Custom Pouches

Closures and Handy Extras

Resealable zips are standard on most retail pouches because customers rarely finish a pack in one go. Press-to-close zips are the most common, and a slider zip is easier for children and older customers to use. Tear notches above the zip let people open the pouch neatly, and laser scoring creates a straight tear line on tougher films.

Hang holes in a round or euro slot shape suit peg displays. Clear windows show off the product while the rest of the pouch carries branding. One-way valves let fresh coffee release gas without letting air in, and spouts with caps suit liquids and pastes. Rounded corners make a pouch feel softer in the hand and stop sharp corners scratching other packs in transit. Shaped pouches with rounded or custom outlines are shown on the die-cut mylar bags in custom shapes page.

Getting the Size Right

Pouch sizes are given as width by height plus gusset, and the same nominal size can hold very different weights depending on the product. A 500 g bag of sugar takes up far less space than 500 g of crisps or dried mushrooms. The reliable way to size a pouch is to fill a sample with your product at the target weight, shake it down, and check the fill line sits comfortably below the zip.

As a starting point, a pouch around 120 by 200 mm with a 70 mm gusset suits 100 to 150 g of snacks or 250 g of dense goods. For 1 kg of dense product, such as rice or protein powder, sizes around 200 by 300 mm with a 100 mm gusset are common. We can recommend sizes from your product description and send plain samples to test. Our guide to measuring products for packaging covers fill weights by volume.

Printing That Uses Every Panel

Pouches are printed on the film before they are formed, so the artwork can run right to the edges and across the gusset with no white borders. Digital printing suits short runs and many designs, such as a range of ten flavours in modest quantities. Larger runs of a single design may suit other print methods; we will advise on the best route for your quantities.

Matt finishes give a modern, soft look and reduce glare under shop lighting. Gloss makes colours vivid. A combination, with matt overall and gloss on the product photograph or logo, gives contrast you can feel as well as see. Metallic effects come from printing on metallised film and leaving areas unprinted to let the shine through.

Plan the back panel for ingredients, directions and barcode, and use the gusset for a short brand message or a flavour colour band. Colour behaviour on metallised film is covered in the print and finish options guide.

Products That Pack Well in Pouches

Pouches suit almost anything dry, powdered, granular or soft, and spouted styles extend that to liquids. They are lighter than jars and boxes, which cuts postage, and they take up less space in storage before filling. Popular uses include snacks, nuts and dried fruit, coffee and tea, protein and supplement powders, bath salts and soaks, pet treats, sweets, spices, seeds and refill packs for cleaning products and cosmetics.

If your product is sharp, such as some pet chews or dried pasta shapes, a thicker film helps avoid punctures.

Pouches also make good secondary packaging. A printed pouch inside a gift box, holding loose tea, bath salts or a refill, keeps the product fresh and gives the box a neater interior than a plain bag would. Pouches that stand up on a shelf are covered under stand-up pouches with bottom gussets.

Test a Plain Pouch With Your Product First

Pouches are the one pack where a plain sample saves the most money, because the film structure cannot be changed after printing. Ask for unprinted samples in the sizes you are considering, fill them with your product at the target weight, seal them and leave them on a sunny windowsill for a week. Soft crisps, clumped powder or a split seal show up in that week and cost nothing to fix. Note the fill weight that gave the best-looking pack and send it with the pouch style, the closures and the number of designs.

A custom quote follows by email within one working day, with low minimums quoted per job, and each design gets a free proof showing the artwork across front, back and gusset. Production takes 4 to 7 working days after approval and free tracked delivery covers UK mainland addresses in 2 to 3 working days; pouches that arrive misprinted or damaged are reprinted or refunded if reported within 10 days. Products that need a tear strip rather than a zip are covered on the tear-notch pouches for single servings page.