Anyone that has found themselves thumping the hard glass bottom of an upturned tomato sauce bottle understands the value of moderns closures.
In days gone by, having removed the rudimentary screw-on cap from the tomato sauce bottle the only way to dispense the sauce over a plate of hot chips was to give the bottle a whack, which usually resulted in the chips being saturated in excess sauce.
However a generation of young chip-eaters knows nothing of such pains having been brought up on squeezable plastic sauce bottles from which sauce can be precisely dispensed via a functional twist-closure.
Market research company Freedonia estimates the current size of the caps and closures industry at AUD$27b, with demand to grow 4.8% annually through to 2009.
According to marketing manager Teresa Aprile, much of this growth can be attributed to growth in the products where closures are often used.
“For instance, the bottled water market has grown significantly, and that has had an impact on demand,” she said.
Popular demand for food products such as condiments and sauces has also growth in the use of closures.
Closing on convenience
However consumer demand for increased convenience is the key driver of growth in the closures market, says managing director Mathew Cormack.
“There is a change in value in the move towards convenience and specialty closures that perform a specific function,” he said.
“Look at the salad dressing market and items like mayonnaise - the growth in development of dispensing systems continues to accelerate.
“Trigger sprayers, lotion dispensers, and the use of sports closures continue to grow.”
Closures designed to address convenience have a number of key features including easy-opening, easy-closing, and accurate dispensing.
According to national sales and marketing manufacturer (Amcor closure systems Australasia) Philip Withington, closures are increasingly assessed for the functionality they can offer.
“The theme of tamper-evidence is growing dramatically and continues to grow,” he said.
“Some products that previously hadn’t had any imperative for tamper evidence are now featuring it because of what the closures can offer.”
Withington says such closures can help guarantee product integrity - something that is vital for food and pharmaceutical products.
Going hand-in-hand with tamper-evident functionality is the growth in child-resistant features, particularly on chemical household goods like detergents and pharmaceutical products.
Visy’s Aprile says the functionality demanded on caps for pharmaceutical products sums up the complexities increasingly involved in supplying to this market.
“There’s a constant balance between addressing convenience and an ageing population,” she said.
“It’s a bit of a ‘catch-22’ - closures need to be child-resistant, but at the same time easy to open for an ageing adult.”
While consumer trends for greater convenience and functionality have been significant in affecting demand for closures, Mathew Cormack says developments in other areas of packaging have also played a role.
“The long awaited transition of packaging from glass to plastic is starting to gain more momentum,” he said.
“The cost of plastic containers is becoming more viable, packing requirements are improving, and that’s driving changes in the closures market.”
In turn advances in closure design and technology have brought change to other packaging components such as the removal of undercap seals.
“There is definitely a movement towards liner-less technology,” Amcor’s Phil Withington said.
“It’s much easier for the consumer - previously with a sports drink they’d be confronted with trying to pull that foil off and nearly break their teeth in the process.”
Mathew Cormack agrees on the ineffectiveness of undercap seals.
“They are not easy to deal with - consumers break finger nails, and sometimes stuff knives through which ends up being messy.
“There is certainly pressure to get rid of the liner, and material and technological advancements in closures are supporting and that transition.”
Closure value
Closure growth is partly due to growing awareness by manufacturers of how important closures are to the image of a product.
“In many ways the closure is more important than the container because it has the greatest function as far as the consumer is concerned,” Visy’s Aprile said.
“The shape, ergonomics, and tactility of a bottle are all very important elements, but the consumer interfaces with the cap,” Mathew Cormack said.
“They have to unscrew it, flip it open, drink from it, pour it, spray it, or spread it.
“If that closure fails then it will drive consumers to stop purchasing the brand, but if it works particularly well, it will drive volume.
“Plenty of focus group research supports that.”
Cormack also sites brands that have seen market share rise significantly as a result of a new closure that provides better interface with the customer. However, he stresses the importance of selecting the right type of closure for the particular product.
“The tomato sauce market tried valve closures for a long time, but they’ve gone because while the novelty is great, the user experience is not good as the viscosity of the product is not appropriate for that package,” he said.
“However honey market shares have been significantly changed by valve closures because the viscosity of the product is suited to it.”
Environment
While closures and dispensers can clearly contribute to market shares and sales volume, they are also helping manufacturers and consumers address environmental concerns.
“Lightweight closures address landfill and environment concerns - they use less resin and less petroleum, which is better for the environment,” Amcor’s Philip Withington said.
Withington says the replacement of undercap seals has also played a role.
“The movement to liner-less technology means that with no liner put in, less energy is used during the manufacturing process,” he said.
The functionality of closures helps consumers be ‘green’ as well.
“Good closures give durability to the product,” Withington said.
“Many people re-use the closure and the bottle they’ve bought for multiple uses, so it’s no longer a one-stop transaction product.
“People can keep bottles in the fridge for a year, refilling them, because of capabilities of the closure.”
With raw materials costs continually rising, pressure to reduce investment in caps, closures, and dispensers innovation is compelling.
Visy’s Teresa Aprile says that because of the volumes involved much of the innovation will continue to occur in Europe and the US, but she stresses that the Australian marketplace will be influenced by these trends.
Mathew Cormack agrees that the industry will continue to innovate, but warns manufacturers against overlooking the value that closures bring.
“There’s a 10 cent closure and a 75 cent bottle that go hand-in-hand,” he said.
“Based on that it’s easy to focus primarily on the container, which potentially leaves the customer short on the thing that they interface with.”