combine these disparate packaging factors in order to provide actionable information for professionals in the food and beverage packaging industries.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
BCC has compiled a study of active, controlled and intelligent packaging for the food and beverage industry that includes product categorizations, individual product definitions and performance metrics, and costs and benefits associated with various packaging techniques and products. Additionally, various regulatory and consumer consideration issues are presented, such as the environmental impact of packaging disposal and consumer perception of “green” practices versus product longevity through the use of advanced packaging.
Packaging is an industry that has the benefit of being a necessary component for foods and beverages, rather than an optional or luxury add-on. Product positioning is more important for foods and beverages and by extension, for packaging providers than for many other industries. There are many established and successful conventional packaging companies that provide packaging solutions for current and ongoing food and beverage operations. Advanced packaging penetrates the market in a unique way because of the multiple forces affecting packaging decisions and food and beverage marketability simultaneously. Few companies have the resources to take a broad look beyond industry journal articles and well-funded marketing campaigns to truly consider the realities of advanced packaging options and opportunities.
This study is primarily intended for professionals in all aspects of the food and beverage industry with packaging considerations. It provides useful and validated information to guide their strategic packaging decisions. In addition, professionals in the packaging industry can benefit by understanding where their products and technologies fit into the overall advanced packaging market and how the growth and technology trends of their industry affect them and how these trends will continue to affect them in the future.
SCOPE OF REPORT
The scope of this study encompasses the identified categories of active, controlled, and intelligent packaging for foods and beverages, multiple sub-categories within these three broad categories and many options and considerations that may combine multiple packaging technologies or packaging/production techniques to provide the optimal process and end-product for different organizations and products.
BCC has used real global market measurements and statistically validated growth trends and forecasts for categorized market exploration. To explore technology innovations, each category and sub-category of active, controlled, and intelligent packaging is examined from the perspective of commercial product development (for specific industry stakeholders) and technology innovation (impacting many packaging companies through the development and refinement of new advanced packaging materials and packaging techniques).
INFORMATION SOURCES
BCC analyzed public documents, SEC filings, corporate white papers, and other technical documentation for over 200 international companies directly involved in advanced packaging, as well as more than 100 larger companies pursuing food and beverage packaging innovations and solutions for their own organizational needs.
Additionally, BCC analyzed greater than 1500 utility patents and several dozen design patents filed in the U.S. and other world patent organizations specifically relating to active, controlled, and intelligent packaging for the food and beverage industry. Finally, many different standards and regulatory agencies were queried and standards, mandates, and laws were analyzed and presented as they impact packaging requirements and expectations for the food and beverage industry.
BCC presents an analysis across the entire active, controlled and intelligent packaging industry based on measurable and audited revenue and expenditure reports such as those reported to the SEC and other national and international organizations. Information gathered and analyzed for the packaging industry includes information from a variety of packaging and food and beverage research organizations and data sources. Technology information derives from a variety of published and proven academic and research sources as well as intellectual property (IP) available from large databases such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) databases of U.S. Patents and Patent Applications, Micropatent’s searchable databases for U.S. and international patents and other IP issues, and the searchable database available on the Internet from the European Patent Office for World and U.S. patents and patent applications.
When possible, market information is broken down into the smallest coherent categorization, which can be consistently defined and analyzed based on revenue and other financial reporting standards in the U.S. and worldwide. Additionally, many national and international standards and regulations have been analyzed, as have details relating to specific requirements for the food and beverage industry, packaging expectations and requirements, and environmental impact issues from manufacture to disposal.
ANALYST’S CREDENTIALS
Jordan Sheridan is a technology analyst and writer with more than 20 years of experience who specializes in technology and intellectual property strategies and develops IP documentation and analysis studies for Fortune 100 companies, with particular emphasis on IT technology and algorithmically-based inventions. Sheridan’s publications for BCC Research include RFID: Technology, Applications, and Market Potential (IAS020A); The Global Market for Energy Management Information Systems (EGY052A); Technologies for Air Pollution Monitoring, Prevention, & Control (IAS001G); and Artificial Sensing: Technologies and Emerging Markets (IAS021A); and Advanced Materials for Sensors (AVM058A).
Report Code: FOD038B, Published: January 2008, Analyst: Jordan Sheridan
