Demand for trays in meat, poultry and seafood packaging is expected to increase 3.9 percent per year to $860 million in 2015, according to Cleveland, Ohio-based The Freedonia Group Inc.’s April 2011 Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging report. The growth of trays is expected to be driven by a change in product mix toward larger and more expensive foam and rigid plastic trays as a result of the gains in share of case-ready meats and the increasing popularity of processed ready-to-cook meat, poultry and seafood products.
Freedonia projects that demand for foam trays will progress at a slower pace than nonfoam trays because of market maturity and intensified competition from nonfoam trays. Tray advancements are expected to be restrained by competition from flexible packaging formats, such as pouches and bags, with fresh meat and poultry, the research firm says.