Global Packaged Food Products Market Growth to Swell with Rising Demand for Packaged Foods among Working Consumers

Urban consumers, usually having a hectic lifestyle, are in search of food products that can be made in limited time, with minimum efforts. They prefer meal options that are easier, quick, and non-fussy; this propelled the demand for packaged foods, which can also be stated as convenience foods, that are ready-to-cook, ready-to-serve, ready-to-eat, and frozen foods. Packaged food products may include products ranging from beverages, frozen vegetables, snacks, chips, ready-to-eat products, and others.

Why is the Demand for Packaged Food Products Increasing?

The demand for packaged food items is growing rapidly these days owing to growing time-constraints among working professionals and rising availability of convenience food products in the market. Moreover, packaged food products provide better physical protection, barrier protection, containment or accumulation, advertising, detailed information about the ingredients, safety, suitability, and more. The demand is shifting towards packaged foods or ready-to-eat foods because of the bulging time-constraints owing to work shifts of a majority of consumers, especially women. This is eventually boosting the packaged food products market growth.

In addition, growing technological developments in packing and ultrasonic sealing assure that packaged foods do not contaminate and leak outside the packaging. Moreover, packaging trends, for instance: worldwide environmental concerns about packaging materials and use of environment-friendly and sustainable packaging materials are helping brands grab consumers’ attention, which is propelling the market growth further.

Latest Trends in the Packaged Food Products Market

As per a report by Research Dive, the global packaged food products market is expected to grow from $20,545.4 million in 2021 to $34,434.6 million by 2030. The packaged food products market in North America is the most dominant and anticipated to grow speedily with a CAGR of 5.48% from 2022 to 2030. This is mainly owing to the rising improvements in food packing and growing launch of packed organic food products in this region. The region is deliberated as the most rewarding market for the packaged food products, due to increase in busy work schedules of people and their rising preference for ready-to-eat and convenience foods.

Market players are profoundly investing in research and development to satisfy the mounting demand for packaged food products. Some of the prominent players of the packaged food products market are Andros Foods, Kraft Heinz, Histon Sweets Spreads Limited, The J.M. Smucker Co., Gehl Foods, LLC. Conagra Brands, B and G Foods, INC., Tree Top, and others. These players are focused on forming strategies, for example, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, novel developments, and collaborations to achieve a prominent position in the global market.

For instance,

• In December 2020, Nestle, the world's leading food & beverage company, launched a series of FreshlyFit ready-to-eat meals for consumers that prefer healthy eating and wish to adopt active lifestyles.
   
• In January 2021, The Taste Company, a food start-up, entered into the ‘ready-to-eat’ food industry. The company aims to focus on manufacturing ready-to-eat breakfast as well as Indian meals menu.
   
• In December 2021, Food Flavours, a Kochi-based start-up, introduced box-packed wellness diet products including variants of whole-wheat ready-to-cook chapatis with finger millet, moringa leaves, spinach, flaxseeds, and foxtail millet.

COVID-19 Impact on the Packaged Food Products Market

The unexpected rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has skyrocketed the growth of the global packaged food products market. This is mainly because many restaurants and cafes were forced to shut down during the lockdown. However, people preferred ordering food from outside, and packaged food products were the only savior during the tough times in the course of the pandemic period. Also, the work-from-home working model has resulted in a speedy change in consumer culture and consumption habits. This has turned out as a rewarding opportunity for the convenience food product makers. All these factors portray that the global packaged food products market is likely to have a promising future in the upcoming years.