Western Europe

In July 2023, Sainsbury's, one of the UK's largest supermarket chains and also one of the leading players in processed meat and fish, launched a sustainability programme to reduce plastic waste for its chilled processed meat. It replaced plastic…

Total processed meat and seafood packaging volumes continued to decline in the Netherlands in 2023, although this was a continued stabilisation process after disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, and volumes remained higher than pre-pandemic, in…

Total processed meat and seafood packaging volumes in Switzerland saw a second year of growth in 2023. Chilled processed meat dominated packaging volumes in this category, due to its convenience, and the country’s meat-focused culinary tradition,…

In processed meat and seafood in Sweden, flexible plastic accounts for the greatest packaging unit volumes. Flexible plastic is widely used in key categories such as chilled processed meat, because it is compact and flexible, allowing for convenient…

Processed meat and seafood continued to be affected by high prices in 2023, even if inflation had stabilised after peaking during 2022. Companies, unable to fully pass on costs to consumers in the previous year, once again raised their prices in…

Total processed meat and seafood packaging volumes in Italy saw a second year of decline in 2023, although the number of units remained well above the pre-pandemic level after the boost seen in 2020. However, while processed meat, and meat and…

In 2023, flexible plastic remained the dominant packaging choice for processed meat and seafood in Germany, with its most significant packaging volumes in chilled processed meat. This is due to its effective barrier properties against air, moisture,…

The major pack type used for chilled processed meat in France is thin wall plastic containers. Thin wall plastic containers are popular thanks to being lightweight, durable and relatively inexpensive. After thin wall plastic containers, other plastic…

After several years of solid growth since the pandemic started in 2020, total processed fruit and vegetables packaging volumes declined in Turkey in 2023. However, while frozen processed fruit and vegetables maintained solid although slower growth,…

Metal food cans account for the greatest pack type share in processed fruit and vegetables packaging in the UK. Metal food cans are used to package the largest category in unit volume terms, shelf stable fruit and vegetables, due to their excellent…