Global Food Contact Paper Market

Food Contact Paper Market: Insights

Growing environmental concerns have resulted in the food industry moving away from plastic and aluminium packaging materials to more sustainable materials like paper that can be recycled. The high recyclability of paper over aluminium and low degradation time makes them ideal for food and beverage packaging. Paper packaging is cost-effective and lightweight as well, lighter packaging improves transportation efficiency and reduces cost. Food packaging protects the food from contamination through dirt, bacteria, fungus, and in some cases sunlight. While protecting the food content, they also ensure the content does not leak out and reaches the consumer in its entirety. The packaging industry has been investing heavily in creating lightweight and high-performance paper packaging which has resulted in the growth of the food contact paper market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, online food delivery services saw significant growth resulting in retailers turning to paper packaging as a viable option to reduce costs. The food contact paper market is driven by the increasing demand for recyclable and biodegradable packaging, consumer behavior, demand for lightweight packaging, and growth in the online food delivery industry. The rapidly changing raw materials prices especially pulp hamper the growth of the global food contact paper market.

Food Contact Paper Market: By Material

The food contact paper market can be segmented based on the material used as specialty paper, kraft paper, and recycled paper. The specialty paper segment holds the lion’s share of the market. Specialty paper-like greaseproof paper is used extensively in restaurants, fast-food outlets, bakeries, and cafes to pack food. Greaseproof paper prevents leakage especially oil from food and allows consumers to consume the food with as little mess as possible. Fast-food outlets use a lot of greaseproof paper as their food is generally made to be easily consumed. The high demand for greaseproof paper is the major reason for the market domination of the specialty paper segment.

Food Contact Paper Market: By Thickness

Based on the thickness of the paper, the food contact paper market can be segmented as up to 30 GSM, 30-50 GSM, and above 50 GSM. The up to 30 GSM segments will dominate the industry as it is used extensively as it is cheaper, biodegradable, and lighter than the other segments. Thicker paper packaging materials are made from a mix of paper and other materials like aluminum. This makes them less biodegradable and cannot be recycled as easily as low thickness materials. Lower thickness paper packaging of thickness lower than 30 GSM are more widely used as they are cheaper and lightweight. Their lightweight nature helps reduce shipping and transportation costs. Heavy paper packaging is not used extensively and is mainly used for liquids. As there are cheaper lightweight options than paper packaging with thicknesses greater than 30 GSM, they aren’t used as extensively.

Food Contact Paper Market: By Application

Based on the application, the market can be segmented into fresh food, bakery products, fast food, baby food, dairy products, and others. The fast-food segment will grow faster than other segments with the highest CAGR value from 2021 to 2026. The rising demand for easy ready to eat food, changing behavior patterns, increase in demand for delivery services have all contributed to the growth of this segment. Fast food, in general, is made to be eaten without having to use plates and only paper packaging is necessary to make sure they do not get messy. The growing number of fast-food outlets has only increased the need for paper packaging like greaseproof paper.

Food Contact Paper Market: By End-User

Based on the end-user analysis, the market can be segmented into fast food outlets, bakery & cafes, hotels & restaurants, airline & railway catering, cinemas, and others. The segment of fast food outlets will be the largest segment owing to the increased demand for fast food across the developed and developing regions. With the rising number of food delivery services combined with the COVID 19 restrictions on dining out, the delivery market has increased significantly. This has caused an increase in the number of packaging materials required by food outlets. With industries pressured to become more environment friendly by public pressure and governmental regulations has resulted in significant growth of the food contact paper market.

Food Contact Paper Market: By Region

The dominant regional category is the North American region. The North American region has a large number of fast-food outlets, cafes and bakeries, and restaurants that are the major end-users of food contact paper packaging. Public awareness of green products in the North American region has increased the pressure on companies to reduce their carbon footprint and use more eco-friendly materials, Also, government regulations favour using more biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging. The APAC region is the fastest-growing region as fast food demand increases in the region, increased environmental sustainability awareness among the population, government regulations that favour bio-degradable packaging materials, and the increasing number of food contact paper vendors in the region. The growing per capita income has increased the demand for fast-food outlets in the region and has changed the consumption behavior of the people in the region. Online delivery has also played an important role in the rise of fast food outlets which in turn increased the demand for food contact paper packaging.

Food Contact Paper Market: Share & Competitor Analysis

Twin River Paper Company, Mondi Plc, Nordic Paper, Pudumjee Paper Products, Westrock Company, BPM Inc., Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc., Seaman Paper Company, PA Holding CZ, a.s., Metsä Board Corporation, SCG Packaging PCL, Malex Paper Products Sdn Bhd, Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj, Asian Pulp & Paper Company, Quick Pack Pacific Co. Ltd., Detmold Group, PT. Maesindo Indonesia, PT Parisindo Pratama, Harwal Group of Companies among others, are the major vendors competing in the food contact paper market.

Please note: This is not an exhaustive list of companies profiled in the report.