The
U.S. demand for cups and lids is forecast to increase 4.1% per year to $8.9
billion in 2016, with growth driven by above average gains for food packaging
cups and a favorable outlook for foodservice revenues. The growing importance
of specialty beverages among foodservice operators will be a key factor, with
many quick service restaurants placing greater emphasis on premium coffee,
specialty coffee drinks, iced coffee, smoothies and the like. These and
other trends are presented in Cups & Lids, a new study fromThe
Freedonia Group, Inc.(www.freedoniagroup.com), a Cleveland-based
industry market research firm.
Although drinking cups will continue to dominate, the fastest gains are
anticipated in the packaging cup segment due to solid outlooks for demand in
key packaging cup-using markets such as yogurt, coffee and tea, and fresh
fruits and vegetables. Additionally, advances will be driven by expanding
applications where cups satisfy consumer demand for portable, convenient,
single-serving packaging, or can help reinvigorate sales of mature
products. Above average growth for food cups will stem from trends such as
the increased presence of oatmeal in quick service restaurants and coffee and
snack shops, and the exponential growth of self-service frozen yogurt shops.
Lid demand growth will outpace that of cups, rising 4.9% per year to $1.2
billion in 2016. Advances will be fueled by an increasing percentage of
drinking cups utilizing lids, heightened demand for costlier specialty lids,
and healthy increases for single-serving packaging cups. Lids for
packaging applications will post faster gains than drinking cup lids, supported
by the popularity of single-serving cup packaging and the ongoing development
of new applications and product line extensions.
Foodservice, which accounted for 68% of demand in 2011, is by far the largest
market for cups and lids. Growth will trail the cup and lid average as a
result of sluggish sales of fountain beverages, growing competition from
bottled beverages, and the overall maturity of most applications. Nonetheless,
gains will be supported by above average prospects for hot beverages along with
the increased emphasis in quick service and other restaurants on premium
beverages. Faster growth will be seen in the food and beverage packaging
market, reflecting a combination of convenience and portability, along with
healthy eating trends, which will provide further upward momentum for yogurt,
the largest single packaging cup application.
U.S. demand for cups and lids to approach $9 billion in 2016
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