What is a Stand Up Pouch?
Stand up pouches come in different styles, colours, have different features and can be made from different materials. But if it holds a product and stands up on its own thanks to the gusset at the bottom, then it’s a stand up pouch.
Sometimes they’re called “Doypacks” after their inventor Louis Doyen in 1962, but It’s also not uncommon to see them abbreviated to SUP or simply called “pouches”. We’ll write a separate blog soon to clear up some of the multiple different names and terms that are used for the same thing, but whatever name you choose, pouches are trusted as the primary packaging for a wide variety of different items:
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- Coffee & Tea
- Pet Food / Treats
- Sweets & Chocolate
- Vitamins, supplements and superfoods
- Nuts & Fruits
- Sauces, stocks and seasoning
- Food of all kinds really!
- Cosmetics
- Cables and accessories
Why should I care?
For producers almost any product, the benefits of flexible packing over rigid packaging become undeniable when it comes to transporting their products. Here are some of the advantages over rigid packaging:
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- Uses less material in the first place
- Less material = less energy
- Lighter, smaller and easier to transport
- Uses less fuel, generating less CO2
- Protects the product for longer
One example is a truck full of jelly beans packed in glass jars (rigid packaging) contains 50% packaging, whereas a truck carrying the same amount of jelly beans packed in pouches (flexible packaging) contains only 6% packaging. It would take 8 trucks full of jars to match 1 truck of pouches, which is a huge saving in time, cost, energy and carbon footprint.
Although pouches aren’t just for producers who send trucks full of product, even the smallest of brands and producers can reap the benefits. That’s because pouches are super convenient on many levels for both the producer and consumer:
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- Easy to buy without any expertise needed
- Simple to fill, with no expensive machinery needed
- Heat-sealed for airtight and tamper proof seal
- Easy for consumer to store in cupboard, car or bag
- Resealable zipper to keep product fresh and protected after first opening
Today over 40 billion stand up pouches are used each year, by famous worldwide brands and tiny start-ups that we might not know yet. Pouches are one thing that producers at opposite ends of the ladder share, so they must be pretty good!
Maybe pouches one thing that absolutely everyone can agree on 😊
