Bag in Box

The bag in box concept was developed in 1955 and first took off as packaging for wine. Far from remaining the sole province of vintners, the variety of bag in box fillings is now much more extensive and includes a wide range of beverages and foods. Bag in box is also suitable for storing and transporting dangerous goods such as chemicals. Whatever the filling, the hermetically-sealed bags prevent external contaminants or oxygen coming into contact with the contents, maintaining the highest product quality right down to the last drop.   Depending on the product and use, small and medium-sized bags (1-, 3- or 5-litre filling) can be used as sales packaging. For larger volumes (10 or 20 litres), the bag in box also serves as transport packaging.

Bag in box packaging is an eye-catching in store advertising medium that can help attract new target groups. Compared to a wine bottle label for example, bag in box wine packaging provides a much larger communication area and can act as a billboard for the brand on shelf.   Numerous printing and finishing processes are available to complete a standard or premium look: from single-colour flexographic to six-colour offset printing; matt, gloss or UV varnish or a ombination; gold and silver inks; pigments, holograms and embossed films; the options are endless.

Although the original wine box was a classic cuboid, a range of design features such as elliptical curves, edge curves and contour cutting can all be used to enhance the appeal of bag in box packaging. Going one step further, decorative cardboard sleeves can offer consumers an even more unconventional unboxing experience. Sleeves can be printed with graphics that reflect the type of filling, and machine-glued to the primary packaging to be 'peeled off' by the consumer at home. Preglued flaps and booklets can also be built into a bag in box design, further increasing the surface area available for communication or consumer education about the filling. This means mandatory listings of ingredients and storage instructions can be executed without spoiling the overall aesthetics of the packaging. Another exciting way to highlight products on shelf is to give bag in box packaging an attention-grabbing 3D look. This is achieved with an extra layer of cardboard over the primary packaging, which can add incredible visual depth. None of these external design features affect the filling process.

Bag in box also offers the ideal solution for foods or other products that are served together but shouldn’t come into contact in advance. Two bags in one box also allow different fillings to be paired for consumer convenience. Obvious pairings include alcoholic beverages and juice mixers, oils and vinegars for salad dressings, or even sunscreen and after sun lotion for holidays – there’s no limit to the possible product combinations. Separate compartments within one box even allows non-liquid contents to be dispensed alongside liquid fillings without the risk of them coming into contact with each other prior to consumption: for example, cornflakes and milk – or perhaps even wine and cheese!

A major advantage of the bag in box system is its eco-friendliness and low carbon footprint. It’s common knowledge that, compared to a glass wine bottle for example, bag in box packaging is much less energy-intensive to produce and far more efficient to recycle. The first exhaustive study on the environmental impact of different packaging types was conducted in Sweden and Norway. The result: a 3-litre wine box beat a glass wine bottle in all aspects, generating on an average less than a fifth of the CO2 emissions (17.9 %) as the same volume of bottled wine.