Green and Safe: China's Food Packaging Materials Market Expands as Smart Trends Accelerate

When shoppers choose food, packaging is often the first thing they notice and touch—such as plastic film, glass bottles, metal cans and paper bags. As the final step and an important part of the modern food industry, food packaging protects products, keeps them fresh and makes distribution easier. Each material has strengths and weaknesses. With China's national economy expanding quickly and the consumer goods market continuing to grow, the country's food packaging sector faces both opportunities and challenges.

Food packaging market continues to expand

Packaging is required for all types of food so that quality is maintained during storage, distribution and sale, spoilage is prevented, microbial contamination is avoided, and excessive chemical and physical changes are controlled. Packaging remains an important segment within the food industry.

The food packaging value chain starts upstream with raw material and equipment suppliers, covering packaging paper, general-purpose plastics, glass, aluminum and packaging machinery. The midstream covers food packaging manufacturing, including paper, plastic, metal and glass packaging. Downstream is the application market, mainly snacks, convenience foods, infant foods and food delivery.

Growing urban populations and fast development of retail infrastructure have lifted demand for packaged food, driving expansion of the packaging market. Data from the China Packaging Federation shows that China's food packaging industry market reached 603.9 billion yuan in 2020, up 0.3% from 2019, and is expected to reach 630 billion yuan by 2023.

Food packaging materials form the foundation of food packaging. They include paper, bamboo, wood, metal, enamel, ceramics, plastics, rubber, natural fibers, chemical fibers, glass and other products used to package or hold food or food additives, as well as coatings that come into direct contact with food or food additives.

Plastics are a common food packaging category. Typical materials include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester and polyamide. These are mainly high-barrier materials with gas, moisture and oil barrier properties and stable chemical performance. Metal packaging mainly uses tinplate and aluminum, offering corrosion resistance, non-toxicity, high strength and good ductility. It also provides excellent sealing and is widely used for canned and other high-seal foods.

Glass, an ancient packaging material, is transparent, sealed, chemically stable and reusable. It meets purity and hygiene requirements for food packaging and allows flexible, attractive shapes, though it is fragile and heavy. Paper packaging is lightweight, easy to process, recyclable and refined in appearance, and is often used for milk, desserts and similar products.

Beyond protecting food quality, packaging can draw consumer attention and interest through distinctive design and technology, improve convenience and satisfy demand for novel experiences.

Profile of food packaging materials and packaging companies

As China raises environmental and hygiene standards and raw material costs climb, concentration and the leading-player effect in food packaging materials and food packaging are becoming more evident. Companies with technological and capital advantages are taking the leading role.

Upstream listed general-purpose plastics companies include Kingfa Sci. & Tech. (600143) and Wote Advanced Material (002886). Listed packaging paper companies include Sun Paper (002078), Xianhe (603733) and Huatai Paper (600308). Listed packaging-specific equipment companies include Tederic Machinery (603289), Yizumi (300415) and KraussMaffei (600579). Paper food packaging listed companies include Hoshine Packaging (002228) and Xintonglian (603022); plastic packaging listed companies include Zijiang Enterprise (600210), Shuangxing New Materials (002585) and Tongchan Lixing (002243); metal packaging listed companies include Baosteel Packaging (601968) and Org Technology (002701).

Kingfa Sci. & Tech. (600143) was established in 1993 and focuses on R&D, production, sales and service of high-performance new materials. Its portfolio covers eight categories: modified plastics, eco-friendly high-performance recycled plastics, fully biodegradable plastics, special engineering plastics, carbon fiber and composites, light hydrocarbons and hydrogen energy, styrenic resins, and healthcare polymer materials. Its materials serve more than 1,000 well-known enterprises worldwide. In 2022, revenue reached 40.412 billion yuan and net profit 1.991 billion yuan.

Sun Paper (002078) was founded in 1982. It is a world-leading multinational forestry-pulp-paper integrated group, a national green factory and a China Top 500 enterprise, and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2006. The group has annual pulp and paper capacity of 12 million tonnes, operating revenue above 70 billion yuan and 516 core intellectual property rights. Its product structure includes six major series led by high-grade coated packaging board, high-grade art coated paper, specialty fiber dissolving pulp and high-grade industrial packaging paper.

Org Technology (002701) was founded in 1994 in Wenchang, Hainan. It focuses on R&D, design, production and sales of metal packaging for food and beverages, and also offers filling and QR code-assisted marketing services. It listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in October 2012. Long-term FMCG brands it serves include Tsingtao Beer, Coca-Cola, Genki Forest, Yili and Want Want. By the end of 2021, it had more than 40 manufacturing bases nationwide, covering three-piece cans, two-piece cans, end making and metal material printing.

China Resources Chemical (301090) is a first-tier profit center under China Resources Group specializing in production and sales of non-fiber-grade polyester chips. Its overall annual polyester capacity reaches 2.1 million tonnes. It serves quality domestic and international customers such as Coca-Cola, Evian, Nongfu Spring and Master Kong. Its 'Hualei' bottle-grade polyester chips are widely used in drinking water, hot-fill beverages, carbonated drinks, edible oil and alcoholic beverage packaging. The company is actively developing rPET recycling projects in line with the circular economy.

Food packaging moves toward green and intelligent

It is worth noting that China's food packaging industry still faces challenges. Some materials have issues that can affect food safety, hygiene, environmental protection and consumer health. In addition, under different conditions of use, packaging materials that were originally safe may become unsafe.

In recent years, continuous consumption upgrading has placed higher demands on food packaging. Green and eco-friendly, multi-functional, safe and reliable are becoming new trends. Specialized food packaging equipment is also moving toward better dynamic precision and higher automation to meet rising production needs.

Green consumption is now in fashion. To improve food safety and reduce environmental pollution, more attention is being paid to natural polymer materials used to make eco-friendly, biodegradable packaging. Recyclable and reusable eco-friendly packaging materials will become a major trend, and green and nano packaging materials will be vigorously developed.

With advances in high technology and new technologies, China's food packaging industry will continue to move toward diversification, high efficiency and intelligence. The shift is from stand-alone automated products to networking among multiple packaging machines, meeting the need for high output and high equipment utilization.

Intelligent packaging can integrate machinery, biology, electronics, chemical sensors and network technology into packaging materials, allowing ordinary packaging to deliver many 'special functions'. Common forms of smart food packaging mainly include three types: time-temperature indicators, gas indicators and freshness indicators. In the future, a 'universal and perfect' food packaging material may become a reality.

Companies should choose packaging suited to food characteristics to ensure quality; use outstanding packaging design to attract consumers and increase sales; strengthen international cooperation; keep innovating and upgrading food packaging technology; enhance their strength and competitiveness; and provide consumers with more complete services.

——Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-379413.html