Custom Spouted Pouches

Film Structures for Different Products

Spouted pouches are made from layers of film laminated together. The outer layer carries the print, the middle layer provides a barrier against oxygen and moisture, and the inner layer is the sealing surface that touches the product. Choosing the right structure depends on your product and how it is filled and stored.

A clear structure lets the product show and suits colourful drinks or soaps. Metallised or foil structures give a stronger barrier and a longer shelf life for products sensitive to light and air. Products filled hot or heat treated after filling need a structure made to handle those temperatures, so tell us your filling and storage process when you request a custom quote. If the pouch will hold food or drink, we can specify a food-contact grade inner layer on request. Products sterilised after filling move to our retort pouches for heat treatment.

Sizing Custom Spouted Pouches

Pouch size starts from the fill volume. Small pouches of around 90 to 120 ml suit baby purée and snack portions. Mid-size pouches of 200 to 300 ml suit smoothies, drinks and sauces. Large pouches of 500 ml up to a litre or more suit refills of soap, detergent and cooking sauces.

Width and height should allow the pouch to stand on its bottom gusset when full, with some headspace above the product so the spout area seals cleanly. If you already fill a competitor's pouch size, send a sample and we can match it, which makes switching to your own printed pouches straightforward on an existing filling line.

Shelf presentation affects size choices too. Retailers often display pouches standing in a tray or hanging from a rail, so check if your stockists need a hang hole above the spout or a pouch that fits a particular shelf height. Making the pouch slightly taller and narrower can help it get noticed in a row without changing the volume inside. Our guide on how to measure fill volume for a pouch explains headspace.

Print and Design on Flexible Film

Flexible film prints full colour with sharp detail. Fruit and vegetable photography, bright patterns and bold flavour colours work particularly well. Matt and gloss finishes can be combined on one pouch, for example a matt background with a glossy fruit image, to add depth.

Remember that the pouch bulges when filled, so the edges of the front panel curve away. Keep key text and logos in the centre area and away from the seals. Leave a plain area for batch codes and best before dates. If you have several flavours, one layout with a change of colour and illustration for each flavour keeps the range consistent.

The back panel works hardest for information: ingredients, allergens, nutrition, storage advice and a barcode all need space, and for children's products an age guide is often expected too. You can see matt and gloss film finishes compared in our finish guide.

Products and Buyers

Baby and toddler food brands are the best known users of spouted pouches, followed by smoothie and juice makers, sports nutrition gels, yoghurt and dessert brands, sauce and condiment makers, and coffee concentrate brands. Household brands use larger spouted pouches for refills of hand soap, washing up liquid and laundry liquid. Pet food brands use them for wet treats and supplements.

Many of these buyers fill on their own premises with a manual or semi-automatic filler. Tell us how you fill and cap, and we will supply the pouches in a format that suits.

Start-up brands testing a new recipe often order a modest first run of one or two flavours, sell through it at markets or online, and then expand the range once they know which flavours sell. Because minimums are quoted per job, that kind of gradual growth is easy to plan. Drinks for children are often sold in shaped pouches for drinks with the same spout.

Tell Us How Thick the Product Is and How It Is Filled

Two details decide a spouted pouch more than any others: the consistency of what goes in and the way it is filled. A thin juice pours through a standard spout; a smoothie or purée needs a wider one; a hot-filled or heat-treated product needs a film structure made for those temperatures. Tell us the fill volume, the cap type you want and whether the spout sits in the centre or a corner, then send a sample pouch if you are switching from another supplier so the size matches your filling line. Keep logos in the middle of the panel, away from the edges that curve when the pouch is full, and for a fruit-shaped drinks pack look at our shaped pouches with a welded spout.

Send the product, volume, spout position, cap and artwork, and a custom quote comes by email within one working day. The free proof shows the pouch shape, spout position and print layout. Production takes 4 to 7 working days after approval, pouches arrive by tracked courier to UK mainland addresses, and leaking, misprinted or damaged pouches reported within 10 days are reprinted or refunded.