The stick pouch is one of the hottest package formats in the market today, generating more than 30 percent annual growth in specific market segments. It has come a long way from being completely unexplored in North America just 10 years ago.

According to a new study on stick pouches from Allied Development Corp. (www.allied-dev.com), Burnsville, MN, stick pouches were first commercialized in approximately 1970. The stick-pouch industry began in Japan, using equipment that was developed by Sanko Machinery Co. Ltd. to package dry products. It wasn't until 1990 that the ability to package wet products in stick pouches was developed in Europe.

The dry-products segment remains the largest industry segment to date, with Japan a major user. It is also clear that stick pouches in the dry-product segment are expanding beyond their traditional use for condiments. In the-wet product segment, stick pouches are used for the unit-portion condiment market (ketchup, mustard and others) in certain regions, such as Europe. In the U.S., General Mills introduced its Go-Gurt yogurt in a stick pouch in 1999, which catalyzed a number of wet-product, stick-pouch applications. This created a new category of products that is now an accepted part of the stick-pouch product mix. Pharmaceutical, personal care and other industries are also increasing their use of the stick pouch.

Many factors drive stick-pouch consumption. One of the most important is its unique shape, which is a defining characteristic. The shape of a stick pouch provides a natural means of dispensing from a small opening, providing good control. A person can tear the end from a stick pouch, and, even if the tear is not well-controlled, end up with a small opening from which to pour. This advantage is further enhanced through the use of flexible spouts, tear notches and combination packages, which feature dual chambers that contain different, but related, products in each chamber, such as a yogurt-and-fruit combination.

The stick pouch is an efficient material design. Material cost savings and pricing for new applications will outweigh any drag from filling-rate deficiencies.

Products in stick pouches offer several types of end-user convenience. Premeasured quantities of food are easy to use, and stick pouches are primarily a unit-portion or single-serve package that capitalizes on this ability. Dry-drink mixes, for example, provide the right amount of drink mix for a bottle of water. In the future, the pharmaceutical industry will take even greater advantage of premeasured doses with stick-pouch offerings for a variety of pharmaceutical products. Stick pouches are also portable, easy to store and can be opened without using an opener.

Stick-pouch machines can now accept sophisticated films in addition to the basic coated paper often used for dry condiments. The ability to use high-barrier packaging, such as laminations containing aluminum foil or glass-coated films, means the barrier requirements can be met for pharmaceutical gels, cough syrup, pudding, dry beverage mixes, epileptic medications and many other products.

Technological advancements in dosing systems are significant. The ability to accurately micro-dose products in increments of less than 1 gm has triggered the healthcare industry to take a closer look at the stick pouch. Unit-dose stick pouches of many healthcare products, including cough syrup, pain relievers, epileptic medications, antacids and others, are on the market now, or are coming soon.

Pellet technology is another dosing technology that is primarily important for healthcare products. Pellet technology formulates pharmaceutical products into small, consistent-sized, spherical particles that can be taken orally without the aid of water. In addition, the product can be designed to dissolve easily, so it is not irritating to the consumer's digestive system. Dosing systems are able to count the number of spherical particles needed to fill each stick pouch with the correct dosage for that product.

Stick-pouch machine filling speeds are increasing, primarily by adding more lanes per machine. Today, the typical machine has eight to 10 lanes, with offerings of up to 26 lanes.

The future consumption of stick pouches looks very strong, with growth of all categories projected to be 10.1 percent annually from 2005 to 2010. Stick-pouch consumption will jump from 196.7 billion stick pouches to 318.8 billion in that period. Dry products in stick pouches comprise 85 percent of the market, due to the fact that they were developed first and have been successful for decades. However, wet products in stick pouches are gaining market share, albeit slowly. The percentage of pouches that contain wet products will grow from 14.9 percent market share in 2005 to 15.9 percent in 2010.

Dry food is clearly the largest category, and it will grow 8.9 percent per year from 2005 to 2010. Dry-condiment volume (sugar, sweeteners, salt and pepper) is large and overshadows other categories. Removing the dry-condiment volume from the dry-food category reveals that dry food other than condiments will grow at 16.1 percent per year through 2010—a much higher rate than condiments (7.8 percent per year). In fact, all of the other categories will grow rapidly: 9.1 percent per year for wet-food products, 20.4 percent per year for healthcare products, and 22.7 percent per year for other products. Condiments/sauces will lead the wet- food market through 2010, with growth of 8.8 percent per year.

Overall annual growth of stick pouches in North America is expected to average 16.5 percent per year broken down as follows: 17.8 percent for dry food, 5.8 percent for wet food, 30.5 percent for health. care and 37.5 percent for other products.

The information in this article was taken from "Stick Pouches, Global Markets, Economics, and Technologies — 2006 to 2010," which was written and published by Allied Development Corp.

For a prospectus or to order a copy of "Stick Pouches, Global Markets, Economics, and Technologies — 2006 to 2010," call Packaging Strategies at 610/436-4220 (ext. 11) or e-mail at orders@packstrat.com.

Allied Development Corp., 952/898-2000. www.allied-dev.com.