The global food and beverage nano-enabled packaging market is expected to reach US$31.2 bln by 2023 - rising demand for longer shelf-life of perishable food and beverage products propels market growth, as per Credence Research. The market was valued at US$20.4 bln in 2015, and is expected to each US$31.2 bln by 2023, expanding at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2016 to 2023.
Food and beverages (F&B) segment is one of the major contributors in the overall packaging market. In order to offer efficient packaging solutions coupled with reduced costs for manufacturing packaging materials, F&B product manufacturers are spending a huge amount on research and development of advance packaging techniques such as nanotechnology. Some of the factors fuelling market growth include exploration of nanotechnology into varied F&B applications, increasing consumption of packaged food products, demand for shelf stable and sustainable packaging solutions among food and beverage retailers and manufacturers. Furthermore, governments of various countries are have initiated adoption of Nano-enabled packaging for F&B products, ensuring health and food safety mitigation. Additionally, rising demand for healthy, fresh, extended shelf-life, safety and quality maintenance of F&B products among consumers is fuelling the food and beverage Nano-enabled packaging market growth.
Geographically, Asia Pacific is dominating the market in terms of revenue share contribution, followed by North America and Europe. North America and Europe are collectively accounted for around 50% of the overall market share in 2015. Asia Pacific is further expected to record highest CAGR during the forecast period. Increasing inclination of consumers towards improved taste, color, texture, flavor and retention of nutritional aspects of the final product is a key factor propelling market growth in the region. Moreover, urbanization, increase number of affluent consumers and changing consumer lifestyle especially in countries such as India and China support the market growth. Market growth in North America is expected to be significant throughout the forecast period.

Nano-enabled packaging market for F&B is to garner US$15 bln in 2020, as per Persistence Market Research. The market was worth US$6.5 bln in 2013 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.7% during 2014 to 2020, to reach an estimated value of US$15 bln in 2020. The global progress in technologies is making lives simpler and safer. Nanotechnology is one such field which is dynamically progressing and is contributing to the development of several industries, including F&B packaging. Nano-enabled packaging gives longer shelf life to F&B as compared to traditional plastic packaging. F&B packaging is done through two different technologies -active and intelligent packaging. Active packaging has a comparatively larger market than intelligent packaging.
Intelligent packaging is growing at a faster rate as compared to the active packaging. Customers prefer traceable food and beverages packaging, since it offers information such as expiry date and best use period, present state of the consumables. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags keep customers informed about the state of the food within the packaging. Intelligent packaging is mostly used for fruits and vegetables, meat products, and beverages. Stricter regulations associated with active packaging have been stimulating the use of intelligent packaging in Europe and North America. Intelligent packaging in the U.S. is growing mainly due to the increasing demand for fresh fruits and vegetables. Americans are shifting their breakfast preference from junk foods to fresh alternatives. With the ease in trade regulations, fruit exports of the U.S. have increased. The increasing demand for intelligent packaging in international trade (especially in fruits) is laying out opportunities for this technology in food packaging.
The Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) proposed by FDA in 2011 is another growth indicator for intelligent packaging wherein the fresh produce, including fruits and vegetables, are required to be scientifically grown, harvested, packaged, and stored. The farm products that come in the act’s domain are lettuce, spinach, cantaloupe, tomatoes, sprouts, mushrooms, onions, peppers, cabbage, citrus produce, strawberries, and walnuts.
Nano-enabled packaging finds its application in several industries, including bakery, meat, beverages, fruit and vegetables, prepared foods, and others. The increasing demand for meat products, beverages, vegetables, and prepared foods is expected to drive their respective nano-enabled packaging markets, while the market share of bakery products is expected to decline on account of the rapid growth of other application segments. Nanotechnology is at a nascent stage and, therefore, usage of nano-enabled packaging is low in the food and beverages industry. Limited numbers of buyers have more leverage to negotiate with nanotechnology companies. On the other hand, there is a plethora of companies providing nano-enabled packaging solutions to the food and beverages industry.

According to StratisticsMRC, the global nano-enabled packaging market is estimated at US$8.2 bln in 2015 and is expected to reach US$19.82 bln by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 13.3% from 2015 to 2022. Nano-Enabled packaging market is driven by increasing shelf life of the food, convenience and increase in demand for packaged food. Whereas less awareness among the users is hampering the market growth. Active packaging technology holds the largest share in technology segment and smart packaging segment is expected to grow at a faster CAGR during the forecast period. Asia Pacific region accounted for the largest share followed by North America. The growth in Asia Pacific region is due to availability of raw material and increasing usage across the industries. India, China and Japan are the prominent countries in Asia Pacific region showing healthy growth. Owing to favourable regulations, North America region holds the second position.