Consumer Product Pouches

Report Overview

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This study examines the US market for pouches used in consumer product applications – including:

• lawn and garden (e.g., pesticides, packaged fertilizers, seeds, growing media, mulch, plant food)
• soaps and cleaning products (e.g., dishwasher detergents, laundry detergents and fabric softeners, hand soaps)
• wipes, including baby wipes, and cleaning and disinfecting wipes
• other consumer products such as motor oil, electronics components, personal care, and legal marijuana

Product segments covered include:

• stand-up pouches (round-bottom/Doyen, K-seal, corner-bottom, flat-bottom and other types)
• side seal pouches (three-side seal and four-side seal)
• pillow pouches

Also discussed are pouch performance and/or physical characteristics such as:

• resealable pouches
• spouted pouches
• shaped pouches
• stick pouches

Excluded from the scope of the study are bags and sacks, bag-in-box packaging, reusable pouches, non-packaging pouch applications (e.g., pouches for in-house sterilization of medical and dental instruments), and air cushioning pouch packaging systems.

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Historical data (2009, 2014, and 2019) and forecasts for 2024 are provided for pouch demand (including merchant and captive production) in current dollars (including inflation) by product type and market and in units.

Demand for pouches in consumer product applications is forecast to increase 6.7% per year to $565 million, equivalent to 4.8 billion units in 2024. Robust advances will be driven by further conversions from rigid containers such as paperboard boxes and other flexible formats such as bags and film wrap:

• Advantages of pouches – such as their light weight, low package-to-product ratio, and ability to be shipped flat – have become increasingly important in light of end user efforts to reduce shipping costs and retailer purchasing initiatives that favor packaging that meets certain sustainability guidelines.
• Pouches enable brand owners to differentiate their products on crowded store shelves, as pouches offer excellent graphics capabilities.
• Pouches use a fraction of the raw materials needed for rigid containers.
• Improved line speeds for pouch-making and pouch-filling equipment will improve cost effectiveness.

Accelerating Adoption of Stand-Up Pouches in Consumer Applications

Stand-up pouches accounted for half of consumer product pouch demand in 2019 and are forecast to drive market growth through 2024, accounting for 65% of gains. In addition to the higher value of stand-up pouches compared to flat types, above average advances will be driven by increasing penetration of pouches at the expense of traditional rigid packaging in a broad range of consumer product applications, particularly motor oil, lawn and garden consumables, soap refills and detergent pods, and personal care products like shampoo and facial moisturizer.

Soaps & Cleaning Applications to Offer Best Growth Opportunities

Through 2024, pouch demand in the soap and cleaning products market will be supported by the continued popularity of side seal unit dose dishwasher and laundry detergents, fabric softeners, and in-wash boosters (e.g., Tide PODS), as well as by the ongoing use of stand-up pouches as secondary packaging for these products.

A number of brand owners are also introducing new products or expanding product lines with soaps or cleaners packaged in pouches, particularly among premium clean-label brands. Specific products expected to see increased penetration of pouches include:

• refill packs for soaps and cleaning products in spouted stand-up pouches instead of bottles
• toilet bowl scrubbing pads containing foaming cleaners in pillow pouches

Suppliers Continue to Innovate for New Consumer Product Uses

Further market opportunities will derive from the growing adoption of pouch packaging for novel consumer product applications. Key examples include:

• In 2020, Gear Aid introduced a spouted stand-up pouch that has a precision measuring device built into the closure intended for chemicals that waterproof clothing.
• In 2019 and 2020, L'Oréal added pouches to its Maybelline foundation cosmetics line and to its REDKEN and Matrix Biolage haircare lines.