2026 Processing State of the Industry Report, published by PMMI – The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, examines recent US food and beverage processing machinery trends using primary member surveys, supplier interviews, and historical industry datasets to provide a directional forecast through 2030. The analysis indicates several focus areas—workforce development and retention paired with aftermarket and knowledge-capture strategies, sanitation and hygienic design linked to inspection and quality controls, and digital-tool adoption including AI-assisted inspection and HMI knowledge-transfer—alongside sustainability-driven efficiency in water, energy, and waste. Charts highlight comparative sector performance and emerging patterns that tend to favor turnkey, integration-focused solutions. Download the full report to see where engineering teams are prioritizing investments to strengthen operational resilience.
View PMMI’s member-exclusive Processing State of the Industry Dashboard to interact with packaging machinery forecasts and analyze shipment values by machine type and industry.
Published by PMMI and the Food Production Solutions Association in April 2026. Based on quantitative PMMI & FPSA member surveys, 16 interviews with processing-equipment suppliers, and secondary analysis of historical market datasets and proprietary Interact Analysis trackers collected 2024–2025.
