Packaging & Printing

Sourcing & Export Support for Packaging & Printing

Custom packaging is arguably the single highest-leverage spend in your entire sourcing process: the packaging is what the customer, the marketplace inspector, and the customs agent all see first. The three most common failures are: (1) the factory cuts corners on board grade (swaps 350 gsm CCNB for 300 gsm, or double-wall E flute for single-wall B flute) so the box collapses in a 1.2 m drop test, (2) the Pantone colour on the carton looks nothing like your dieline because the printer ran the job on an uncalibrated offset press and refused to send you a printed proof before the run, and (3) the barcodes don't scan because the quiet-zone was too narrow (or the ink spread during drying) — so the first Amazon FBA inbound rejects every unit in the container. We run a 5-step packaging workflow: structural dieline sign-off, press-OK or printed wet proof, board grade + coating specification sign-off, DDA (die-cut/draw/assemble) sample of 3 cartons with your real product inside to test fit + drop, then pre-production / first-off press sheet approval with 100% barcode-scan check before the full sheetfed or flexo run starts.

What We Source

All standard retail, industrial, and promotional packaging sub-categories, plus print and finishing (labels, stickers, manuals, catalogues, POP/POS displays).

• Boxes & inserts — FEFCO corrugated shipping boxes (RSC, HSC, full overlap, telescope, mailer, die-cut), retail folding cartons (reverse tuck, straight tuck, tuck top auto bottom, 4/6 corner, tray and lid, lock-bottom), rigid set-up boxes (magnetic lid, book-style, base-and-lid, clamshell, shoulder-neck), blister packs (face seal, trapped blister, clamshell), EVA/EPE foam inserts, paper pulp moulded inserts, cardboard die-cut inserts, corrugated partitions, honeycomb panels, paper corner protectors.
• Labels & stickers — pressure-sensitive paper labels, BOPP/CPP vinyl labels, PE/PET squeeze/container labels, shrink sleeve labels (PET/PVC OPS), cut-and-stack wrap-around labels, thermal-transfer/DT thermal labels, in-mould labels (IML) for injection-moulded containers, tamper-evident VOID/security labels, holographic anti-counterfeit labels, food-contact meat/poultry/retail labels.
• Manuals & cards — saddle-stitch user manuals, perfect-bound instruction books, multi-page folded leaflets, A1/A2/A3/A4 wall posters, product warranty & guarantee cards, hang tags (paper, Tyvek, synthetic), barcode/serialised/UPC/EAN/GTIN labels and price tickets with sequential numbering, QR-code cards with serial/tracking, return/refund policy inserts, Thank-you brand postcards.
• Retail-ready packaging & POS displays — shelf-ready packaging (SRP / RRP) per supermarket specs (Tesco, Walmart, Carrefour, Noon), counter-top display units (CTU/ CDU), floor-standing display stands (FSDU), dump bins, side-kick/wing/power-wing displays, pallet display shippers, and branded gift box assortments.

Standard Specifications & Packaging

Packaging specs are written so that every detail that can be quantified is quantified in the PO technical annex, not just described as "looks like sample" because two different press operators will interpret "looks like sample" very differently.

• Structural & materials — dieline (CAD/PDF, 1:1 scale, bleed, die-crease marks, fold lines, glue-tab widths) approved; board grade specified explicitly (not "corrugated"): kraft test-liner grammage, medium (flute: A/C/B/E/F), ECT/Edge Crush Test (kN/m), Mullen Burst (psi / kPa), moisture content, SBS/SUS/CCNB/Grey-board grammage (250, 300, 350, 400, 450 gsm), EVA/EPE foam density (20/25/28/32/38 kg/m³) and hardness shore-A/C specified, paper-pulp moulded insert thickness and grammage, corner protector (L/U-profile) and thickness/moisture.
• Printing & coating — printing process (sheetfed offset, digital, flexo, gravure, screen); colours (1/0, 4/0 CMYK, 4+1 CMYK+PMS spot, 6/0 HiFi, process); Pantone Coated/Uncoated exact spot reference with colour matching report; proof type (digital proof / press-ready OK sheet / wet proof / Epson proof); coating (aqueous matte/satin/gloss, UV spot/holographic/soft-touch lamination; BOPP film lamination gloss/matte/silk 20/25/30 micron); varnish, emboss/deboss, hot foil stamping (gold/silver/rose gold/Pantone), die-cut, round/SKF corners, tear strip/perforation, scuff-resistant coating for retail-ready boxes.
• Barcodes, serialisation & marking — UPC/EAN/GTIN-12/13 with 8–10 mm quiet-zone left/right/top/bottom and X-dimension (module width) per GS1 General Specifications; 100% barcode ANSI/ISO grade verification on pre-production sheet; QR-code with error-correction level Q or M; consecutive serial numbers and variable data or batch/lot markings via inkjet or laser.
• Adhesives, food contact, & ink standards — water-based or hot-melt adhesive specified; food-direct / food-contact or indirect food-contact coatings, inks and adhesives for food packaging (FDA 21 CFR 175.300, EU 10/2011, Swiss Ordinance 817.023.21, GB 4806.1/7); soy or vegetable-based inks; REACH SVHC, phthalate-free, APEO-free / NPE-free inks and coatings.
• Packing / container load — carton quantities, per-pallet pattern (column / brick, stretch-wrap, edge protectors, stretch-film gauge and wrapping count), standard pallet size (EUR 800×1200, GMA 40×48, 1,000×1,200, UAE 1,100×1,100, etc.) agreed; moisture indicator cards or desiccant sachets added where humidity-sensitive boards / food packaging (high temperature + high humidity ocean crossing).

Compliance & Export Documentation

Packaging and printing compliance is usually about (a) food-contact migration, (b) heavy metals in packaging inks/board, (c) EU/US/CA plastic/bag and packaging-recycling laws with marking and EPR registration requirements, and (d) country-specific labelling (Arabic bilingual / SASO / SFDA Arabic). We include each market-specific requirement in the PO annex before the job is printed.

• Factory-side verification — actual BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 6 or ISEGA / ISO 22000 / HACCP / FSSC 22000 audit status verified on-site where the packaging touches food or pharmaceutical products, not a showroom copy. Printing presses calibrated, colour-managed (ISO 12647-2), die-cutter and die plates matched to dieline files on shared drive for revision control.
• Standard export set — Commercial invoice, packing list (per SKU count, carton qty, pallet count), CCPIT Certificate of Origin, food-grade ink / coating / adhesive declaration where food-contact packaging is sold, MSDS for ink/coating/adhesive/foam where requested by importer, and barcode verification report (ANSI/ISO grade) on request.
• Food contact packaging — EU Framework 1935/2004, specific (plastic 10/2011, paper/cardboard EN 643/cellulose, coating GMP (EC) No 2023/2006, printing inks on food contact AP (2002) 1, Swiss Ordinance for food contact materials, US FDA 21 CFR 175/176/177/178, GB 4806 China. Bisphenol-A (BPA) / BADGE declarations for can coatings.
• Heavy metals & toxic substances — EU Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC heavy metals ≤100 ppm (Cd+Hg+Pb+Cr VI), US Toxics in Packaging Prevention Act (CONEG-style) ≤100 ppm four heavy metals total, California Prop 65 warning where applicable, RoHS for printed electronics packaging.
• Plastic packaging & EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) — EU SUP Directive (Single-Use Plastics) marking requirements (plastic forks, cutlery, straws, food containers) with EU 2019/904 markings; EPR registration number (France CITEO / Triman, Germany LUCID/VerpackG, Spain Ecoembes, Italy CONAI, UK Packaging Waste / EPR, Canada Ontario Blue Box / Quebec) printed on packaging where your marketplace or retailer requires it.
• GCC / Middle East / LATAM — Arabic bilingual label (country of origin, importer CR, ingredient list / SKU data, SABER/SASO where packaging contains a regulated item itself), SFDA marking on Saudi-destined food packaging, Brazil INMETRO / Mercosur packaging markings as applicable, Mexican NOM mark on regulated packaging contents where NOM applies.

Order Structure

• MOQ: typically 500–1,000 pcs digital short-run; 3,000–10,000 pcs sheetfed offset folding cartons per SKU; 10,000–50,000 pcs per SKU for flexo corrugated shipping box; 50,000 pcs MOQ for gravure shrink sleeves or IML labels (cylinder set-up NRE); 500/1,000 pcs MOQ on custom rigid gift boxes (magnetic / book style).
• Custom tooling / plates: NRE charged for every new dieline / steel-rule cutting die / offset plate / flexo plate / gravure cylinder / hot foil die; plates stored at factory for re-orders and re-run with revision control so your 2nd run isn't a different Pantone colour.
• Lead times: 3–7 days (digital sample / dieline sample / DDA assembled sample); 7–14 days (short-run digital 500–5,000 pcs); 15–25 days (offset / flexo cartons, full production with proofs); 30–45 days gravure shrink sleeve / IML label / rigid set-up box with insert foam tooling.
• Payment: 40–50% deposit upon dieline + press-proof + NRE sign-off; 50–60% balance upon final inspection (board/flake testing, colour press sheet sign-off, barcode grade A/B verification on 100% inspected run, sample pack assembled with real product + drop test report + container-seal photos).
• Pre-shipment inspection: AQL 2.5/4.0 general, plus specific checks — board grammage (caliper + scale on sample), Pantone spot reference + ΔE (CIE Lab ≤2.0 on critical colour), barcode scan verification on every SKU (we scan with GS1 spec-verified handheld — grade B minimum, grade A target), food-contact migration and heavy-metal test-report batch number match to actual run, and random 1.2 m ISTA-1A drop test on every 3rd pallet to ensure your product actually makes it to your customer in the packaging you approved.

Who This Is For

Brand-owning consumer-goods importers with high-stakes retail or marketplace/FBA packaging requirements, supermarket and category buyers with shelf-ready / RRP packaging specifications, cosmetics and food brands with strict food-contact or recycling/EPR marking rules, and packaging distributors who need repeatable, revision-controlled, calibrated-press, barcode-perfect runs every quarter — not a cheapest-quote printer who changes board grade on the third re-order and hopes nobody notices a 30% drop-test failure.