When choosing paper for your paper bag, there are many parameters that one needs to choose from and if chosen correctly, you&#;ll have the optimum choice of bag which also suits your pocket.
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In this case study, Sushant Gaur alludes to key considerations detailed hereafter.
The parameters to choose from are GSM, BF, COBB value, MG or MF, Brightness of paper etc.
The most misrepresented of this lot is GSM or grams per square meter, GSM is nothing but weight in grams of a 1 square meter paper. GSM is often taken as a measure of strength, where as it may be true that a non-achieving heavyweight boxer would still outlast a feather weight champion but in its own class a boxer with higher bursting factor would win! Paper used for paper bags is usually 35 GSM &#; 150 GSM. It is important to note that a hand-made paper bag manufacturer might push for a 120+ gsm product, this is because it is easier to die-cut thicker paper, however there is hardly any capacity that a high BF 100 gsm or below paper can&#;t handle.
Bursting Factor is one of the measures of strength of the paper. It represents the amount of pressure after which the paper will burst open. This is not only a good measure to know the amount of weight a bag can carry but also under how much weight the paper bag will burst open. Bursting Factor of paper used in paper bags is usually 14-40 BF, in most cases, anything above 30 BF is an overkill.
COBB value is a percentage of weight gain after the paper is submerged under water. Lower the COBB value, lesser water would it absorb and more would be the paper&#;s integrity under wetness. This is usually an ignored parameter in most purchase orders but it is an important one in a wet country like India. Wet Strength is another important parameter to note for wet usage of paper. Wet Strength is a measure of change in the strength of paper when wet versus its strength when dry. Paper Mills may add certain chemicals and raw materials to reduce the COBB value and increase the Wet Strength of the paper without a major difference in price. COBB value of 20 and below and Wet Strength of 20 and above are good for paper bags used to pack cold products which may attract condensation and moisture or slightly wet items like fruits and veggies.
MG is Machine Glazed and MF is Machine Finished, the same paper with an extra process called Glazing or calendaring. Calendaring is a simple process wherein the paper is run through rollers which smoothen out one side of it and give it a glazed look and feel. Since one side glazed paper is smooth on a microscopic level, its grammage variation, strength variation etc is less and printing quality is very high due to ink getting a smoother base. Machine Finished is a simple finish of paper which is both side rough. Other qualities of the paper would be same like GSM, BF etc but MG paper which is also more expensive than MF would have a shine on its top and MF would not.
Brightness of paper comes into play when we are using a variety of white paper. Bleached Kraft or MG Poster are common varieties of white paper used for paper bags. Brightness of paper means how much light is reflected off the paper. This parameter is not only important when sourcing printed material but the look and feel of non-printed white paper also changes drastically when brightness goes down and unless defined and locked in the purchase order, vendors might pull the old bait & switch on the customer since without this parameter, it is hard to lock the look and feel of the paper since color and shade have nothing to do with brightness. Since low brightness paper and high brightness paper have a healthy cost difference, this becomes the most important overlooked feature.
Natural-Shade paper is approx. 5%-10% cheaper than dyed paper. Those who are not looking to print may choose to order natural shade, which is grayish brown, other properties except brightness may remain same in natural shade.
A big issue faced by the paper bag market today is big companies forcing their vendors to cut costs and leading them to use paper rejected by foreign mills also called stock lot which is dumped in India for various reasons. This paper is cheaper than perfectly great quality Indian paper but has variations in every lot. These retailers use these bags to pack food items like grains, rice, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish etc. without doing any heavy metal migration tests first. They usually do these tests while placing the first order but since the stock lot material is different every day, how can one test be valid for another lot?
If sourcing is optimized using the parameters given above, sourcing costs may fall substantially and also vendors would also have stricter guidelines to stick to so that any variation in product can be reined in and the cost benefit be taken advantage of by the customer and not just the manufacturer.
Sushant Gaur, is the founder of Urja Packaging, India&#;s largest paper bag manufacturing company.
He started his career by setting a paper conversion unit in Delhi. Urja Packaging has now grown to become the leading manufacturer of Paper Pouches in India.
Urja Packaging is one of the largest Paper Bag/Lifafa/grocery bag manufacturing company in North India. Urja Packaging started operations in .
Last Updated on November 17, by Packoi Team
In the past, plastic bags were the norm. However, since people found out about the devastating effects of plastic on the environment, customers have begun to call for more paper bags to be used in stores.
As a result, business owners have started changing their packaging to use kraft or brown paper materials.
If you want to apply the same change, keep reading.
This article will educate you on what you need to consider if you want to start using paper bags instead of plastic.
Although brown paper grocery bags are commonly used, there are other materials that you can opt to use.
The material you choose will influence the strength of the paper grocery bags. After all, customers buy goods at grocery stores in different quantities. You need to use a material that&#;s strong enough to carry a few items and a full load.
Brown paper bags aren&#;t the only material that you can use to make this happen. There are 4 paper grocery bags that you can choose from.
Since this is the most common, consider using brown paper bags as your top option. This is characterized by the color of the grocery bag. It&#;s not just one shade of brown. It could be light brown or yellowish brown.
This material is made of kraft paper, a natural paper made from wood pulp that&#;s processed to look like sheets. These are then cut, folded, and glued into kraft paper bags.
Kraft paper is usually 80 to 120 grams with a high tensile force.
This paper bag is an excellent option because it&#;s reusable.
As a material, kraft paper is 100% recyclable. But before it gets sent to the recycling facility, some people use it for arts and crafts. With the right instructions, it can be transformed into something else that can be used around the house.
Apart from kraft paper, you can also use white paperboard to create your grocery bags. Brown paper bags may be the norm in grocery stores, but white paper bags can also be used.
These are processed the same way as kraft paper, but they&#;re bleached before they&#;re turned into sheets. Because of the treatments and chemicals used on it, the surface becomes smooth and firm.
This makes it feel more durable than brown-colored bags.
Not only that, but this is also reusable. It can be transformed into other useful things.
However, since the color of the bag is white, it&#;s prone to dirt and smudges. Sometimes, a dirty paper bag is thrown away instead of being reused.
A grocery bag is meant to carry both dry and wet produce. Since paper can easily get damaged by water, how can paper grocery bags be made more sturdy and durable?
This is where coating and lamination come into play. Paper bags can be coated or laminated so they cover the surface. This will protect it from being destroyed by moisture or water leaks.
It&#;s also why laminated paper bags are perfect for food orders. Customers won&#;t have to worry that the bag will break while they carry food items or wet produce.
Of course, it won&#;t protect the bag from being destroyed when submerged in water. But it&#;s good enough to carry frozen items.
This is a type of paper that&#;s gaining popularity lately because it&#;s a sustainable option. Brown paper bags are considered to be eco-friendly. Even the new paper bags have that reputation.
However, business owners can make a greater environmental impact by opting for recycled paper bags.
There are packaging companies that sell grocery bags made of recycled paper. When a paper bag is reusable and recyclable, it&#;ll help solve the environment&#;s problem with packaging waste.
Using this material can also improve the reputation of your business. People will come to know you as a sustainable company, and the odds that they&#;ll stay loyal to you will be greater because of it.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of paper pouch suppliers. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
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The paper material of a grocery bag is the most important decision that you have to make. For some, the cost of paper is the determining factor in choosing the right material for paper bags.
But that&#;s not all. There are also technical considerations that&#;ll help you create the right grocery bag for your business.
For instance, standard brown paper bags that are used to carry lunch have specifications of 5 1/8&#; x 3 1/8&#; x 10 5/8&#; (length x width x height). But paper grocery bags are bigger because it has to carry a heavier load. Its specifications are 12&#; x 7&#; x 17&#; (width x depth x height) and it can carry 75 pounds of items.
This is only one example of what you need to look into. Here are the others that you have to pay attention to so you can choose their material from a wide selection.
As mentioned, grocery paper bags have to carry a heavier load. Since customers buy different quantities at a time, you need to consider different paper bag capacities.
That means creating paper bags in various sizes.
There are a couple of things to consider there.
First, you must realize that the size of products doesn&#;t dictate their weight. A big paper bag full of chips won&#;t be as heavy as one half-filled with six cans of peas.
Also, consider the typical weight of products that people carry from groceries. The bag should carry the weight and not break.
What does this mean? Make sure you consider the size and weight capacity of the paper bag.
The gusset is the fold that&#;s found on the side of paper bags. This gives the grocery bag a greater capacity to hold products.
If you have found thick enough paper that can carry heavier loads, you can make the gusset bigger so the paper bags can stretch further.
But if it&#;s a thinner material, you can make the gusset smaller, so people will be forced to put fewer items inside.
The bottom of paper bags also affects the capacity that they can carry. There are two types of bottom folds that brown paper grocery bags use.
The first is the flat-bottom bag. In this case, the bottom fold follows the size of the gusset. So if the gusset is 7&#; when fully stretched, the bottom fold would be the same.
The second is the pinched-bottom bag. It has pointed bottoms that are folded and sealed. These are great for carrying flat items like cards or small products like candies, etc. Paper bags using this bottom fold may or may not have a gusset.
Another thing that you have to consider is the GSM or grams per square meter, of paper bags. This refers to the weight of 1 square meter of paper in grams.
The standard for paper bags is between 35 and 150 GSM. Ideally, the greater the GSM, the thicker the paper, and the greater the weight that a grocery bag can carry. It&#;ll be more costly, but you&#;ll find that a lot of manufacturers prefer the thicker paper because it&#;s easier to die-cut.
The bursting factor of paper bags measures the material&#;s strength against pressure before it bursts open. This helps identify how durable bags are. It&#;ll also help business owners determine how many items customers can cram into the bag before it breaks open.
The BF is typically 14 to 40 BF. But bags with less than 30 BF are acceptable.
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This is the most ignored measurement for paper bags. But in grocery bags, it should be given more importance since it carries
This measures the weight that the material will gain if the paper bags are submerged in water. If the COBB value is lower, the paper bags won&#;t absorb as much water.
MG is machine-glazed, while MF is machine-finished. This involves a process that puts the paper through rollers so one side is smoother with a glazed look. This is great for paper bags that have prints on them.
MG will give paper bags a shiny surface, while MF won&#;t.
Creating grocery paper bags starts with your choice of material. Do you want brown paper bags? Or do you want recycled kraft paper bags?
The choice is up to you. But before you make a decision, get to know your options first.
If you want more information about paper-based packaging, Packoi Printing has got a wide selection of designs and samples for you to choose from.
Give us a call so we can talk about it. We&#;ll get back to you with a fair quote as soon as possible.
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