changing demographics, sustainability efforts, retailer demands, regulations, and eating habits are common themes in packaging. however, they&39re especially apparent among snack & bakery product producers. "bakery and snacks market assessment 2012,&rdquo which was released by pmmi, details the impacts of these tendencies for original equipment manufacturers oems and their customers. as mentioned in a report "global packaging trends global growth markets for packaging" july 2012 submitted by pmmi, the growth of world population is shifting to socalled rising markets such as the asia pacific province. a report by the bakery and snacks market says bakery and snack products producers will see that growth in action, with about 4 percent growth anticipated in u.s. sales of packaged snacks by the year 2015, but about 7 percent yearly increase to usd334 billion in worldwide sales of snack foods in the same duration. worldwide, bakery product sales are anticipated to raise 4.5 percent on yearly basis to usd410 billion by the end of 2015. paula feldman is the director of business intelligence at pmmi. according to paula, worldwide, regions such as latin america, india, and asia pacific are presenting the best situations for future expansion for bakery and snacks products. paula further mentioned that their global packaging report noted that by the end of 2015, the growth of world population will bounce largely from the asia pacific province, which is anticipated to see a 160 billionperson growth in that time. 62 percent of the snack food companies, which were surveyed during this market assessment, mentioned that they see asia pacific markets as the main source of the largest chunk of their sales growth. however, only 20 percent of bakery companies share that experience. traditionally, the changes in eating habits of consumer have driven new product development. in previous year, the cause of change has shifted to the retailer. nowadays, many large businesses have their own particularities for the products they sell, feldman notes. she further says that in the snack foods and bakery arenas, retailers are specifying multipacks, package sizes, and variety packs to utilize shelf space, and for hightraffic areas, they&39re also asking for retailready packaging. she says that convenience and drug stores also have their own sets of necessities, and above quarter 26 percent of respondents are creating packaging according to it. along with this, even dollar stores are making a difference. about 27 percent of participants are distributing to dollar stores and also expect that part of their business to expand, and those places are asking for smaller quantity that they can offer for 1. demand from retailers were cited by 42 percent of participants as the key driver for changes into primary packaging, and about 50 percent said they are applying changes in their packaging and processing operations to accommodate the requirements of retailers. to fulfill the multitudinous change agents in the snack and bakery product marketplace, producers are turning to packaging machinery oems. feldman says that their requests generally fall into three categories integration, support and functionality. feldman further says that the oem that wants to fulfill those needs will do their best to build a strong relationship with the producer and collaborate in the design process. this type of partnership with the producers will help oems better understand requirements for machine sanitation and cleanliness, the functionality and features, and automation. she says that today&39s snack and baking foods producers want equipments that can be flexible and operate a variety of materials, packages and sizes that are easier to operate and clean, designed ergonomically, and reliable. they require oems to clearly commune recommended cleaning schedules and to give knowledgeable technical support, and these all things are in addition to the remote connectivity and integrated lines. source of information httpwww.foodproducernews.commarketplacepmmibitesintobakerysnackpackagingtre…