Technavio market research analysts forecast the pet food packaging market in Europe to grow at a CAGR of more than seven percent during the forecast period, according to their latest report “Petfood Packaging Market in Europe 2017-2021.”
The market study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the pet food packaging market in Europe for 2017-2021. The report lists plastic, folding cartons and metal as the three major pet food packaging materials used in the European market. The plastic segment accounted for close to 77 percent of the market share in 2016.
Technavio analysts highlight the following three market drivers that are contributing to the growth of the pet food packaging market in Europe:
- Rise in demand for convenient and pouch packaging
- Growth of e-commerce in pet industry
- Increasing number of pet food packaging variants
Rise in demand for convenient and pouch packaging
There is a significant increase in the demand for single-serve and innovative packaging with new designs and techniques. Therefore, vendors are constantly developing packaging materials that provide easy access as well as resealable features. Hence, the pouch segment is expected to witness strong demand from pet food manufacturers due to the convenience of lightweight and zippered closures.
Also, lightweight packaging helps in reducing the transportation cost of the product. An instance of convenient packaging is Whisker Lickin's cat food. They provide food in a stand-up pouch, which is easy-to-store as well as reseal. This has increased its demand in the market.
Growth of e-commerce in pet industry
With the increase in the number of pet food variants, there has been growth in the demand for its packaging variants as well. The focus of pet owners has shifted toward nutritious, organic and natural pet food. With this, the demand for sustainable and attractive packaging has also increased. For instance, there is a rise in demand for therapeutic dog and cat food in Europe because of consumer awareness of the benefits of a therapeutic diet. With this, there is an increase in demand for packaging with labels and content indicating the ingredients, benefits, and other information. Therefore, the increased health awareness for pets is, in turn, boosting the demand for pet food packaging market in Europe.
“Consumers look at labels to select the most nutritious, as well as safest food for their pets,” said Sharan Raj, a lead analyst at Technavio for packaging research, in a press release. “Hence, vendors are featuring nutritional tables as well as food pyramids on the packaging material to fulfill the consumer demand. Due to this, pet food packaging is an important tool for communicating the message of functionality, taste, quality of a product, and to make the product stand out on the store shelf.”
