Middle East and Africa Flexible Packaging - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Middle East and Africa Flexible Packaging - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Middle East and Africa Flexible Packaging Market are expected to register a CAGR of 3.98% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). With the recent outbreak of COVID 19, flexible packaging manufacturers have been flooded with a pool of issues expected to be only for the short term. Some of the effects of lockdown include supply chain disruptions, lack of availability of raw materials used in the manufacturing process, labor shortages, fluctuating prices that could cause the production of the final product to inflate and go beyond budget, shipping problems, etc.

Key Highlights

• Stand-up Pouches are in high demand and generating a lot of attention among consumers in the researched location. SUPs have regained popularity due to several causes, including introducing new packaging machinery that allows for significantly faster production and filling speeds and improved sealing efficiencies.
• Flexible packaging products are largely used in the food and beverages industry of the region. With increased attention to single-serve and smaller meals, flexible packaging formats ideally cater to the demand for lightweight and transparent packaging. Furthermore, the industry also uses opaque printing with enhanced graphics to optimize sales in the region.
• The packaging of food has evolved a lot during the past decade. Currently, with barrier nano-coating technology in flexible packaging, the thickness has significantly been reduced, primarily resulting in a lesser amount of plastics used.
• Flexible packaging production operations also require a continuous supply of significant amounts of energy; hence, energy costs account for the considerable share of the company’s total manufacturing costs, depending on the energy cost, the type of energy available, the factory location, and the energy requirements.

Key Market TrendsFood Industry impelling Prominent Growth

• Strong incentives from retailers, producers, and consumers to increase product shelf life and reduce wastage of packaging material and the rising preference for fresh foods, such as fruits and vegetables, have increased the demand for flexible packaging solutions.​
• This flexible packaging offers efficient barrier solutions for frozen and chilled food across many sectors, keeping food safe from contamination while helping extend its shelf life. The barrier films are blended to provide moisture-, oxygen-, and aroma-barrier properties.
• Pouches are considered one of the most convenient packaging solutions for dairy and yogurt for out-of-home consumption. Hence, companies and dairies are developing and using packaged pouches with creative lidding to gain consumers’ attraction.​ Moreover, the stand-up pouch is trendy in the dairy industry, replacing pillow pouches and rigid packages.
• Consumers are showing a higher requirement in terms of the quality of food. The improvement of quick-frozen technologies would help improve nutritional values and taste. There is an expectation of various varieties of frozen food in the future. Frozen products require flexibility in terms of packaging shape. Hence, these products create a demand for flexible packaging products.
• The food packaging market in the Middle East is moving towards automatic packaging systems. The quality of the packages, the attention to display boxes, high quantities, and rapid production times with continuous variability are some of the factors typically looked for by a manufacturer in the region. For all such purposes, the usage of flexible packaging as a means of the secondary package is suitable and is hence rising in demand.

Africa Market is Driven by Recent Developments in Flexible Packaging

• Flexible packaging products are largely used in the food and beverages industry of the region. With increased attention to single-serve and smaller meals, flexible packaging formats ideally cater to the demand for lightweight and transparent packaging. Furthermore, the industry also uses opaque printing with enhanced graphics to optimize sales in the region.
• Africa has a growing middle class due to its dense population, fueling the growth of the food and beverage industry. The development of the food and beverage industry is having a favorable impact on the market under consideration.
• According to the IMF, the GDP growth of the African region was 3.7% in 2020. It adds to the growth of the packaging industry, with increasing markets for consumer products, burgeoning individual incomes, a growing population of youthful consumers, and domestic economies.
• Growing innovation has seen the emergence of flexible foam, papers, and aluminum foils, replacing the current use of plastic to manufacture pouches. Furthermore, countries in Africa such as Kenya and Morocco are making considerable efforts to increase local production, growing investments from Asian and European countries. As a result, the existing foreign players, like Lupin and Dr. Reddy's, are expected to expand their production capabilities. This factor is expected to boost the demand for healthcare packagings, such as blister packs, pouches, and IV bags.
• The increasing adoption of pouch packaging for liquids, such as juices, detergents, and edible oil, has seen the emergence of pouches with excellent oxygen-barrier properties to preserve the liquid inside, thus, ensuring that the contents stay uncontaminated. In January 2020, Nestle launched its product called Nesquick All Natural powder in a recyclable paper pouch in five ingredients, which will add to its existing Nesquick range. Nesquick all-natural has less sugar than the classic product, using raw star cane juice instead of white sugar, and with cocoa responsibly sourced from West Africa under the Nestle Cocoa Plan.

Competitive Landscape

The Middle East and Africa Flexible Packaging market are gaining competitiveness. Many of the companies are increasing their market presence by securing new contracts and by tapping new markets. Companies, like Sealed Air Corporation, American Packaging Corporation, Bolloré Group, TCL Packaging, Amerplast, Coveris Management GmbH, BASF SE, KM Packaging Services, Ltd., Mondi Plc, Bischof + Klein SE & Co., KG, Bemis Company, Inc., Amcor, Ltd., Dowdupont, Solvay S.A. and Bryce Corporation.

• April 2020- KIZAD polymer park invested AED 55 million that allows Shrinath Flexipack Pvt Ltd to build its first factory. Upon completion, Shrinath Flexipack’s newly constructed Abu Dhabi site would produce up to 30,000 metric tons of plastic goods per annum.
• December 2020 - ePac Holdings inaugurated a new manufacturing facility in Ghana to offer stand-up pouches, lay flat pouches, and roll stock to packaging consumer products with custom digitally printed flexible packaging.
• June 2021- Sealed Air Corporation has committed more than USD 30 million to expand worldwide manufacturing capacity and invest in new equipment systems to fulfill the growing demand for Automated Packaging Systems (APS) AUTO BAG brand products acquired in 2019. Capacity expansion, “touchless” automation, and unique digital printing technologies are all part of the investment.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

Sealed Air Corporation
American Packaging Corporation
Bolloré Group
TCL Packaging
Amerplast
BASF SE
KM Packaging Services
Mondi Plc
Bischof + Klein SE & Co., KG
Bemis Company, Inc.,
Coveris Management GmbH
Amcor, Ltd
Dowdupont
Solvay S.A.
Bryce Corporation

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