Beverage packaging equipment investment is expected to increase over the next three years. However, the increase will not be concentrated on a single type of packaging machinery. Rather, it will be spread across various equipment categories.
That’s according to PMMI Business Intelligence’s “Beverage Industry Packaging Trends,” a report done in collaboration with Advantage Research to provide PMMI member companies and the broader industry with insights into beverage packaging trends that will impact the packaging and processing industry. The research stems from a quantitative online survey conducted from Nov. 21, 2024, to Jan. 21, 2025, and fifteen in-depth interviews conducted between Dec. 2024 and Jan. 2025 among CPG companies and contract packagers in the beverage industry.
Interview participants point to a wide range of machinery they plan to purchase over the next two to three years, starting with equipment that expands production capacity.
Some industry professionals plan to invest in entire production lines to keep up with demand and/or accommodate new product SKUs they are developing.
“If I’m increasing volume, I’m probably going to have to increase from start to finish and analyze my line from pack-on, all the way to pack-off and everything in between,” said a president of a private label contractor.
Others are focused on equipment that improves efficiency to reduce bottlenecks and minimize downtime.
“How do you make equipment easy, simple, and functional? Because, the goal, again, is uptime. We want to keep the equipment running, we don’t want it to slow down, but inevitably things break,” stated a director of engineering at a global beverage company.
Finally, some companies are looking to purchase machinery that allows for greater flexibility and reduced packaging waste.
“We’ve been really pressured to be able to reduce the amount of packaging on that type of line. We went from having something that was packaged with a little cardboard tray on the bottom, and we’ve worked to eliminate that and to reduce and lower the cost of that. So far, our customers really like that,” a director of engineering at a beverage manufacturer and co-packer explained.
SOURCE: PMMI Business Intelligence: Beverage Industry Packaging Trends
For more insights from PMMI’s Business Intelligence team, find reports, including “2024 Snack Foods Packaging Trends” and “2024 Technology & Workforce: Using Smart Technologies to Bridge the Skills Gap” at pmmi.org/business-intelligence.
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