BARRIER TECHNOLOGY | PACKAGING
Co-injection technology finds new market traction
Thin wall moulding is growing in the barrier rigid packaging market, thanks to innovation and new applications, writes Martyna Fong, author of a new AMI report
The ambient long-life food segment is challenged with its unfashionable market positioning and consumer concerns about quality in compari- son with the chilled variants. Canned foods are generally perceived as inferior quality, less fresh and less authentic prod- ucts. Their efficient supply chain, and consequent lower price, has enabled their vast market magnitude to date. The segment will benefit strongly from the sort of modernisation and innova- tion which is now becoming technically possible. Growing consumer demand for convenience as well as suppliers’ search for market differentiation are the main drivers for packaging innovation in the ambient long-life segment. High barrier plastic packaging offers superior functionality and aesthetics versus traditional packaging media (metal, glass). High barrier plastics have the potential to re-vitalise mature markets such as ambient soup, canned fruit, vegetables and fish, by introducing convenient, added value containers suited to modern day living. Europe & Africa and Middle East is the main supplier of high barrier thin wall containers, accounting for 40% in 2018. The region, whilst growing strongly in volume terms, has seen its share of the total market steadily decrease. This is a function of nearing market saturation level and strong organic growth encouraging the develop- ment of local supply bases in other regions. While there is a significant opportunity for plastics to replace traditional packaging (metal and glass), the development of new applications, such as single-serve capsules, provides another growth avenue.
www.injectionworld.com
From a niche market, single-serve beverage capsules have grown to be one of the most important sub-applications of the ambient thin wall packaging sector. This dynamic market segment has a complex value chain. There are a number of coffee brewing systems available with
proprietary capsule designs.
Nespresso and Keurig K-Cup are brands that pioneered the emergence of the segment and have the highest machine instalment rates globally. Single-serve capsules have become the key contributor to growth of high barrier solutions. The application has tripled in volume since 2013. Further growth in capsules is expected, but it will be tempered by competing non-barrier formats servicing the low-priced compatibles sub-segment. Single serve capsules are fuelling not only demand for barrier thermoforming, but also enabling barrier co-injection projects, barrier IML and coatings to develop. Co-injection technology was
pioneered by Kortec in 2000s. Kortec’s proposition was to provide a turn-key system, coordinating all parties involved and hence taking full responsibility of the technology. This approach translates to high invest- ment cost, and hence it is
Figure 1: High barrier rigid plastic packaging – production by region
May 2018 | INJECTION WORLD 25
Main image: Single-serve capsules have bcome an important market segment
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