New Food Product Packaging Brief: From Recipe to First Order

Before requesting packaging for a new food product, prepare one brief that your product, purchasing and production teams can use. Record the recipe risks, filling process, storage conditions and order requirements. This gives suppliers a common basis for proposing two or three structures and explaining the price differences.

This checklist takes a new product from the first enquiry through sample approval. For a detailed discussion of film performance and cold-chain requirements, use the food and frozen-food material guide.

Start the brief with the product

Describe whether the contents are solid, powdered or liquid, then record the fat and moisture characteristics. Oxygen exposure can cause nuts, jerky, coffee and meat snacks to lose freshness. Biscuits, crisps and puffed snacks need protection from moisture to retain their texture. Bones, sharp edges and hard pieces add puncture risks, especially under vacuum.

Add the target shelf life, sales countries and distribution channel. Note whether the product will sell within weeks, remain on a shelf for months or spend weeks in export transport. Supermarket packs need an appropriate display format and shape retention; parcel shipments add drops, compression and stacking. Heat and humidity during export also belong in the brief.

A competitor's pack can be a useful reference when the recipe, shelf life and distribution route are similar. Identify those similarities explicitly. A higher-oil recipe or a move from chilled retail to online distribution changes the packaging requirements. Evaluate the reference structure with your own food before committing to a full order.

Record the process before discussing film

• State whether filling uses finished pouches or rollstock formed on an FFS line. Include the machine model for rollstock.

• List ambient, chilled or frozen storage, together with any vacuum packing.

• For pasteurisation, boiling or retorting, provide the actual temperature and pressure cycle. Around 121 °C is common for retorting, but the specified cycle determines the required films, inks, adhesives and sealant.

• Identify cold handling and sharp contents. Nylon laminates are common starting points where puncture resistance matters; frozen products also need suitable low-temperature toughness.

A snack laminate and a retort laminate serve different processes. Use the retort troubleshooting guide when reviewing heat-process risks, or the frozen vegetable packaging notes for that application.

Attach a material shortlist to the brief

Ask for a proposed structure, total thickness and the reason for each option. The following table provides starting points for that discussion; sampling and filled-product trials establish the final specification.

Specify the construction behind the material name. HUAYN's standard PET and VMPET layers are 12 μm each, with the PE sealant making up the remainder. The four-design shampoo sachet project, for example, used PET/VMPET/PE at 80 μm total thickness. That example is a production reference, not a food-product specification.

Record transparency and finish as separate requirements. Foil is opaque, so a clear window needs another construction. A PET outer film gives a gloss surface; a matte BOPP outer can change a foil structure to BOPP/AL/PE. Foil, metallised film and white bases also produce different print colour results. Allow for another colour approval when changing the substrate.

Define the bag and the quantity together

Choose a format from the bag type overview: stand-up pouches for snacks and treats, flat-bottom bags for coffee and larger dry packs, three-side-seal bags for vacuum or portion packs, or printed rollstock for an FFS line. Add finished dimensions and fill weight, or provide a physical reference sample.

List each opening feature: zipper, tear notch, hanging hole or coffee degassing valve. Include gloss or matte finish, number of artwork designs and quantity per design. HUAYN normally starts gravure orders at one 6,000-metre roll of printed film. Finished bag counts follow from bag length and the number of lanes across the web, so a smaller bag usually produces more pieces from the same roll.

Make the quotations comparable

Keep the dimensions, thickness, material structure, gussets and closures identical in each quotation request. Film weight is a major part of the price: with the same area and material mix, increasing thickness from 80 to 120 μm uses 50% more film. Gussets add film area, and wider zippers add closure length. Foil laminates also cost more per kilogram than metallised alternatives.

Itemise the bag price, cylinders, freight and taxes. Each gravure colour uses an engraved cylinder; the cylinders can be reused for repeat orders with unchanged artwork. Send AI, PDF, PSD or CDR files if available, and note any work required from design and prepress. The gravure cylinder service and packaging cost checklist explain the separate cost items.

For an initial market test or a short selling period, a basic structure may meet the brief. Long shelf life, high-fat contents and premium positioning may justify higher barrier, foil, a matte finish or a different format. Compare the least costly structures that pass the agreed tests. Changing materials after launch can add sampling and testing costs and leave unused packaging stock.

Agree the approval work before the first order

Put the test methods and acceptance criteria in writing. Build the sample plan around real food, the actual packing line and the intended transport and storage conditions.

• Compare oxygen transmission (OTR) and moisture transmission (WVTR) at the same test method, temperature and humidity.

• Check side and bottom seals, along with the zipper or spout area where applicable.

• Test drops and carton compression under the expected warehouse and parcel conditions.

• Run pouches or rollstock at production speed, establishing sealing temperature and dwell time for the selected structure.

• Keep filled samples in the intended storage conditions and inspect taste, texture and the package at agreed intervals. Barrier figures help shortlist films; storage trials establish product shelf life.

• Put filled packs through the real retort, pasteurisation or freezing cycle when relevant.

For EU or US sales, specify the applicable food-contact and chemical requirements early. The PFAS-free packaging notes and regulatory discussion in the pet food packaging guide provide related background. Use the slitting and pouch-making defect guide to investigate sample problems.

The SEOUL FOOD 2026 packaging inquiry guide also lists the pack, artwork and delivery details to prepare for an enquiry.

Send one brief with the open questions marked

Your enquiry should include the product and recipe risks; process and storage conditions; shelf life and sales markets; format, dimensions and fill weight; closures and finish; artwork; and quantity by design. For rollstock, include the filling machine. Mark undecided specifications so the team can propose alternatives.

Build this information in the packaging configurator, adding shelf life and target markets in the notes. Material selection, artwork and sample approval all affect the project schedule. The shampoo sachet project took 11 working days from revised specification to dispatch; a new food launch can require additional time for sampling and storage trials.

Send the completed brief to hello@hhuayn.com. HUAYN coordinates packaging design, gravure cylinders and printing against the agreed specification.