OK, let's pretend you don't care about helping the environment and all that tree hugger stuff.  You've got a great food product that needs packaging and you want people to see it, look at it, and ultimately buy it.  What kind of packaging are you going to use?  For the sake of this post, let's look at printed corrugated boxes and printed stand up bags. 

Printed corrugated cartons are made with different layers of paper.  The type of paper and the number of layers of paper affect the strength of the carton.  In order to print a box, a sheet of corrugated is surface printed, meaning the ink is applied directly to the top layer of paper, it dries then it's made into a box.  There are other ways but for sake of argument this is one of the main ways.  Here is a good example of a carton printed 3-4 colors

Nothing fancy, you can certainly see the different colors but where is the WOW factor, where is the "I've Got To Pick Up And Look At This Product?"  Is this cheap?  Probably...does this make you excited to show friends and family your new product on a store shelf?

I can hear all the naysayers right now, "I've seen fancier cartons than he is showing us."  True, like the carton below, but do you realize this is a printed liner that is actually glued to the carton?  This lamination drastically affects if the carton can be recycled at all due to the glue and paper involved.

Is this type of printed carton expensive?  Absolutely?  Can a small to medium size company trying to get on a store shelf at Whole Foods afford this type of packaging?  I doubt it.  This carton is $.50 to $.75 cents each easily with a HUGE minimum run of 25,000 or more.

Then there is the custom printed stand up pouch.  Strong, durable, puncture resistant with the ability to stand effectively on a store shelf with plenty of room on the front and back to describe your product and tell the world why it's so great.  Price for something like this?  $.15 to $20 cents with a minimum run of 5000 pieces.

I've got to believe you'd be proud to show your friends and family your new packaging if using a printed stand bag.  The printing is Rotogravure, meaning it is the bold, dynamic and photographic quality you'd want plus the actual printing is on one of the inner layers of film, meaning it is sandwiched between other layers so it cannot be scratched or marred off in any way.  Want to learn more?  Stand up pouches are within your reach.  They'll protect your product and help you sell more of it as well.