The first significant departure from using standard bags to package dry foodstuffs occurred with the advent of stand up pouches, also known as stand up bags, Mylar® stand bags and custom printed pouches. These pouches, which are puncture and moisture resistant, provide a stable base that enables them to stand up on the shelf both in the store and at home. Constructed by laminating together multiple layers of specially formulated film, these bags protect dry food from vapor, odor and pests while guarding against spoilage at the same time.
As preferable to boxes as stand up pouches have proven to be for packaging dry food, they do not fully solve a slight shortcoming when it comes to packaging larger quantities. Specifically, the weight of the contents, especially when the pouch is full, often prevents a pouch from standing up because, while the base is stable, the sides aren't consistently stiff enough to retain their shape against the weight.
Enter flexible box bags for dry food. As the name suggests, flexible box bags are bags that are "box-like", made possible by building stand up pouches in what is essentially a box shape. How is this done? Well, stand up pouches have traditionally been made with a bottom gusset. The sides, however, were simply flat panels without structure. Flexible box bags include side gussets that create a box shape while retaining the flexibility and other benefits and characteristics of traditional stand up pouches.
These bags provide a box-like package without the need for any inner lining or additional packaging. In fact, this form of packaging requires 12% less film but can hold more volume per bag. Additionally, because each bag uses 12% less film, each bag weighs 12% less than its counterpart and, therefore, costs 12% less per unit to ship.
With side gussets, flexible box bags have 5 sides on which you can have your product info custom-printed or on which you can affix your labels. This amount of printable "real estate" should make your marketing department very happy.
Flexible box bags: The ideal stand up pouch for dry food packaging that resulted from thinking outside the box about boxes.