Custom Stand Up Pouches

Stand-up pouches — or doypacks, as they’re sometimes called are a flexible packaging format that quite literally stands up for itself. Thanks to a gusseted base, the pouch expands as it’s filled, allowing it to sit upright without support. This makes it ideal for retail shelves, ecommerce shipments and cupboard storage.

There’s nothing complex about why brands like them: they look sharp on shelf, they’re lightweight, and they don’t break in transit. They can hold dry goods, liquids, powders, and everything in between. Most importantly, they’re customisable — size, structure, closure, print and finish — so the pouch becomes part of the brand experience. If you’re new to this format and want a no-fluff explanation, here's our guide on doypacks.

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It largely depends on your products however most pouches are made from laminated films. Traditionally a stand up pouch would be made of mutiple layers of plastic such PET, PE, PA or PP, sometimes with a foil or barrier layer with specific protective or functional properties: one provides print quality, another blocks moisture and oxygen, and an internal food safe contact layer that is heat sealable. We are now offering PE mono-material pouches which are designed for recyclablility.

If you're packaging something sensitive like supplements or oils, you may require a high barrier pouch. If sustainability is your priority, a mono-material laminate might be the way to go. Check our our blog on improving the recyclability of pouches or feel free to get in touch to learn more.

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Most brands choose between digital and gravure printing methods. Digital printing is fast, flexible and requires no plates or set up costs, it's great for multiple designs, smaller print runs or frequent artwork changes. Gravure is better for large volumes where consistency and colour control such as using complex gradients matter more, and it is very cost effective on bulk quantities. Generally speaking it's really difficult to tell the difference between the two unless you put them side by side, however we will always discuss the best option for your packaging project. Check our our pouch printing blog for a more detailed explanation.

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Most pouches are sealed with heat. The inner layer (usually polyethylene) softens under pressure, bonding to itself and forming a tight seal. You can use a simple impulse sealer for short runs or a band sealer for higher volumes. We also over peel and seal options for specific applications.

The material structure of your pouch can sometimes requires narrower sealing windows which mean you’ll want to refine the time and temperature carefully. If your seals fail, it’s usually due to poor heat contact, dust or moisture in the sealing area or the wrong pressure settings. If you have any questions surrounding this please speak to one of our packaging specialists.

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Simply put, they are a lightweight and resource-efficient packaging format. They use less material than many alternatives, reduce transportation weight and take up minimum space in shipping due to their excellent product/packaging ratio. All of that reduces emissions across the supply chain which is supported by mutiple life cycle analysis studies. Even without being recyclable, a pouch still performs better than a glass jar or aluminium can on most environmental metrics.

If your interested in finding more about what we are doing to improve the recyclability of pouches we'd love to discuss this with you.

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