In food packaging the constraint is chemistry, not aesthetics
Every other category can be decided on looks and cost. Food cannot. The material, the ink and the seal all have to be chosen against what the food does to them — and against the regulation of the market the product is sold into.
The four things that decide a food pack
Migration
Substances moving from the packaging into the food. Governed in the EU by plastics-in-contact rules and in the US by the food-contact notification system. The compliance document comes from the material supplier, per grade — which is why the grade has to be named before the design is fixed, not after.
Barrier
Moisture and oxygen transmission. A biscuit and a loose-leaf tea need different barriers; the same PET gauge will not serve both. This is a material question, not a printing question.
Tamper evidence
Whether the pack shows it has been opened. A sealed blister or a tear strip makes the failure visible before the product is consumed.
Ink system
Printing on the outside of a food pack is not automatically low-risk. For packs where the printed surface sits close to the food, or where the board is the inner face, the ink has to be specified for that.
Formats we produce for food
| Window box | Tea, coffee, confectionery, bakery. PET window patched inside the carton so the product is visible without a cut-out edge. |
|---|---|
| Sealed blister tray | Chocolates, pralines, single-serve portions. Thermoformed cavity holding each piece separately. |
| Cylinder box | Candy, sip lids, powdered drinks. Full-wrap print on the circumference. |
| Tamper-evident blister | Where the seal is the guarantee: the card and the cavity are joined so that opening is irreversible and visible. |
| Paper box | Sleeves and folding cartons in kraft, SBS or corrugated, for dry goods that do not need a barrier. |
What we need from you before quoting a food pack
- The destination market. EU and US food-contact rules are different frameworks; a pack compliant for one is not automatically compliant for the other.
- Whether the packaging touches the food directly or only the primary pack. This single answer changes the material grade and the paperwork.
- Storage and shelf life. A pack that holds for three months and one that holds for eighteen are not the same specification.
Two honest limits: we do not issue the declaration of compliance ourselves — it comes from the material supplier for the specific grade, and we will tell you which grade to request it for. And recycled content, including certified recycled PET, is not automatically suitable for direct food contact; it depends on the grade and its approvals, which is a conversation to have before, not after, the artwork is approved.
Tell us the market and the food
Those two facts narrow the material and the format more than any mood board will.