Material
Kraft Paper Pouches
Kraft is an unbleached paper outer laminated to an inner barrier film. The paper carries the print and the tactile, slightly fibrous finish people associate with small-batch food; the liner does the actual work of keeping oxygen and moisture out. You are specifying two things at once, and the liner is what determines shelf life.
Print behaves differently on kraft than on film. The brown base shifts every colour warmer and knocks back brightness, so pale tints and pure whites do not hold — white has to be laid down as an opaque underprint if you need it. Bold single-colour marks, line work and heavy type all reproduce well. If your brand depends on an exact Pantone match, ask us for a printed sample before you commit to a full run.
- Oxygen barrier
- Good with a metallised liner, moderate with clear PE
- Moisture barrier
- Good — the liner handles it, not the paper
- Light barrier
- High with metallised liner
- Recyclability
- Paper-stream recyclable when specified with a recyclable liner
- Finish
- Natural matte, visible fibre, warm brown base
Best for
- Brands where a natural, small-batch look is part of the pitch
- Coffee, tea, granola and dried goods
- Ranges printed in one or two bold colours
- Buyers who need a credible recyclability story
Pouch formats in this material
Who uses this material
Kraft Paper Pouches — common questions
- Are kraft pouches actually recyclable?
- Only if the inner liner is specified as recyclable. A standard kraft pouch with a metallised liner is a mixed-material laminate and is not paper-stream recyclable. Ask for a recyclable structure explicitly and we will quote it, along with the shelf-life trade-off.
- Can I print white on kraft?
- Yes, but it needs an opaque white underprint laid down first, which adds a pass. Without it, white artwork simply shows the brown paper through. Budget for the extra pass if white is load-bearing in your design.
- Does kraft protect the product as well as foil?
- The paper itself provides almost no barrier. Performance comes entirely from the liner, so a kraft pouch with a metallised liner performs close to a foil pouch, while kraft with a clear PE liner gives noticeably shorter shelf life.
- Will the kraft colour vary between orders?
- Slightly, yes. Unbleached paper is a natural substrate and base tone drifts a little between mill batches. It is not usually noticeable unless two runs sit side by side.