Demand for aseptic packaging in the US is projected to expand 8% per year to $5.1 billion in 2015, well above the overall packaging average.   Growth will be driven by drug sterility requirements and ambient distribution and storage advantages for food and beverages.  The shelf stability of aseptic packaging will fuel rapid growth in dairy-based beverages and other dairy products as it enables these perishable products to move through the supply chain unrefrigerated.  Advances will be moderated by the high capital investment of aseptic processing equipment and the reluctance of food and beverage firms to shift away from highly efficient hot-fill and retort processing operations.  These and other trends are presented in Aseptic Packaging, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc.,(www.freedoniagroup.com) a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.  

Pharmaceuticals were the largest aseptic packaging market in 2010, accounting for 64% of the total. Opportunities will be driven by preferences among health care providers for unit-dose delivery formats. 

Growth for aseptic packaging in the beverage market will be restrained by the maturity of the fruit beverage market, expectation among U.S. consumers for chilled milk and competition from hot-fill packaging, which has a well-established base.  Gains in the food market will be driven by shelf-stability advantages, as well as by expanding applications in liquid, low-particulate and pumpable foods, often via the replacement of metal cans and glass jars.