Consumers are choosing meat in pouches

In the US, demand for meat packed in pouches is increasing as consumers embrace the convenience factor. And there is no reason to assume antipodean consumers are not likewise purchasing pouch-packed product to make meal preparation simpler.

The Freedonia Group has released the study ‘Meat Packaging Market in the US’, which forecasts that pouches used in meat packaging in the US will climb 5.3% per year to $220 million in 2021, with unit gains expected to advance 3% per year to 1.6 billion units. 

Stand-up pouches are well-positioned for growth in the frozen meat and jerky sectors, while retort pouches will continue to see more use in the packaging of processed meat. 

The benefits of packing processed meats in pouches include the ability to be easily displayed (resulting in greater use of stand-up formats), peggable formats and high-quality printing. Additionally, the ability to integrate value-added features has allowed pouches to gain share in all major markets for meat packaging.

On the downside, cost and slower production speeds will limit gains for many processed meat applications. Furthermore, the packaging of ready-to-eat meat products in pouches is not feasible in many cases due to the fact that these often must remain upright in their packages.