Demand for smaller packs in Thailand driven by newly urban consumers having to stick to tight shopping budget, growing proportion of older consumers, report finds; smaller packs will manifest in market at maximum size of 250 ml

Elyse Blye

BASINGSTOKE, England, and LONDON , May 22, 2014 (press release) – Packaging companies and their manufacturers need to introduce smaller and lighter packs to meet Thailand’s changing needs.

Thailand is undergoing a rapid process of urbanisation. The rural population, which mainly works in the low paying agricultural sector, is moving to towns and cities in search of better paying manufacturing jobs. 7.8% of the population is forecast to have migrated from rural to urban areas between 2000 and 2020. These newly urban consumers will have to stick to a very tight shopping budget and, as such will need smaller packs in order to keep products affordable and attainable.

The proportion of older consumers in Thailand is also growing. Those aged 65 years and older will make up 13% of the total population by 2020. This age group will become an important consumer segment, resulting in a rise in demand for packaging that is light and easy to open and handle. Moreover, older consumers prefer packaging with easy-to-read labelling such as large fonts and contrasting colours.

The demand for smaller packs will manifest in the market with packs at a maximum size of 250 milliliter, growing at an annual rate of 5.2% between 2013 and 2016 in the food and non-alcoholic drinks sectors. Sachets are the most common pack type for packs of this size as they are inexpensive to produce and convenient for consumers.

Kirsty Nolan, Analyst at Canadean, says: “The substantial newly arrived urban consumer group, paired with falling household sizes, are driving the demand for small affordable packaging, pushing manufacturers to produce reduced-size plastic packs.”

Investment will lead to increased innovation

Thailand presents a favourable business environment with high urbanisation, low unemployment and rising consumer confidence. The continuing migration from rural to urban areas will create a larger, low-income urban population in need of small, value products. This will attract foreign investment and increased competition will promote innovation into smaller, lightweight and cheap packaging.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.