PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2020

EDITOUR 19 PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 recent years with around 2% sales growth on an average of 433 million litres. Here, growth of 1.6% in drinks cartons has recently been noted, while PET lost around three quarters of a percent. Things look very different for water: in the same period, sales in item numbers rose by almost 17% from 942 million to 1.100 billion. Particularly in the Nutrients long-term study, the annual per head volume sales moved drastically from almost 6 l in 1997 to around 48 l in 2018, with a sharper increase from 2012. PET has yielded a significant share of growth related to packaging at 18%; in 2019, the sales share of PET water bottles was 974 mil- lion units but without a nota- ble change in sales in litres (average 737 million litres). This can be attributed to increasing interest in smaller containers and is all under caveat, since the statements from the research platform Ibis World, deviate from the growth figures. While Euro- monitor measured a sales increase rate of around 6% in the 2018 to 2019 period, ABCL and Ibis World are assuming growth of below 1% and, because of the pandemic, even lower. The reality will lie somewhere in between, but there is significant uncertainty in the picture. Taking into con- sideration any effects of the coronavirus, the 2020 sales of non-alcoholic drinks with soft drinks at their core should be a little over US$13.5 billion and should grow by 2025 to US$17 bil- lion, according to Statista. There is (still) no market for PET for alcoholic drinks like beer and spirits. ABCL’s CEO Mr Geoff Parker anticipates a Covid- 19-related downturn in small water bottles because of the restrictions for outdoor events, while panic-buying of water bottles in super- markets would increase. “Broadly, there is a high degree of uncertainty in the landscape caused by Covid-19 and the challenges that pervade”, explained Mr Parker, speaking of the entire sector. “Despite an increase in at-home food consump- tion, consumers are likely to shift to cheaper alternatives, such as private- label drinks, due to declining discre- tionary income resulting from Covid-19. This is likely to reduce profit margins for industry players.” In line with the changes, there is also an expectation that drinks producers will rethink their processes, also with regard to support- ing suppliers and logistics. “The indus- try’s supply chain is diverse, from local and imported ingredients to R&D labo- ratories, transportation, logistics, mate- rials handling, plant and equipment, and much more. As we convey to governments the importance of drinks manufacturing, we are also emphasis- ing the end-to-end supply chain that is critical to supporting core operations. The industry relies on quality Australian produce and expertise right across the supply chain,” says Parker. As in other countries, irregular purchasing behav-