Single-use food packaging expected to have fastest growing demand in world's foodservice disposables market through 2015, fueled by rapid expansion of limited service restaurant sector: Freedonia

Lorena Madrigal

CLEVELAND , January 4, 2012 (press release) – World demand for foodservice disposables is forecast to grow 5.4 percent per year to $53.3 billion in 2015. Advances will be driven by gains in the foodservice industry, which will accelerate from the rates seen over the 2000-2010 period due to improvements in global economic conditions, increasingly fast-paced lifestyles, urbanization trends and growth in away-from-home food spending. However, great disparity in per capita foodservice expenditures will remain among the various regions, which will affect demand for disposables used in restaurants and other foodservice establishments. These and other trends are presented in World Foodservice Disposables, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.

Disposable serviceware -- including single-use cups, dinnerware and utensils -- will remain the largest product type through the forecast period and beyond. The fastest demand growth is expected in the disposable packaging segment, which includes foodservice containers, lids and domes, wraps, bags, and trays. Demand for disposable foodservice packaging will be fueled by rapid global expansion in the limited service restaurant sector, which relies heavily on single-use packaging. Beyond eating and drinking places, good opportunities for disposables will be found in the retail market. Some of the best opportunities will exist in the disposable packaging segment, boosted by gains in the fast food industry, which uses large quantities of disposables for packaging foods consumed both on-site and off-site.

The Asia/Pacific region will see above-average gains in foodservice disposables demand, fueled by advances in the limited service restaurant sector. Between 2010 and 2015, China alone will account for 28 percent of global foodservice disposables market value gains and will surpass Japan to become the second largest market worldwide. Central and South America, Eastern Europe, and the Africa/Mideast region will also experience above-average advances, though growth in these areas will stem from smaller bases. Advances will be below average in North America and Western Europe, where markets are more mature and somewhat saturated. Nonetheless, good opportunities will still be found in developed countries, especially for higher-cost degradable, recycled content and other green products in areas with bans on polystyrene foam disposables. The US, which accounted for 37 percent of global foodservice disposables sales in 2010, will remain the largest national market in the world by a wide margin due to its large quick service restaurant sector.

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