'Country's food packaging market to reach $18 bn by 2020'

Country's food packaging market is likely to reach USD 18 billion by 2020 from the present USD 12 billion, Indian Institute of packaging (IIP) Director N C Saha said today.
"Size of India's food packaging market will increase from present USD 12 billion to reach USD 18 billion by 2020. Fruits and vegetables segments are going to lead this growth story," he said at the national conference 'Food Packaging and Its Safety Aspects' here.
"At present, the domestic packaging industry is ranked 11th in the world. Food packaging is 55 to 60 per cent of the total packaging industry. The growth therefore is almost by 50 per cent, he added.

Saha noted that over 800 million people in the world are unable to meet their daily calorie needs and more than 2 billion people suffer from nutritional deficiencies.
"Yet over one third of the food we produce is never consumed. Nearly 31 per cent of retail food supply goes uneaten. Reducing food wastage is the biggest challenge that food processors, retailers and consumers face across the world. The growth of food packaging sector has nearly doubled to 13.7 per cent during the last four years", he added.