The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI), conducted 72 interviews with industry players to produce the market study, which was released at Pack Expo in Las Vegas.
Emerging market drive
The report found that investments in confectionery processing and packaging equipment was set for growth.
“A large portion of these equipment investments is going into new plants in emerging markets such as China, India, South East Asia, South America, and the Middle East,” said the report.
Investment regularity varies depending on company size
The study found stark differences in the frequency of equipment investments between large and small confectioner.
“The annual investment amount in equipment varies considerably, from $125,000 to over $550 million.
“Smaller companies may have up to seven years between major investment periods, whereas large multinationals dedicate substantial budgets to equipment purchases every year.”
New lines for multinationals; added capacity for smaller players
The report continued that the emphasis for large companies for the next three years would be on entirely new lines for freshly built factories in emerging markets.
For smaller companies the focus will be more on increased capacity or adding new capabilities, it said.
“Current processing equipment needs usually center on speeding up and expanding the capacity of current equipment.”
Three years from now, PMMI said it believed the focus would shift towards gaining more control and accuracy with machines, for example with highly accurate chocolate spray applicators or cooling tunnels with more accurate temperature control.
Faster pack speeds and tempering innovation needs
“Similar to processing equipment, current packaging equipment needs focus on increasing speeds. Looking out three years, respondents will focus on getting new types of equipment they do not currently have in-house, such as flow wrappers and stand-up pouch packaging equipment.”
Chocolate tempering innovation was cited as the most common request from confectioners interviewed followed by the needs for faster pack speeds.