The rise of stand-up pouches

THE WORLD’s population is forecast to hit 9 billion by 2050 – luckily that growth is supported by the $1.46 trillion packaged food industry, which ensures stomachs and cupboards are kept full[i].

With many choices available, consumers are overwhelmed with the variety of products. It is therefore easy to see why manufacturers invest so heavily in making their product stand out from the crowd. When it comes to product differentiation there are a number of tried and tested packaging tools at a manufacturers’ disposal including color, size, and perhaps most importantly of all – pack style.

In the past few years, one pack style has seen a sharp increase in popularity due to its enhanced shelf appeal, flexibility and convenience. The stand-up pouch or doy pack, has emerged as a true champion in both the food and beverage industries. According to Schönwald Consulting, about 165 billion stand-up pouches were used globally last year. Asia tops the list with a 54% share of the global market and an annual growth rate of 8.4%[ii]. North America represents 12% of the total market, with an annual growth rate of 7.5%, while Europe has 20% and a similar annual growth rate of 7.7% followed by Latin America (9% of the global market) and Africa (5%).

Global growth for stand-up pouches is expected to grow at a rate of around 7%, while overall annual consumption is expected to increase to 222 billion units in 2018[iii].

What is so special?

First of all, stand-up pouches with their eye-catching pack formats, help food and beverage manufacturers draw attention to their products at point-of-sale. The vertical presentation of the doy pack, thanks to its upright orientation, attracts consumer attention, while the bill-board effect provides space for marketers to utilize their creativity. Overall, the premium look, coupled with the fact that the pack style is still new for consumers, helps boosts sales, which is the ultimate goal for manufacturers.

Second is consumer convenience. The doy-bag style offers excellent stand-up orientation and the possibility to equip doy packs with a zipper, or other recloseability features, enables secure protection of unused product, perfect for protecting future servings. These features are particularly important in the nuts, confectionery and snacks industries. Available options, such as easy opening by tear notch or perforation further enhance convenience.

Last but not least is the clear trend towards flexible packaging. The industry is now seeing an increased number of food and non-food producers replacing cans, glass jars and cardboard boxes with stand-up pouches. Doy packs are lighter, easier to store and cheaper to transport by both manufacturers and retailers. Consumers also benefit from the easy-to-carry, lightweight packaging. This trend is likely to continue and grow, providing packaging success in one industry after the other.

Innovative packaging machines for doy-pack styles

While the benefits of stand-up pouches may appear obvious to most, not all food producers find it feasible to switch to this appealing pack style. At the moment, horizontal pouch machines dominate the market of stand-up pouch production due to their ability to produce pouches at high speeds. However, this type of technology requires significant initial investment and floor space, while also restricting producers to only one or two bag styles.

Advanced alternative vertical form, fill and seal (VFFS) continuous motion solutions are able to produce stand-up pouches with the added flexibility of more pack styles on one machine. This includes pillow, gusseted, block bottom, corner seal, full corner and three-sided. With different bag styles and various reclosure options to choose from on a single machine, food producers can run seasonal promotions and be fully equipped to address the ever-changing consumer demands of the future.

Another important element for manufacturers considering investing in new pack styles is floor space. As doy packs are usually employed for a new product, or an upgrade of an existing brand, it is natural for food manufacturers to run a market test before integrating into full scope production. With a VFFS machine taking up only about six square meters, producers can maximize the use of their production floor.

In addition, the latest advancements in vertical baggers allow manufacturers to produce up to 100 stand-up pouches with zippers per minute, offering up to 50% higher output per square meter than horizontal machines with the same functionality. This is primarily achieved by enabling the zipper functionality to run on a continuous motion vertical bagger − as opposed to the intermittent motion machines used previously.

Bosch’s Doy Zip bagger is the fastest on the market

Bosch Packaging Technology, for example, overcame the challenge of delivering consistently high bag quality through the new patent-pending zipper application technology, which enables perfect alignment of the zipper − even at high speeds. When compared with horizontal pouch machines, the new vertical bagger for stand-up pouches gives the bag quality you expect from a horizontal machine, but with a lower initial investment.

With food producers striving to address growing consumer demands by providing them with fresh, exciting and great tasting options, it is crucial that behind-the-scenes production runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Advancements such as VFFS machines that accommodate new pack styles, continue to provide manufacturers with the tools needed to challenge their consumers’ imagination while also reducing cost-per-pack and total cost of ownership in the process, leaving manufacturers with a healthier bottom line.