Bags are Back in Business
Covid 19 is still lurking, yet things are slowly returning to near normal and after 20 years in the carrier bag industry, I’m pleased to say that Bags are back in Business. By that I mean that people are beginning to return to their normal business and whilst exhibitions and conferences are not there, small use carriers are starting to feel their way back into being top of mind. I know it seems boring to you, but it has been a major part of my working life for 20 years and I have to say I love the carrier bag industry. I love the rope handled carriers, the twisted paper handle carriers, the patch handle carriers, all the permutations and quantities are what keeps the mind ticking over. I figured I would remind you all of what is available and keep myself top of mind.
The most expensive products would be the custom made paper carrier bags, these come in a wide range of sizes and quantities with the whole gamut of handle types, from ribbon to leather, special print finishes like foil blocking, uv varnishes, cut out shapes, different gussets and available from very small numbers 100 up to 10000 (after that you would be looking at major money and scenarios)
Then you would be looking at the brown or white kraft bags with the twisted paper handle as pictured above, these come in specific sizes (because changing the machines over is such a lengthy process) and come in, usually, special colours up to 4 colour process or photo images, the quality is what I refer to as old fashioned newsprint quality i.e. big dots making up the image, the screen or plate charges can be quite expensive. These bags are economical and tend to be eco friendly if we ignore the bleaching and processes to give the material its strength. These can be from 500 but usually 1000 to 10000 in quantity.
Last in the line is the trusty polythene bag. Not as bad as it has been made out to be over the last few years. For many years now the poly has had a bio additive added to break the poly down over a period and of course, now there are fully compostable bags made from potato starch. I have always been of the opinion, how green do you want to be against how much do you want to pay. Degradable bags are going to be more expensive, but we have a duty to do the best we can these days. Even the custom paper bags with the laminates and finishes are not degradable. I am always happy to have that conversation with you to point out the pros and cons of each product. Back to the humble polythene carrier. It comes with a range of handle types, patch handle (punched thro) or flexi loop or even clip close. Similar printing process to the twisted paper handle carriers, but these will always come out as your cheapest bag.
It is good to see the world coming back and in particular, my little corner with the carrier bags, so, whatever industry you are in, I wish you well in the coming months and look forward to supplying some of you with a carrier bag that is simply perfect for you.
