North America Active and Intelligent Packaging Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The North America Active and Intelligent Packaging market are expected to register a CAGR of 6.2% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). With the recent outbreak of COVID 19, the active and intelligent packaging manufacturers were flooded with a pool of issues that are expected to only last for the short term. Some of the effects of the lockdown include supply chain disruptions, lack of availability of raw materials used in the manufacturing process, labor shortages, fluctuating prices that could cause the final product's production to inflate and go beyond budget, and shipping problems.

Key Highlights

• Active packaging demand is driven by food processing companies to keep food fresh for a more extended period and during its duration in the supply chain, to reduce food waste, and promote more convenient packaging for consumers.
• This rise in the demand for fresh foods, particularly in developing countries, significantly contributed to the need for oxygen scavengers, as they react with the oxygen in the package and protect the product from degradative oxidation reactions, keeping them fresh.
• Intelligent packaging is enabled to sense and measure some variables of the food that it encloses or the environment in which it is kept. This feature enables it to inform the stakeholders (manufacturer, retailer, and consumer) of the state of the food through measured properties.
• The increase in counterfeit products, especially in the pharmaceutical and personal care industries in emerging economies, also compelled companies to use technologies, such as RFID during packaging. All these factors account for a substantial rise in the demand for active and intelligent packaging. However, the initial capital needed due to higher costs of installation and implementation and security issues regarding with these systems are challenging the growth of the market.

Key Market Trends

Active Packaging is Observing a Significant Increase

• To improve the product's shelf life, certain components are incorporated into packaging that releases or absorb from or into the packed substance to prolong its shelf life and sustain the quality of the product. This process is termed active packaging. For this purpose, various technologies are used, which include oxygen scavengers, microwave susceptors, odor absorbers/emitters, moisture/ humidity absorbers, and anti-microbial packaging.
• The retailers in the United States are heavily reliant upon fresh-cut operations at the back of stores using regional processors. For instance, Church Brothers Farms is one such company that predominantly caters to the food service, with around 15% of its product going to retail, which indicates that a major portion of the country has yet to switch to MAP.​
• In this disinfecting process, the N95 mask and the small strip of ActivShield are placed inside a one-gallon plastic bag. The strip releases a controlled amount of chlorine dioxide inside the sealed bag to decontaminate the N95 mask. The process takes only three hours until the mask is ready to wear again. It can be performed on-site at the local hospital where the mask is being used.
• The rising demand for packaged food is boosting the active packaging market. The growing inclination of customers toward packaged and ready-to-eat foodstuffs is propelling the active packaging market, and this trend is expected to continue within the forecast period. Chopped and packaged fruits and vegetables employ active packaging to a large extent, releasing gases within the packaging.

Beverage Industry is One of the Significant Factor for Market Growth

• Consumers have been shifting towards healthier and hygienic products, and they have been demanding healthy beverages, fruit drinks, etc. Along with bottled water, some fruit drinks are also being made in smaller sizes for travel and mobility purposes. Simultaneously with the increasing demand for healthier beverages, consumers are fascinated by carton packaging, providing environmental sustainability and recyclability. This has been attracting milk and beverage producers to adopt carton packaging for liquids.
• Cold-pressed juices are gaining popularity in the United States due to the growing health-consciousness and demanding organic and natural ingredients and minimally processed products. Brand owners have been designing cartons for juices as it offers high protection and excellent long-term shelf life at room temperature and being eco-friendly.
• Also, the introduction of eco-friendly packaging and flavored water with regulated ingredients has escalated the growth in carton water usage. According to International Bottled Water Association, bottled water is the widely used beverage product in the United States (by volume), which grew to 15.2 billion gallons in 2020 from 14.4 billion gallons in 2019. Substituting plastic bottles with cartons has a major impact on the market.
• In May 2020, Sustana Fiber's mill in Québec announced new processes to recycle multilayer juice and milk cartons. It can now annually process 3,000 to 4,000 tons of these cartons collected from across the country. Each recycled multilayer carton providing raw material needed to continue producing essential items like toilet paper and paper napkins, thus improving recycling and recovery efforts. Increased carton recycling helps preserve natural resources, meet important diversion and recycling goals, create jobs, and, in the case of COVID-19, helps avoid shortages of the pulp needed to manufacture essential items.

Competitive Landscape

The North America Active and Intelligent Packaging market are moderately consolidated, with a few major companies like BASF SE, Amcor Ltd, Honeywell International Inc., Landec Corporation, Bemis Company Inc., Crown Holdings Inc.Ball Corporation, Timestrip UK Ltd are some players. The companies are continuously investing in making strategic partnerships and product developments to gain more market share. Some of the recent developments in the market are:

• August 2020 - Sonoco, a multinational packaging company, based in the United States, has completed the USD49 million acquisition of Can Packaging, a French manufacturer of sustainable paper packaging and related manufacturing equipment. This strategic acquisition provides us with several breakthroughs, including patented technology for creating a recyclable, high-performance all-paper package that can be made in various shapes and sizes, including round, square, rectangular, oval, elliptical, and triangular.
• August 2021 - Amcor, one of the global pioneers in developing and producing a diverse range of reliable packaging solutions, today announced the debut of a proprietary healthcare lidding technology that will be used for combination products containing two or more regulated components (device, drug, or biologic). Amcor's most recent invention is based on patented inert film development and laminate design. It offers a lidding solution that can endure heat sterilization, which conserves and sterilizes products while preventing drug uptake into the package.

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