According to statistics, the annual output of beverages in China has been increasing year by year. It keeps a double-digit percentage growth rate of about 10%-20%. The average annual total output is close to 30 million tons, which is one of the fastest growing industries in the food industry. With the development trend of beverage product refinement and segmentation, beverage market for different beverage consumers will be more colorful.

Current situation of beverage packaging market

With the emergence of various types of beverages, the beverage packaging industry has also developed rapidly. After breaking the monopoly of a single glass container market pattern, metal containers, plastic containers, paper containers have emerged one after another, beverage packaging presents a diversified development trend.

Glass bottle

Glass is a kind of packaging material with long history. Glass bottle is also a traditional beverage packaging container in China. Glass containers still play an important role in beverage packaging because of their irreplaceable packaging properties, but their usage began to decrease dramatically.

The main characteristics of glass packaging containers are: non-toxic, tasteless, transparent, beautiful, good barrier, airtight, rich raw materials, low price, and can be used repeatedly. Moreover, it has the advantages of heat resistance, pressure resistance and washability. It can be sterilized at high temperature and can be stored at low temperature. It is precisely because of its many advantages that it has become the preferred material for many beverages, such as fruit tea, jujube juice, which require higher packaging containers.

But glass packaging containers also have some shortcomings: mainly from the heavy, easy to break, high transportation costs, poor printing and other secondary processing performance, resulting in a substantial reduction in the use of large supermarket shelves have been basically unable to see glass containers on the beverage, in schools, small shops, canteens, small restaurants, etc. Cheap glass bottles of carbonated beverages, soy milk and herbal tea are only visible in low-cost places.

Two, metal cans

Beverage cans can be divided into two cans and three cans. The two-piece cans are mainly made of aluminum alloy sheets, which are mainly used for the packaging of carbonated beverages, while the three-piece cans are mainly made of tinplate (tinplate), which is mainly used for the packaging of beverages without carbonated gas.

Metal cans have the following advantages as beverage packaging: first, they have excellent barrier properties. It can not only block gas, but also prevent light. This characteristic can make the beverage have longer shelf life. Second, it has excellent mechanical properties, mainly in high temperature, humidity change, pressure, insect resistance, resistance to harmful substances erosion.

Three, it is not easy to break, easy to carry, and adapt to the fast-paced life of modern society. Four, the surface decoration is good, can stimulate consumption, promote sales. The five is regenerative recycling. However, metal packaging containers also have certain shortcomings, mainly in poor chemical stability, poor alkali resistance, poor quality of internal coating or process, will make the beverage flavor.

At present, the annual consumption of aluminum cans in China is 6-7 billion, raw materials need to be imported in large quantities, and the price is expensive, coupled with environmental pollution and other factors, the state has no longer approved the new aluminum cans production line.

Three, plastic packaging

Beverage industry plastic packaging has attractive business opportunities, in 2002, beverage production has reached 20.24 million tons, soda, juice, vegetables, Beverage plastic container demand is increasing. In today's beverage market, PET plays an important role in the application of containers for tea, carbonated beverages, fruit juice and bottled water, and has a promising future.

In the past two years, more and more new packages have appeared in China's beverage market. At present, there are several kinds of plastics used for beverage packaging.

1, PE (polyethylene)

PE is the world's largest synthetic resin and the most expensive plastic packaging material. Polyethylene products are divided into three types: low density, medium density and high density.