US demand for meat, poultry and seafood packaging is forecast to grow 3.5 percent yearly through 2013. Gains will be driven in part by the continuing shift to higher cost case-ready packaging by many retailers as a means to reduce in-store labor costs. Flexible packaging will outpace the larger rigid packaging segment.

This study analyzes the $7.7 billion US meat packaging industry. It presents historical demand data for the years 1998, 2003 and 2008, and forecasts for 2013 and 2018 by technology and raw material (e.g., case-ready, modified atmosphere, vacuum, retort, active and intelligent), product (e.g., rigid, flexible), application and market (fresh and frozen, processed, ready-to-eat).

The study also considers market environment factors, details industry structure, evaluates company market share and profiles 41 industry players, including Sealed Air, International Paper and Bemis.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


SECTION                                                                          PAGE
                               
                 INTRODUCTION                                                      ix
                 
          I.     EXECUTIVE SUMMARY                                                  1
                 
         II.     MARKET ENVIRONMENT                                                 4
                 General                                                            4
                 Macroeconomic Outlook                                              5
                 Demographic & Household Trends                                    11
                 Consumer Income & Spending                                        14
                 Food Industry Overview                                            16
                 Meat, Poultry & Seafood Industry Overview                         18
                     Meat                                                          21
                     Poultry                                                       25
                     Seafood                                                       27
                 Packaging Industry Overview                                       30
                 Regulatory & Related Issues                                       34
                 Pricing Trends                                                    38
                 International Activity                                            42
                 
        III.     TECHNOLOGY & RAW MATERIALS                                        45
                 Technologies                                                      45
                     Case-Ready                                                    47
                       Systems                                                     49
                       Producers                                                   52
                     Modified Atmosphere Packaging                                 52
                     Vacuum Packaging                                              55
                     Retort Packaging                                              58
                     Active & Intelligent Packaging                                62
                       Moisture Control Packaging                                  63
                       Smart Labels                                                64
                       Other                                                       66
                 Raw Materials                                                     68
                     Plastic                                                       69
                     Paper                                                         72
                     Metal                                                         75
                     Other                                                         76
                     
         IV.     PRODUCTS                                                          78
                 General                                                           78
                 Rigid Packaging                                                   80
                     Boxes                                                         83
                       Corrugated Boxes                                            86
                       Folding Cartons                                             90
                     Trays                                                         91
                     Plastic Containers                                            96
                     Cans                                                         100
                     Sleeves                                                      105
                     Other                                                        107
                 Flexible Packaging                                               110
                     Plastic Film                                                 112
                       High Barrier                                               116
                       Other                                                      118
                     Bags                                                         119
                       Types                                                      121
                       Producers                                                  124
                     Pouches                                                      125
                       Applications                                               127
                       Producers                                                  129
                     Paper & Foil                                                 130
                 Packaging Accessories                                            132
                     Labels                                                       133
                       Interactive Labels                                         136
                       Label Producers                                            138
                     Other                                                        139
                     
          V.     APPLICATIONS & MARKETS                                           143
                 Applications                                                     143
                     Meat                                                         146
                       Rigid Packaging                                            149
                       Flexible Packaging                                         151
                       Packaging Accessories                                      153
                     Poultry                                                      155
                       Rigid Packaging                                            157
                       Flexible Packaging                                         161
                       Packaging Accessories                                      164
                     Seafood                                                      165
                       Rigid Packaging                                            167
                       Flexible Packaging                                         169
                       Packaging Accessories                                      171
                 Markets                                                          171
                     Fresh & Frozen                                               174
                       Rigid Packaging                                            177
                       Flexible Packaging                                         178
                       Packaging Accessories                                      180
                     Processed                                                    181
                       Rigid Packaging                                            185
                       Flexible Packaging                                         187
                       Packaging Accessories                                      189
                     Ready-to-Eat                                                 190
                       Rigid Packaging                                            192
                       Flexible Packaging                                         193
                       Packaging Accessories                                      194
                       
         VI.     INDUSTRY STRUCTURE                                               195
                 General                                                          195
                 Market Share                                                     199
                     Sealed Air                                                   200
                     International Paper                                          201
                     Bemis                                                        202
                     Smurfit-Stone Container                                      203
                     Alcan Packaging                                              204
                     Georgia-Pacific                                              204
                 Acquisitions & Divestitures                                      205
                 Competitive Strategies                                           209
                 Manufacturing                                                    212
                 Marketing & Distribution                                         214
                 Cooperative Agreements                                           216                 
                 COMPANY PROFILES                                                 219
                     AEP Industries Incorporated                                  220
                     Alcan Packaging, see Rio Tinto Group                            
                     Altivity Packaging, see Graphic Packaging Holding                     
                     Anchor Packaging Company                                     221
                     Associated Packaging Technologies                            222
                     Ball Corporation                                             223
                     Bemis Company Incorporated                                   224
                     Berry Plastics Corporation                                   227
                     Bomarko Incorporated                                         229
                     Conwed Plastics, see Leucadia National                          
                     Crockett Container, see Temple-Inland                           
                     Crown Holdings Incorporated                                  230
                     Cryovac, see Sealed Air                                         
                     Curwood, see Bemis                                              
                     Diamant Art Corporation                                      231
                     Dolco Packaging, see Tekni-Plex                                 
                     Dow Chemical Company                                         232
                     DuPont (EI) de Nemours                                       234
                     Eastman Chemical Company                                     236
                     Exopack Holding Corporation                                  237
                     Exxon Mobil Corporation                                      238
                     Fold-Pak, see Rock-Tenn                                         
                     Genpak, see Pattison (Jim) Group                                
                     Georgia-Pacific, see Koch Industries                            
                     Graphic Packaging Holding Company                            240
                     Honeywell International Incorporated                         242
                     Impress Group BV                                             243
                     InterFlex Group Incorporated                                 244
                     International Paper Company                                  245
                     Kloeckner Pentaplast Group                                   247
                     Koch Industries Incorporated                                 248
                     Leucadia National Corporation                                250
                     MACtac, see Bemis                                               
                     MeadWestvaco Corporation                                     251
                     Milprint, see Bemis                                             
                     Newspring Industrial, see Pactiv                                
                     Oracle Packaging Incorporated                                252
                     Packaging Corporation of America                             253
                     Pactiv Corporation                                           254
                     Pattison (Jim) Group                                         255
                     Pliant Corporation                                           257
                     Pohlig Brothers, see Rock-Tenn                                  
                     Presto Products, see Reynolds Packaging Group                   
                     Printpack Incorporated                                       258
                     Reynolds Packaging Group                                     260
                     Rio Tinto Group                                              262
                     Robbie Manufacturing Incorporated                            263
                     Rock-Tenn Company                                            265
                     Sealed Air Corporation                                       268
                     Silgan Holdings Incorporated                                 271
                     Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation                          273
                     Southern Container, see Rock-Tenn                               
                     Tekni-Plex Incorporated                                      274
                     Temple-Inland Incorporated                                   275
                     Vector Packaging Incorporated                                276
                     Walsroder Packaging, see Wihuri                                 
                     Weyerhaeuser Company                                         277
                     Wihuri Oy                                                    278
                 Other Companies Mentioned in Study                               281                 
                              

                                    LIST OF TABLES
                                          
TABLE NUMBER                                                                     PAGE

                 SECTION I -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
                 Summary Table                                                      3

                 SECTION II -- MARKET ENVIRONMENT
           1     Macroeconomic Indicators                                          10
           2     Population & Households                                           14
           3     Personal Consumption Expenditures                                 16
           4     Food Shipments                                                    18
           5     Meat, Poultry & Seafood Consumption                               21
           6     Meat Shipments                                                    25
           7     Poultry Shipments                                                 27
           8     Seafood Supply & Demand                                           30
           9     Packaging Supply & Demand                                         34
          10     Prices for Selected Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging             42

                 SECTION III -- TECHNOLOGY & RAW MATERIALS
           1     Case-Ready Packaging Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                           49
           2     Modified Atmosphere Packaging Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                           55
           3     Vacuum Packaging Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                           58
           4     Retort Packaging Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                           61
           5     Active & Intelligent Packaging Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                           63

                 SECTION IV -- PRODUCTS
           1     Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand by Type                  80
           2     Rigid Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand by Type            82
           3     Box Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging                   86
           4     Tray Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging                  96
           5     Plastic Container Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                          100
           6     Metal Can Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging            104
           7     Paperboard Sleeve Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                          107
           8     Other Rigid Container Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                          109
           9     Flexible Meat, Poultry & Seafood  Packaging Demand by Type       111
          10     Plastic Film Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging         116
          11     Bag Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging                  121
          12     Pouch Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging                127
          13     Paper & Foil Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging         132
          14     Packaging Accessories Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                          133
          15     Label Demand in Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging                136
          16     Other Packaging Accessory Demand in Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging                                          142

                 SECTION V -- APPLICATIONS & MARKETS
           1     Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand by Application          145
           2     Meat Packaging Demand by Type & Market                           148
           3     Poultry Packaging Demand by Type & Market                        156
           4     Seafood Packaging Demand by Type & Market                        166
           5     Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand by Market               173
           6     Fresh & Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand          176
           7     Processed Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand               184
           8     Ready-to-Eat Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand            191

                 SECTION VI -- INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
           1     US Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Sales 
                     by Company, 2008                                             197
           2     Selected Acquisitions & Divestitures                             208
           3     Selected Cooperative Agreements                                  218

                                    LIST OF CHARTS
                                          
CHART NUMBER                                                                     PAGE

                 SECTION III -- TECHNOLOGY & RAW MATERIALS
           1     Packaging Technologies as a Percentage of Meat, Poultry 
                     & Seafood Packaging, 1998-2018                                46

                 SECTION IV -- PRODUCTS
           1     Rigid Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand, 2008              83
           2     Flexible Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand, 2008          112
                 
                 SECTION V -- APPLICATIONS & MARKETS
           1     Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand 
                     by Application, 2008                                         145
           2     Meat Packaging Demand by Type, 2008                              149
           3     Poultry Packaging Demand by Type, 2008                           157
           4     Seafood Packaging Demand by Type, 2008                           167
           5     Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Demand 
                     by Market, 2008                                              174
           6     Fresh & Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging 
                     Demand by Type, 2008                                         177
           7     Processed Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging 
                     Demand by Type, 2008                                         185
           8     Ready-to-Eat Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging 
                     Demand by Type, 2008                                         192
                 
                 SECTION VI -- INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
           1     US Meat, Poultry & Seafood Packaging Market Share, 2008          200