Have you ever grabbed an Oreo cookie from a resealable package or squeezed Daisy Sour cream out of a pouch? If so, you’ve already engaged with the consumer convenience features of flexible packaging.
This type of packaging is eco-friendly, cost-effective, and is projected to surge to a $353.8 billion industry by 2034, according to a report from the global research firm Research and Markets. The 4.8% growth will come in part from the increased need for flexible plastic materials, sustainability initiatives, and growing consumer preferences.
To discuss flexible packaging’s formats, materials, and benefits, industry experts Jake Branyon, associate director R&D at TOPPAN (formerly Sonoco), Kristin Oyler, director of marketing communications at Mondi Jackson, and Keith Smith, president at Vonco Products, shared their insights on the trends shaping the industry.
Exploring flexible packaging materials
Flexible packaging material selection depends on the specific needs and performance requirements of each product. The package must meet the following criteria:
· Containment: Consider the size and format of the package along with the characteristics of the product to properly house what’s inside.
· Protection: Barrier properties must provide preservation, storage, and usage conditions.
· Communication: Provides a look and feel that tells the end-user what the package contains, including various graphics, inks, and lacquers.
· Dispensing: Does the package open and reclose? Does it contain a spout? These factors determine the type of material used for that specific package.
With those factors in mind, materials typically deployed in flexible packaging are plastic, paper, and foil.
Of those three, plastic had the highest market share, reportedly at 70.2% in 2024. It offers product protection, convenience, and cost efficiency and includes the following types of plastic:
· Polyester: Provides great heat resistance and is often used as a print web, meaning it is fed through a printing press to apply graphics, text, and branding before the material is converted into various formats, such as pouches.
· Oriented Polypropylene: Offers a good moisture barrier and is typically used as a print web but can serve as a sealant web.
· Polyethylene: Includes high-density polyethylene ( HPDE ), low-density polyethylene (LPDE), and LLPDE linear low-density polyethylene ( LLPDE). Used as a sealant web, it adds bulk to packages while providing a moisture barrier. When combined with EVOH ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), it can also offer an oxygen barrier.
Paper and foil are used in flexible packaging in the following ways:
· Natural Kraft & Bleached Paper: Sustainable option that comes in various forms with different properties. Paper-based packaging is becoming increasingly popular with consumers due to the demand for more eco-friendly packaging solutions.
· Foil: Serves as an excellent moisture and oxygen barrier. It’s typically used for sensitive products like coffee, seasoning, and shelf-stable foods.
To enhance barrier properties, many flexible packaging manufacturers combine materials.
“Many flexible packaging structures are a combination of two or more materials. Materials are selected for their functional characteristics and when used in combination with each other, can provide additional benefits,” TOPPAN’s Branyon said.
Different companies may deploy materials in various ways. For example, Vonco Products, which creates medical devices, uses LLPDE to ensure sealability. Since their products contain biological fluids, any leak in flexible packaging could lead to a hazardous situation.
“When you start talking about blood [and] biohazard, you have entire trucks and airplanes quarantined to deal with these types of requirements,” Smith said. “We cannot have leaks.”
Ultimately, manufacturers must choose the right material or hybrid for flexible packaging solutions based on their goals. Depending on the industry and requirements, different materials are used to achieve specific barrier properties, performance, and sustainability goals.
Understanding flexible packaging formats
Once the proper materials are selected, flexible packaging can transform into various formats, including pouches, films and wraps, and bags.
Leading the way are pouches, with a reported estimated share of 38.9% in 2024, according to Research and Markets. This format combines functionality, convenience, and reduced costs. Pouches come in various formats, including:
· Fitment pouches: Includes a spouted fitment at the top, designed for easy consumer use and dispensing, most often found in products such as baby food, yogurt, and applesauce.
· Flat bottom pouches: Contain a flat base with side gussets to provide stability and allow the pouch to stand on its own. Found in products like coffee and tea, powdered drinks, pasta, rice, and grains.
· Inverted pouches: Stands upside down, usually on the cap, to promote user functionality in food products like condiments.
· Stand-up pouches: Features a bottom gusset that expands when filled with product. Frequently seen in beverages, snacks, baby food, frozen foods, and personal care products.
· Spouted pouches: Flexible bag or pouches that include a built-in spout, allowing for direct pouring of the product, typically applied in food, alcohol, household goods, pharmaceuticals, and pet food.
According to global consulting firm Towards Packaging, flexible plastic pouches are projected to surge to a $306.72 industry due to e-commerce expansion and its need for cost-effective, lightweight, and durable packaging.
In addition to saving space, pouches offer better shelf presentation and marketing advantages compared to rigid packaging, such as cans.
“If you have a stand-up pouch, you have a square billboard that presents out to the consumer,” said Mondi Group Jackson’s Oyler. “In that first two to three seconds, that package is going to capture them or not. And if you get a consumer to reach out and touch the package, they’re more likely to put it in their cart.”
In addition to food and beverage products, these pouches are being used by companies like Vonco Products to create life-changing solutions for healthcare patients. Using a custom spouted pouch, Vonco developed EnteraLoc Flow, a closed-loop solution for feeding tube patients. The company says this product is spill and leak-proof, offering a more direct connect spout with custom pouch shapes.
Beyond pouches, flexible packaging also takes its shape in the way of films and wraps. Often coming in the form of rollstock, which is used in form, fill, seal (FFS) machines like:
· Horizontal form, fill, seal: Material is formed horizontally into a package, filled with product, and sealed. Horizontal orientation allows for high-speed packaging on the production line and is commonly used for items such as cookies, crackers, confections, and dog food.
· Vertical form, fill, seal: Material is shaped vertically into a package, filled, and sealed. Vertical orientation provides a more compact shape that can stand up on the retail shelf and is commonly utilized in baby food, pet food, and fresh produce.
Flexible packaging can also be wraps, films, and bags, including:
· Shrink wrap: Plastic film that shrinks tightly around a product when heat is applied, and it’s frequently found in food packaging and multi-pack beverages.
· Pillow bags: Shaped like a pillow with seals on three sides, common in candy, snacks, and dry goods like chips.
· Gusseted bags: Expand on the sides or bottom for increased volume, utilized in coffee products.
Manufacturers may leverage different formats to achieve the proper strength and durability requirements needed by the product.
Eco-friendly solutions
With more consumers calling for more environmentally friendly packaging, sustainability remains a key topic in the packaging industry.
While flexible packaging often reduces material usage and lowers the overall carbon footprint, when compared to traditional packaging formats and materials, it can also provide a longer shelf life for products and reduce food waste. However, once it is created, it can become hard to recycle, as its structures are often created by using multiple types of materials that can’t be easily separated.
To provide eco-friendly solutions, TOPPAN’s EnviroFlex portfolio offers a sustainable effort focused on recyclability and using recycled content.
“EnviroFlex Paper is our curbside recyclable flexible packaging paper structures intended to replace traditional flexible laminates,” said Branyon. “EnviroFlex polyethylene… that’s our mono-material, polyethylene, which would be store drop off recyclable in the US.”
Sustainability is becoming more popular with manufacturers, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Smith emphasized that it’s perceived differently by each company, with some placing recyclability as the top priority when it comes to flexible packaging.
Accepting flexible packaging to benefit consumers’ lives
The increased acceptance of flexible packaging’s practicality can be seen as a generational shift, according to Oyler. She states that millennials and Gen Z, having grown up with it, have contributed to its widespread adoption.
“Initially, I think it was baby food in spouted pouches that was the first hit in the US,” said Oyler. “Parents probably found it convenient to be able to hand their baby the pouch, and they could hold and sip from it directly.”
Evolving consumer preferences around convenience and shelf appeal are driving innovations like Sonco’s SmartSeal for cookie packaging. This user-friendly advancement gives customers the option to reseal the package after enjoying their sugary treat.
“That consumer convenience for easy, open, reseal, and maintaining product freshness is key,” said Branyon.
Fitment pouches have been used for applesauce and dairy products, including Daisy’s Sour Cream pouch. Adding this easy-to-use consumer product didn’t take away from Daisy’s existing shelf space – it expanded it.
“It’s additive to the market share and additive to the consumer base that it’s appealing to,” said Branyon.
While these flexible packaging advancements have made consumers’ lives easier, they have also changed the trajectory of the goods they house.
Impact on manufacturers and machine builders
When compared to rigid packaging, such as bottles or jars, flexible packaging helps manufacturers reduce costs by using less material and lowering production and transportation expenses.
According to Branyon, OEMs play a key role in flexible packaging success. He explained that TOPPAN works in tandem with machine builders to optimize performance and drive packaging innovations, like new machinery.
“As the development of sustainable packaging increases, OEMs are critical to the success of implementing these solutions. For example, paper-based flexible packaging runs on packaging equipment very differently than traditional films and structures. Without the work of OEMs, challenges such as decreased efficiencies would make it more difficult to deliver commercially viable solutions,” said Branyon.
Machine builders are advancing flexible packaging by optimizing line performance, adapting to new materials, and innovating new machinery to continue to evolve the flexible packaging industry.
Exploring the future of flexible packaging
In the coming years, sustainable, flexible packaging will remain at the forefront, with manufacturers needing to create environmentally friendly solutions that make it easier for consumers to recycle at home.
Machine builders also factor in this as they must be prepared to modify machinery to accommodate eco-friendly materials, which could behave differently during processing.
As demand for lightweight, durable packaging increases, flexible packaging will continue to evolve.
