The snack food packaging market size is estimated to be worth USD 19.5 billion in 2025 and is anticipated to reach a value of USD 28.5 billion by 2035. Sales are projected to rise at a CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period between 2025 and 2035. The revenue generated by snack food packaging in 2024 was USD 18.0 billion.
Large scale usage of snack food packaging has been seen in the case of savory snacks, and thus, it is expected that the savory snacks segment will account for a dominate market share of more than 45% in the food type segment over the forecast period. This is because savory snacks, especially chips, pretzels, and popcorn, require particular packaging to preserve their texture, flavor, and crispiness. These snacks are moisture and air-sensitive so they easily go stale or lose all their appeal when not packaged properly.
Snack food Packaging Industry Forecast
| Attributes | Key Insights |
|---|---|
| Historical Size, 2024 | USD 18.0 billion |
| Estimated Size, 2025 | USD 19.5 billion |
| Projected Size, 2035 | USD 28.5 billion |
| Value-based CAGR (2025 to 2035) | 4.3% |
Out of two major packaging types in the snack food packaging market, flexible packaging expected to capture more than 78% of the market share. The reason to favor flexible packaging for snack foods lies in the flexibility, cost efficiency, and freshness preservation capabilities it offers.
It contains excellent barrier properties against moisture, air, and light; it retains a longer shelf life; and it appears in convenient, space-saving formats such as pouches and resealable bags that satisfy consumer demands. It also comes with convenient, space-saving designs like pouches and resealable bags appealing to consumers' needs.
The snack food packaging market is all set to lucrative growth over the forecast period. It is estimated to rise to an opportunity worth an incremental USD 10.5 billion and is estimated to register 1.6 times its current worth by the year 2035.
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The below table presents the expected CAGR for the global snack food packaging market over several semi-annual periods spanning from 2025 to 2035.
| Particular | Value CAGR |
|---|---|
| H1 | 4.1% (2024 to 2034) |
| H2 | 4.5% (2024 to 2034) |
| H1 | 4.0% (2025 to 2035) |
| H2 | 4.6% (2025 to 2035) |
In the first half (H1) of the decade from 2024 to 2034, the business is predicted to surge at a CAGR of 4.1%, followed by a slightly higher growth rate of 4.5% in the second half (H2) of the same decade. Moving into the subsequent period, from H1 2025 to H2 2035, the CAGR is projected to decrease slightly to 4.0% in the first half and remain relatively moderate at 4.6% in the second half. In the first half (H1) the market witnessed a decrease of 10 BPS while in the second half (H2), the market witnessed an increase of 10 BPS.
Convenience and On-the-Go Consumption Drive Snack Packaging Growth
The demand for snack food packaging is high due to convenience and on-the-go consumption. Due to hectic lifestyles, consumers these days prefer snack foods easy to carry, easy storage, and hassle-free consumption. The many types of pouches, sachets, and resealable bags respond to the requirement of portability and compact and simple use. Under this packaging, snacks are enjoyed while in transit, at work, or while on outdoor activities.
Resealable features also help preserve freshness, prevent spillage and make these packages even more consumer-friendly. The growing single serve snack trend is also on the rise asking for snack food packaging like sachets. They are packaged for individuals who want a quick snack with a minimum of effort for preparation or consumption.
Snack food packaging will keep evolving to enable more efficient, functional, and favorable space-saving packaging to satisfy demand for convenience on fast-moving, on-the-go lifestyles. Such developments are contributing immensely to the growth of the market.
Need for Efficient Barrier Packaging to Ensure Freshness and Extends Snack Shelf Life
Snack foods are sensitive to external factors such as water, light, and air, hence their quality, flavor, and texture are affected in a negative way. A superior barrier packaging is therefore required in protecting the snacks from those elements.
Materials such as laminated films, metalized films, and vacuum-sealed pouches are widely utilized in the snack food packaging industry because they effectively prevent moisture, air, and light from penetrating into the product package and thus preserve the freshness of the products and expand the shelf life.
It is most importantly for items such as chips, crackers, and dried fruits; otherwise, they will be stale or tasteless if not packaged appropriately. Advanced barrier packaging will assist manufacturers in ensuring that snacks stay fresh from production to consumption, thus providing higher customer satisfaction and reducing food waste.
Single-Use Plastic Concerns May Hamper Snack Packaging Market Growth
The utilization of single-use plastic and the enormous amount of plastic waste generated because of different packaging formats can act as a restraint for the market. Regulatory pressure to restrict the usage of single-use plastics may lead to challenges for single-use snack packaging products such as pouches, sachets, etc. Many different governments have introduced strict legislation to limit the single use of plastic and elevate recycling targets.
This will put pressure on manufacturers to source recyclable or reusable plastic and invest in advanced production techniques to deal with this issue of sustainability. Due to rising concern over plastic and degradability, the bans on single-use plastic in some regions like Europe may hamper the snack food packaging market growth.
The global snack food packaging market recorded a CAGR of 3.6% during the historical period between 2020 and 2024. Market growth of snack food packaging was positive as it reached a value of USD 18.0 billion in 2024 from USD 15.6 billion in 2020.
Because of high demand for convenience, on-the-go formats such as pouches and sachets, global snack food packaging is on a steady growth pace. New inventions in terms of eco-friendly and sustainable packaging are driving the growth of this market since consumers and manufacturers prefer environmentally friendly products with extended shelf life and freshness.
Increased health awareness of the consumers in relation to snack food packaging will raise their demand drastically because of the importance they are giving to sustainability, biodegradable, and recyclable materials. The demand growth in this market will take place based on advanced technological features, such as innovative smart packaging and personalized designs aligning with the environmental and customer demands for green solutions.
Tier 1 companies comprise market leaders with significant market share in global market. These market leaders are characterized by high production capacity and a wide product portfolio. These market leaders are distinguished by their extensive expertise in manufacturing across multiple packaging formats and a broad geographical reach, underpinned by a robust consumer base.
They provide a wide range of series including recycling and manufacturing utilizing the latest technology and meeting the regulatory standards providing the highest quality. Prominent companies within tier 1 include Berry Global Group, Inc., Amcor plc, Sealed Air Corp and Sonoco Products Company.
Tier 2 companies include mid-size players having presence in specific regions and highly influencing the local market. These are characterized by a strong presence overseas and strong market knowledge. These market players have good technology and ensure regulatory compliance but may not have advanced technology and wide global reach.
Prominent companies in tier 2 include Smurfit WestRock plc, Bemis, Mondi plc, American Packaging, C-P Flexible Packaging, Winpak Ltd., Constantia Flexibles, Epac Flexibles Packaging, Swiss Pack Private Limited, Bryce Corporation, Duropack Limited and Graham Packaging
Tier 3 includes the majority of small-scale companies operating at the local presence and serving niche markets. These companies are notably oriented towards fulfilling local market demands and are consequently classified within the tier 3 share segment. They are small-scale players and have limited geographical reach. Tier 3, within this context, is recognized as an unorganized market, denoting a sector characterized by a lack of extensive structure and formalization when compared to organized competitors.
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The section below covers the future forecast for the retail glass packaging market in terms of countries. Information on key countries in several parts of the globe, including North America, Latin America, East Asia, South Asia and Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and MEA is provided. UK is anticipated to remain at the forefront in Western Europe, with a CAGR of 3.8% through 2035. In East Asia, China is projected to witness a CAGR of 5.2% by 2034.
| Countries | Value CAGR (2025 to 2035) |
|---|---|
| USA | 3.2% |
| Germany | 3.6% |
| China | 5.2% |
| UK | 3.8% |
| Spain | 3.2% |
| India | 5.9% |
The snack food packaging market in the USA is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.2% over the forecast period.
According to SNAC International’s 2024 State of the Industry Report, 55% of Millennials and GenZ consider themselves savvy snackers. In America, mostly 52 minutes are spent per day preparing meals so consumers are integrating favourite snacks into meals.
In a busy lifestyle, preparing snacks is a hard task so the parents give the snacks like nutrition bars, and chips unwrapping the packet is an easy task and also a cheap option because cooking is a time-consuming process. This is one of the major reasons to boost snack consumption and ultimately snack food packaging across the USA
The trend of health conscious for consuming healthy and nutrition rich snacks will provide lucrative opportunities for the snack food packaging market in Germany. The country is anticipated to rise at a rate of 3.6%.
There is a health-oriented consumer culture developing in Germany, which focuses on the growing number of healthy and nutritional aware snack eaters. This demand drives the development of such types of packaging that would open up the essentials for them, such as ingredient labelling, calorie counts, and health benefits. Increasingly, such consumers search for snacks with lower sugar, fat, and other artificial additives, expecting snack packaging to reflect these attributes.
They are also attracted to eco-friendly pack options; most prefer recyclable, biodegradable, or compostable materials. More than health and sustainability, such demands would put pressure on manufacturers to innovate and ensure that consumer preferences are met while the products remain fresh and last on the shelf.
The section contains information about the leading segments in the industry. In terms of packaging type, flexible packaging is estimated to account for a share of 78.9% by 2035. By material, plastic is projected to dominate by holding a share of 53.4% by the end 2035.
| Packaging Type | Flexible Packaging |
|---|---|
| Market Share (2035) | 78.9% |
Out two packaging types in the snack food packaging, flexible packaging is expected to lead the market with a market share of 78.9%over the forecast period.
Flexible packaging, specifically in the form of pouches and sachets, is preferred for snack foods for its convenience and ease in storage. These formats are compact and lightweight and, therefore can be high volume packed into a small area. They are also easy to store because they require less room than rigid containers, and thus convenient for both shelf storage on the retail level and transportation.
Their resealable features make it convenient for the consumer to store snacks that will remain fresh over time. Packaging in smaller, portable sizes also addresses on-the-go consumption while minimizing environmental impact through efficient packaging design, making them a practical solution for both storage and transport.
| Material | Plastic |
|---|---|
| Market Share (2035) | 53.4% |
Among multiple materials used for making snack food packaging, plastic is estimated to lead the material segment and account for a market share of 53.4% in the assessment period.
Snacks are usually packed in packaging made out of plastic. This material has several benefits such as economical costs and excellent barrier properties. This material helps to protect snacks well from moisture, air, and light, thus it provides them with a much longer shelf life. This material can easily be moulded into shapes like pouches or sachets and saves space.
Plastic packaging can offer superior sealing abilities so that contamination can be entirely eliminated and quality can be ensured. The potential to customize plastic for different snack types or kinds further opens up cost-saving attractions in this material, which is what makes manufacturers in the snack food industry adopt it.
Key players of snack food packaging industry are developing and launching new products in the market. They are integrating with different firms and extending their geographical presence. Few of them are also collaborating and partnering with local brands and start-up companies for new product development.
Key Developments in snack food Packaging Market
In terms of material, the snack food packaging market is divided into plastic, paper/paperboard, metal and glass. Plastic further include polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), bioplastics and other plastics.
In terms of food type, the snack food packaging market consists of bakery snacks, confectionary snacks, savoury snacks, dairy-based snacks, frozen snacks, health and nutritional snacks and others. Bakery snacks includes cookies, crackers and pastries. Confectionary snacks includes chocolates, candies and gummies. Savoury snacks includes Chips and Crisps, Popcorn, Pretzels, Nuts and Seeds. Dairy-based snacks includes yoghurt and cheese snacks. Frozen snacks includes ice cream bars and frozen appetizers. Health and nutritional snacks includes protein bars, granola bars and fried fruits. Other include ready-to-eat meals.
Several packaging types in the snack food packaging market include flexible packaging and rigid packaging. The flexible packaging is further sub-categorized into pouches, bags, wrapper and sachets. And rigid packaging includes boxes, trays, tins and cans and jars.
Key countries of North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, East Asia, South Asia & Pacific, and Middle East & Africa are covered.
The snack food packaging industry is projected to witness CAGR of 4.3% between 2025 and 2035.
The global snack food packaging industry stood at USD 18.0 billion in 2024.
Global snack food packaging industry is anticipated to reach USD 28.5 billion by 2035 end.
South Asia & Pacific is set to record a CAGR of 6.5% in assessment period.
The key players operating in the snack food packaging industry are Berry Global Group, Inc., Amcor plc, Sealed Air Corp and Sonoco Products Company.
| Estimated Market Size in 2024 | USD 56.1 million |
|---|---|
| Projected Market Value in 2034 | USD 94.3 million |
| Value-based CAGR (2024 to 2034) | 5.3% |
| Market CAGR (2023 to 2033) | 4.8% |
|---|---|
| Market Size (2023) | USD 29.22 billion |
| Market Size (2033) | USD 46.70 billion |
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Snack Food Packaging Market
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