Glass packaging is facing increasing competition from rival packaging materials that are stronger, lighter and cheaper to manufacture and transport, as experienced in many of the glass packaging submarkets. Glass is seven times heavier than the equivalent volume of plastic, a significant difference. This means that glass packaging is more expensive to transport than rival materials. Its brittleness also adds an increased risk during transport. The growth of plastic pouch packaging is the largest threat facing the glass packaging market in the short term. Plastic pouch packaging offers increased convenience compared to glass packaging, as portions are often pre-measured into individual servings. It is also much less brittle than its glass equivalents, meaning no clean up is required if the package is dropped. Plastic pouch packaging also uses significantly less packaging than its glass packaging equivalent. Visiongain predicts that the growth of pouch packaging will erode sales of glass packaging within the food submarket, especially in previous strongholds of glass food packaging sales such as baby food, sauces and coffee. Increasingly complex pharmaceutical packaging such as blister packaging and advanced secondary paper packaging will make glass obsolete as a packaging material. The glass packaging market will remain resolute in the beverage packaging. Glass is the second largest submarket market in the global beverage packaging market by material, behind plastic. The report offers expert opinions from an exclusive interview with a leading authority in the market. For more information, please contact: miriam.zatkova@vgreports.com
