The scope of this report includes packaging for spices, herbs, seasonings, dry mixes, salt, extracts, and food coloring. These items are generally sold in a dedicated section of retail store but are also used by foodservice establishments.
Historical data (2010, 2015, and 2020) and forecasts for 2025 and 2030 are presented for demand for spice packaging by value in current dollars (including inflation); demand data by market is presented in current dollars. “Demand” (or sales) is defined as all shipments from US plants, plus imports minus exports.
Packaging for spices, dry mixes, and extracts is forecast to grow 2.4% per year to $1.1 billion in 2025 off of a high 2020 base, when sales of these products spiked as a result of a shift in eating habits at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Growth will be supported by the popularity and variety of spices and other seasoning products offered by retailers, as well as the increasing usage of premium packaging for product differentiation purposes.
Packaging for spices, dry mixes, and extracts is dominated by rigid packaging, although this varies greatly in the individual segments. In many other food categories, rigid packaging has been losing share to flexible due to the latter’s lighter weight and amenability to source reduction. However, due to the ease-of-use of rigid containers – especially important when working in the kitchen – salt, spices and seasonings remains one of the few food categories where flexible packaging will lose slight share to rigid.
Flexible packaging such as pouches and bags are still used to some extent with these products, usually for single-serving items – foodservice salt and pepper packets or recipe mixes in side-seal pouches – or for commercial sized foodservice products (bags and liners). Bags and pouches are also used for refill applications (currently almost all by specialty online spice retailers) and this could be a growth opportunity for flexible packaging if trends toward refills take hold as they have in some non-food sectors.
Plastic is the most common material used in the packaging of spices, dry mixes, and extracts due to its prevalence in bottles, pouches, and bags. Plastic bottles benefit from their enhanced performance and lower cost compared to glass and paperboard alternatives, and they will continue to take market share from containers based on other materials going forward. This trend is evident in Morton Salt’s recent move to replace its iconic paper canisters with plastic bottles.
Despite competition from plastics, paper and paperboard packaging will continue to see use where paper pouches or folding cartons are prevalent; glass will continue to be used with specialty spices due to its premium image.
Other materials, mainly metal, will continue to lose share going forward as manufacturers switch to other, less costly options.
Demand for packaging used with spices, dry mixes, and extracts is directly influenced by the demand and production of the products themselves, as well as their target end users. Both the overall levels of spice production and the fluctuating shares of different types of spices, seasonings and mixes – which may require different amounts and types of packaging – have an impact on packaging demand.
US shipments of spices, dry mix, and extracts will increase nearly 1.0% annually to $9.7 billion in 2025, with advances limited by coming off a high 2020 base. However, usage will continue to be supported by an expanding variety of spices, mixes, and seasoning products, including international spices, unique seasoning mixes, and premium salts.
Packaging will benefit as products like spices and herbs increase their share of the overall product mix, as these tend to be the most packaging intensive.