Some smaller brands don't want to switch from bottles to standup pouches because of the higher MOQs from the pouch suppliers. It's true the pouch suppliers generally want you to order at least 2500+ per design/SKU to give you a competitive price. Their machine and software changeovers are labor intensive so thats why they are forcing higher minimums, even when they print on digital press.

Smaller and medium-sized brands may not want order this many pouches while they're just testing the market or still getting the product messaging down. I completely understand this. But there's a workaround that can work in some instances: you can use a generic pouch with a changeable sticker for different flavors.

Atomic Coffee Roasters uses a simple black and white motif and simply puts a stylish sticker designating the flavor difference for all their SKUs. This allows them to purchase just a black and a white pre-printed pouch and use them across the board, lowering their up-front costs and inventory requirements.

This single-ingredient cocoa also presents a nice format: use a customized pre-printed backing pouch and affix a premium-looking label to distinguish the individual SKUs against one-another.

Is this as nice as an full bleed printed pouch? No, but it provides versatility and modularity for newly launched products or startups.

I hope this presents a creative way to look at pouches if you're at first stymied by the higher MOQs compared to labels: use a nice preprinted backing pouch and affix a creative label on top! We're not yet really seeing this creative approach in the supplement/nutraceutical space, even though it's used in other CPG categories.

About the Author

Greg Simek is the founder & CEO of Body Nutrition, a nutritional supplement manufacturer and copacker. He loves tradeshows more than anything else on the planet obviously.