Disposables' growth will be fueled by rising disposable personal income levels and increased spending on food eaten or prepared away from home, the researcher said.
The Freedonia Group also discovered that:
Away-from-home expenditure growth will reflect increased consumer willingness to pay for convenient, ready-to-eat offerings.
Trends toward healthier and more sophisticated offerings in limited service restaurants and expanded promotion of takeout options by other establishments will be of particular importance to foodservice disposables demand, as will efforts to increase efficiency and maintain sanitary conditions in large-scale food operations.
The fastest advances among foodservice disposable products are anticipated for packaging, a trend that has been substantiated by other researchers and reported last year by ID Access. This segment is forecast to increase at a 4.9% annual pace through 2009.
Demand here will be propelled by favorable growth in limited-service restaurants, which account for nearly half of overall restaurant revenues, the researcher stated. Broader-menu offerings in quick-service restaurants, along with continued rapid revenue growth of smaller limited-service establishments will also boost packaging demand, its findings demonstrated.
The growing popularity of takeout food from full-service restaurants, along with expanded prepared-food offerings or home meal replacement from supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail stores, will further increase the importance of packaging in terms of visual appeal, and the ability to protect food and enable later reheating in the same container. Lids and wraps are expected to post the fastest gains, with most container types also logging above-average growth.
The Freedonia Group noted that serviceware demand, which includes cups, dinnerware, utensils and other products, is projected to rise 3.7% annually through 2009. Advances will be driven by continued expansion of carryout food and beverages from restaurants and retail stores and steady demand growth from institutional, sports and recreation and other markets.
The ongoing popularity of coffee houses, coupled with increased promotion of gourmet coffee by quick-service restaurants and convenience stores, will also fuel gains for disposable cups, the Group said.
Among major markets, retail establishments and eating and drinking places will experience the fastest growth. Gains for eating and drinking places, which comprise 65% of the entire market, will be fueled by continued strength in limited service restaurants and above-average opportunities in full service restaurants.
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