Growth is expected to outpace expansion in fresh produce production, reflecting the important role of packaging in the protection, safety assurance, and marketing of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Freedonia Group said plastic containers will experience the fastest gains among major produce packaging types through 2017, particularly with growth forecast in berry applications.
Fruit applications are expected to see growth outpacing the overall produce packaging average through 2017.
Industry analyst Esther Palevsky said: "These applications necessitate usage of modified atmosphere packaging for freshness protection."
Corrugated boxes, which accounted for 38% of demand in 2012, are the leading produce packaging type and are valued for their relatively low cost, light weight, good protective performance, graphics capabilities, and well established recycling infrastructure, the report found.
Gains will be helped by the increased prevalence of more costly box structures such as modular boxes, white-top linerboard boxes, highly printed boxes, and moisture-resistant recyclable boxes.
Although bag and liner demand is expected to increase at a slightly faster pace to the overall produce packaging average, faster growth will occur for breathable bags in fresh-cut produce uses.
Heightened demand is also anticipated for pouches.
