The average household in the UK buys over 4,000 items of food and other products every year. In the UK as a whole, 25 million households buy over 100 billion items every year. Over 75% of those purchases are grocery products – mainly food and drink but also household detergents, paper products, cosmetics, toiletries, nappies and pet food.
Modern society and consumers demand a wide range of products to meet the complex needs of today’s lifestyles, including food products sourced globally for year round consumption. A typical supermarket today carries well over 50,000 product lines compared with only 2,000 in the 1960s. These products have to survive the journey from farm or factory and reach the consumer undamaged, unspoilt and fit for purpose.
Most of them need to be packed in sales (or primary) packaging to protect and contain them – the tin of soup, the glass jar of jam, the box of cereals or the plastic bottle of washing up liquid for example. This is the packaging that appears on the shop shelf but cans, bottles and fresh fruit and vegetables cannot be put loose into a lorry.
Secondary packaging such as cardboard boxes, plastic wrapping and trays are used to group them during distribution. These in turn are stacked on pallets or trolleys – to allow them to be transported in bulk, stacked in depots and stored in hot and cold climates.
Packaging for food and drink accounts for 87% by weight of all sales packaging. Packaging is an integral and essential part of the industrial and commercial supply chain. It protects goods from damage, allows efficient transport distribution, offers convenience, prolongs shelf-life, enables easy use, informs the consumer and helps to promote goods in a competitive market place.
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