Cups & Lids

Growth in the US cups and lids market will total 3.9% annually through 2020 in value terms.  Gains will be driven by the preference for products with a premium appearance.  Advances will also be spurred by the use of cups to package single portions of fresh produce and other food products.

This report segments the cups and lids industry by Product, Material, and Market.  Data is provided in million US dollars and billion units.

Cup and lid products include:

• Drinking Cups & Lids

• Packaging Cups & Lids

• Portion Cups & Lids

• Food Cups & Lids

Drinking cups will remain the largest of these through 2020.  Fastest growth will be for packaging cups, driven by rising demand for healthy snacks that can be consumed on-the-go.

Materials used in the cup and lid industry include:

• Plastic

• Paper

• Foam

Plastic saw the greatest use in 2015 and will grow the fastest based on its prevalence in both premium and stock offerings.   Foam product demand will be stifled by negative perceptions of their effect on the environment.

Major markets for the cups and lid industry are:

• Foodservice

• Food & Beverage Packaging

• Retail 

Foodservice was the leading outlet in 2015.  The most rapid gains through 2020 are forecast for the food & beverage packaging market, stimulated by the popularity of single portion packaging.

Despite the cup and lid industry’s wide variety of product types, materials, and applications, the market leaders tend to be diversified in their offerings, making the industry fairly concentrated at the top.  Participants in this industry include Bemis, Berry Plastics, Constantia Flexibles, Dart Container, Fabri-Kal, Georgia-Pacific (Koch Industries), Huhtamäki, International Paper, Kraft Heinz, Newell Brands, Reynolds Group, and Silgan.