Custom Sandwich Bags

Sizing Your Sandwich Bags Correctly

Start with the food, not a standard size chart. Measure your most common product across its widest point and add around 15 to 20 mm so it drops in cleanly. Then measure the height of the sandwich lying flat and the length, and allow enough extra at the top for one fold. For a standard square sandwich made with sliced bread, a bag around 150 mm wide works for most kitchens.

Toasties pressed in a grill are flatter but wider, so they often need a slightly broader bag. Baguettes and subs need a long, narrow bag, usually somewhere around 300 mm or more in length. Wraps cut on the diagonal sit best in a gusseted bag where the two halves can stand side by side.

If you sell several formats, we usually suggest two sizes rather than one compromise size. One bag for sliced sandwiches and toasties and one longer bag for rolls and baguettes covers most menus without forcing staff to pack food into something that does not fit.

Wraps and flatbreads behave differently again. A tightly rolled wrap is heavy for its size and can push through a thin flat bag at the corner, so a gusset or a slightly heavier paper is the safer choice. Our guide to measuring products for packaging covers soft items that change shape.

Paper Choices and What They Do

Plain kraft paper gives a natural, café look and takes one or two spot colours well. Bleached white paper shows brighter colours and full-colour artwork more cleanly, which matters if your logo relies on a specific shade.

For toasted or oily fillings, we can supply a grease-resistant paper so butter and dressings are less likely to show through. Food-contact grade paper is available on request, and we will tell you on your custom quote which stock we propose so you can check it against your own hygiene records.

Window bags with a clear strip are another option. They let a customer see the filling without opening the bag, which helps when sandwiches sit in a chiller and people choose by eye. Thinner sheets for lining baskets are covered under deli paper for lining baskets.

Printing That Works on a Small Bag

A sandwich bag gives you a front panel roughly the size of a postcard, so keep the design simple and bold. A single logo with your shop name, a short line about what you sell and a social handle or web address usually reads better than a busy pattern. One or two colour flexo printing suits kraft bags and keeps the cost per bag down on larger runs.

If you want a repeating pattern, such as a small illustration or your logo tiled across the paper, that works well too and looks neat even when the bag is folded over. Keep fine lines thicker than you would on a business card, because paper soaks up ink slightly and very thin strokes can fill in.

Printing on both sides is possible. Some delis put the brand on the front and a short menu or loyalty message on the back, which customers often read while eating. One-colour print on kraft against full colour on white is compared in the print and finish options guide.

Running Bags Smoothly Behind the Counter

Think about how the bags will be used at the busiest point of lunch. Staff pick a bag from a stack, open it with one hand and drop the food in with the other, so a thumb notch on the front edge makes a real difference. Bags supplied flat in tidy bundles also sit better on a shelf by the till than loose bags tipped out of a carton.

Agree on a fold. Some shops fold the top over twice and leave it; others close it with a small branded sticker that doubles as a seal and a price or filling label. If your team writes fillings on the bag by hand, leave a clear panel in the artwork where a marker pen can go, away from dark ink.

Finally, plan stock. Sandwich bags take little room, but running out on a busy day means handing food over in plain bags with no branding. Order enough to cover a few weeks of trade and note the date you approved the proof, so a repeat order can be placed from the same artwork without changes. The guide to how custom pricing works shows why a repeat run from the same artwork costs less.

Slide a Real Sandwich Into a Plain Bag First

Sandwich bags are sized in seconds at the counter and only fail when the filling fights the paper. Before you order, put your thickest filled sandwich into a plain bag of the size you are considering and let it sit for an hour in a chiller. If the corners push through or the paper darkens where the filling touches, you need a heavier or grease-resistant stock; if the bag gapes, drop a size. Send the sandwich sizes, the paper you prefer and your artwork once that test is done.

A custom quote comes by email within one working day, and the free proof shows the bag flat with the artwork in position, so check the logo sits where the bag is not folded and any text is clear of the gusset. Production takes 4 to 7 working days after approval, free tracked delivery to UK mainland addresses follows in 2 to 3 working days, and bags that arrive misprinted or damaged are reprinted or refunded if reported within 10 days. Minimums are quoted per job. Sandwiches that need to be seen from the front suit the baguette sandwich boxes with windows.