According to a recent article at Packaging Digest, the personal care market is one that continues to grow at a fast pace – in fact, it’s expected to be worth more than $38 billion by 2019.

Packaging in the personal care market is made up mostly of plastic, with 61% of products being packaged in plastic compacts, jars, bottles, and tubes. Plastic packaging in the personal care industry is expected to grow 12% by 2019, with plastic bottles such as those containing body wash and shampoo products accounting for nearly 1/3 of the market. Plastic bottles are expected to grow 28% through 2019. Consumers’ demand for plastic isn’t really a surprise, considering many of the products in the health/beauty sector are taken on-the-go and should be resistant to breakage.

Cartons have seen the biggest increase in the health and beauty aids packaging sector over the last five years, growing 10% from 9% in 2010 to 19% today.

It is estimated in a report from PMMI titled “Personal Care Market Assessment” that the global personal care market will continue to grow at an annual rate of about 5.5%.

According to the article, Asia-Pacific and Latin America are among the developing nations expected to experience higher growth rates in the health and beauty aids market than developed countries. However, it is expected that even established markets will spend a substantial amount of money on smelling fresh and looking good. Currently, the United States solely represents approximately 1/6 of the total spent globally on beauty and grooming products at an estimated $4 to $5 billion annually on each category.

So, what are the top five trends and challenges around the world in the personal care market? The PMMI report identifies them as:

Flexibility – Quick changeover and easy handling of multiple packaging formats are essential in packaging lines
Sustainability – In an effort to improve their environmental footprint, brand owners strive to replace plastic packaging with biopolymers and reduce packaging materials
Innovation in efficiencies – Production costs may be controlled through improved automation and “smart” packaging equipment
Consumer expectations and needs – Consumers’ demand for convenience can be met by portable or smaller packages in addition to wipes
Globalization – Spending on personal care products is only expected to increase as more consumers globally have more disposable income than in past years

At REA JET we always try and keep on top of packaging news, and we know that plastic is a packaging material used in the manufacture of many consumer products in addition to the personal care and health/beauty industries. We offer a wide range of industrial printing solutions for indelible marking of plastics, metal/steel, wood, cable and wire, non-woven fabrics, rubber, building materials and more. For all of your industrial coding and marking system needs, count on REA JET for real solutions.