How to Choose the Right Packaging for Your Business?
Packaging is not just a box, film, or bag. It protects the product during manufacturing, storage, and transportation. It helps organize logistics, maintain food quality, and present the product to the customer.
Therefore, properly chosen packaging fulfills several tasks at once: protects + preserves + transports + presents + helps optimize costs
Film, cardboard, bags, food packaging, and other solutions: how to protect the product, optimize costs, and choose the right material
Packaging is not just a box, film, or bag.
It protects the product during production, storage, and transportation. It helps organize logistics, preserve food quality, and present the product to the customer.
Sometimes, the packaging is the very first thing a customer sees upon receiving the goods.
Therefore, properly chosen packaging fulfills several tasks at once:
protects + preserves + transports + presents + helps optimize costs
And each of these tasks may require a different material. That is why choosing packaging shouldn't start solely with the question:
Which option is the cheapest?
It is far more important to understand:
What are we packing, what does the product need to be protected from, how will it be transported, and what requirements must the packaging meet?
One word "packaging", hundreds of different solutions
Companies use a wide variety of packaging types. These can include:
This list could go on. However, making the right choice does not mean a company should buy as many different types of packaging as possible. The goal is to select the right material for the specific task.
Pallet stretch film: stability during transit
Stretch or pallet film is one of the most common materials used in warehousing and logistics.
Its task is to stabilize the load on a pallet, protecting it from dust, moisture, and shifting during transit.
However, not all pallet stretch films are the same. Key factors to consider:
- film thickness;
- elasticity;
- stretch capacity;
- tear resistance;
- roll width;
- roll weight;
- manual or machine application.
Film thickness is often expressed in microns or µm. However, more microns do not automatically mean a better solution.
A modern and high-quality material can, in certain applications, provide the required load stability while using less material.
Therefore, you should evaluate not just the price per roll, but also how many pallets can be safely wrapped with that specific film.
FERAX recommends
When comparing pallet stretch films, don't just compare the roll price and weight. The key question is: how much does it cost to safely wrap one pallet? This indicator reflects the real packaging costs much better.
Bubble wrap and protective materials
An outer box is not enough for every product. Fragile, sensitive, or easily scratchable products require extra protection.
Bubble wrap helps absorb impacts and keep products separated from one another. It can be useful in:
- ✓e-commerce;
- ✓warehouses;
- ✓furniture and home décor delivery;
- ✓electronics packaging;
- ✓spare parts transport;
- ✓shipping fragile goods.
Proper protection may cost a few cents. Returning a damaged product can cost tens or hundreds of times more.
That is why savings on packaging should always be weighed against the risk of product damage.
Corrugated cardboard: why structure matters
A cardboard box seems simple until you need to place a specific product inside. That's when size, structure, cardboard quality, and load capacity become critical.
Various corrugated cardboard solutions are widely used, including three-layer and five-layer constructions, as well as micro-flute cardboard.
Three-layer corrugated cardboard is a common solution for packaging many everyday goods.
Five-layer corrugated cardboard may be better suited for heavier products or situations requiring higher structural strength.
Micro-flute cardboard allows for compact and visually appealing packaging, which is why it is used for product packaging as well as in retail and catering.
However, the number of layers alone is not enough. You must also consider the cardboard structure, grammage, flute profile, design, and expected load.
The right box size also saves money
A box that is too small won't protect the product. A box that is too large creates other problems.
More void fill material is required, package volume increases, and shipping efficiency can drop. As a result, the company pays for:
extra cardboard + extra filler + extra shipping volume
Therefore, optimal packaging size is not just a matter of aesthetics. It is a matter of logistics and costs.
Food packaging: higher standards apply
Food packaging carries a completely different level of responsibility.
Salad bowls, food containers, cling films, fast food packaging, pizza boxes, and other materials can come into direct or indirect contact with food.
Such materials in the EU market must comply with food contact regulations. EU Framework Regulation No. 1935/2004 dictates that materials must not transfer their constituents into food in quantities that could endanger human health or bring about an unacceptable change in the composition, taste, or odor of the food. Good manufacturing practice guidelines must also be followed in producing food contact materials.
Therefore, when choosing food packaging, an attractive price alone is not enough. You must know what the specific packaging is intended for and whether the supplier can prove its compliance.
Hot, cold, greasy, or liquid?
Even within food packaging, there is no single universal solution. Packaging for cold salads and packaging for hot meals perform under different conditions.
Therefore, you must consider:
- food type;
- temperature;
- fat content;
- moisture;
- expected contact duration;
- transportation;
- storage;
- potential reheating, if applicable to the specific packaging.
The material stated on the packaging doesn't automatically mean it is suitable for any type of food at any temperature.
Delivery packaging: the product must arrive as prepared
Food delivery is a prime example of how packaging becomes part of the service.
A restaurant can cook a great meal. But if it arrives cold, spilled, or unappealing after a 30-minute delivery, the customer's review will reflect on the entire order.
Therefore, key features to evaluate include:
- leak resistance;
- temperature retention;
- ventilation;
- durability during transit;
- convenient closure;
- safe stackability during transport.
In certain cases, insulated thermal boxes also play an essential role in maintaining the required temperature profile during delivery.
Kraft paper and paper packaging
Kraft paper and kraft paper bags have become a very popular packaging solution in retail, HoReCa, and e-commerce. They are practical, visually neutral, and suitable for many applications.
However, here too you must choose the appropriate:
- paper thickness;
- size;
- construction;
- handle type;
- load capacity;
- need for custom printing;
- suitability for the intended application.
Beautiful packaging is an advantage only if it can simultaneously perform its primary protective function reliably.
Bags: thickness and material matter
Packaging bags, bags with handles, and other flexible packaging types can be made from various materials in different thicknesses. Here again, microns come into play.
Material that is too thin for a specific weight can tear. Overly thick material, on the other hand, means unnecessary material consumption and higher costs.
Therefore, the right principle is not "The thicker, the better," but "As durable as required for the specific task."
Standard or custom-printed packaging?
Not everything needs personalization. For many internal company processes, high-quality standard packaging is completely sufficient.
However, packaging received by the end customer can also serve as a communication tool. Company branding, information, or other graphic elements can be featured on bags, boxes, or other packaging.
In this case, the packaging performs two tasks at once: protecting the product while representing the brand.
Documentation is not a formality
This is one of the most critical points in professional packaging procurement.
Two visually similar products on the market can vary greatly in price. However, a lower price alone does not indicate whether both products are truly comparable.
Compliance documentation and traceability are especially vital for food contact materials. EU regulations set strict requirements for safety, documentation of compliance, and traceability of materials intended to come into contact with food.
That is why a professional buyer should ask not only "What is the price?", but also "Does this product have the required documentation and is it suited specifically for my application?"
Sometimes a slightly higher purchase price means significantly lower legal, quality, and reputational risks.
Packaging requirements in Europe are changing
Companies must also account for European regulations moving toward reducing unnecessary packaging waste, improving recyclability, and expanding circular economy principles.
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) entered into force on February 11, 2025, and its rules generally become applicable from August 12, 2026. The regulation applies to all packaging regardless of material or origin and introduces requirements across the entire lifecycle of the packaging.
Its direction is clear:
less unnecessary packaging, higher recyclability, more efficient resource use, and more reusable solutions where justified
This means that choosing packaging is increasingly becoming not just a procurement decision, but a matter of compliance and long-term business planning.
The cheapest packaging isn't always the least expensive
Consider a simple scenario: One packaging option costs less per unit, but tears more often, requires more film, a larger box, or extra protective material.
Another costs slightly more initially, but allows for using less material and reduces the risk of damage.
Which one is actually cheaper? The answer is given not by the unit price, but by the total packaging costs, which should include:
Only then is it possible to objectively compare two solutions.
The FERAX approach: packaging tailored to the task
The core idea behind the FERAX packaging range is not to fill the catalog with hundreds of nearly identical products.
Our approach is different: to understand what the customer is packing and find a well-justified solution.
For one company, that will be a pallet film solution of appropriate durability.
For another — a corrugated cardboard box of the exact right size.
For a restaurant — food containers and thermal boxes.
For a retail store — bags, kraft paper, and pre-packaging materials.
