The global food and beverages processing and packaging equipment market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 per cent until 2022 and reach $78.6 billion.
This was the finding of Frost and Sullivan’s latest analysis, which revealed that improved economic conditions in emerging nations, changing dietary preferences globally, and a rising demand for nutritious and ready-to-eat food products were driving the demand for food processors and boosting growth in the packaging equipment market.
Growth in the global food and beverage processing and packaging equipment market looks promising over the next four years, with the adoption of automation and technological innovation.
“With the increasing demand for food and beverage products and a growing emphasis on food safety, food processors are reliant on equipment manufacturers to provide processing and packaging equipment that is agile and utilises advanced technologies to minimise energy usage, operate at a higher efficiency and improve yield,” said Arun Ramesh, team lead, agriculture and nutrition, visionary science, Frost and Sullivan.
The global demand for food products has led equipment manufacturers to acquire, merge, and partner with companies to leverage technology innovation. To remain competitive in an evolving market, Ramesh recommended that players create smarter products by investing in new capabilities such as advanced data and analytics, robotics and automation, and extend their capabilities to offer full solutions, including installation, monitoring, services and integration.
Additional factors imperative to growth included the fact that the equipment manufacturers were upgrading to advanced machinery for processing and packaging to cater to the changing consumer preferences and consumption patterns; using machine learning and other tools to predict process delays, make improvements to engineering and optimise equipment design for the food and beverage industry, and refreshing operating models with an emphasis on enhanced after-sales and growth-focussed strategies are expected to further give a fillip to the sector.
“Machine downtime is still a major concern in the industry, and there is room for further investment in research and development among equipment manufacturers to develop equipment that is flexible and modular and customised to fit different products and customer needs while optimizing total cost of ownership,” said Ramesh.
