Food Packaging Consumer Insights

Food Packaging Consumer Insights

Consumers are increasingly considering the way their food is packaged, particularly with an eye toward the amount and utility of packaging. Sustainability of packaging is also increasingly on the minds of consumers, as climate change and waste issues receive more media attention. Additionally, the coronavirus pandemic led to more people eating more of their food at home and the amount of packaging waste involved became even more evident.

This report provides insights into consumer opinion about how food is packaged, including their understanding and participation in various sustainability and recycling practices and concerns, how the COVID-19 pandemic affected consumer attitudes toward food and its packaging, and how families with children or particular diets understand packaging.

Consumers opinion on the topics above is analyzed by the following metrics:

Gender
Age Group
Urban, Suburban, or Rural Location
Annual Household Income Bracket
Presence of children

Scope of the Report

This study examines consumer insights and trends for the US market for food packaging, including both rigid and flexible packaging, sold to food manufacturers, primarily for products targeted at retail or foodservice markets. Survey data capture insights in 2020 and 2021 as well as display historical trends in consumer sentiment.
Excluded from the scope of this report are the following:

• bulk packaging such as shipping sacks, intermediate bulk containers, strapping, drums, bulk pails, and material handling containers
• shipping and transit packaging, defined as packaging that does not touch the food itself and is used solely for the purposes of shipping or storage.
• protective packaging
• retail-ready packaging
• in-store packaging used for self-service in produce, deli, and bakery departments
• separately sold caps and closures
• packaging accessories such as tags, tape, and labels
• beverage packaging
• pet food and animal feed packaging
• single-use foodservice products such as cups, lids, dinnerware, utensils, napkins, pizza boxes, French fry cartons, doughnut boxes, and other containers and such used by restaurants or other non-retail foodservice establishments
• unconverted materials sold to food manufacturers for captive packaging production (although the value of the finished packaging produced captively by end users does count)