Spout Pouches

A spout pouch carries a moulded plastic spout with a screw cap welded into the top seal. It holds and pours a liquid like a bottle, ships flat like a pouch, and uses a fraction of the plastic a rigid container needs for the same volume.

The build. PET/AL/PE at 160 micron — the heaviest laminate in our range, and necessarily so. A pack full of liquid is under constant load in a way a pack of dry snacks never is; it is dropped, stacked and squeezed, and a seal failure means a leak through an entire carton rather than a stale product. The aluminium layer gives a very high barrier against oxygen and light.

Leak testing. Every production run is leak tested before it ships. This is not an optional extra on this format and it is the main reason the lead time is what it is.

What it suits. Juice, sauces, edible oil, liquid detergent and baby food. The spout can be positioned in the corner or the centre of the top seal — corner spouts pour more controllably, centre spouts look more like a bottle on a shelf. Cap diameters vary; a sauce that needs to be squeezed out wants a different fitment from a juice that is drunk straight from the pack.

Ordering. Minimum 3,000 pieces, lead time 28 working days. The minimum is higher than our other formats because the spout is a moulded component that has to be sourced and welded, not just a fold in the film. Printing runs up to eight colours, gloss finish.

Before you order. Two things decide whether this format works for your product. First, viscosity: a thin juice and a thick sauce need different spout bores, and getting this wrong makes the pack frustrating to use. Second, fill temperature — hot filling changes which laminate and which cap material you need. Tell us both at enquiry stage. We would rather have that conversation before the cylinders are made than after 3,000 pouches have been printed.