Custom Bread Bags
Custom bread bags from 100 — kraft and white paper bags printed for sourdough, boules, baguettes and bloomers, made with a window, a block bottom or a carry handle to suit the loaf.
A crust stays a crust only in paper
- Paper
- Natural kraft 50–70 gsm, white kraft or bleached paper; greaseproof-lined option for enriched breads
- Styles
- Flat baguette bag, side-gusseted loaf bag, block-bottom boule bag, handled bag
- Window
- Optional glassine or PLA film strip, micro-perforated for crusty loaves
Order online
Order bread bags
Starting from $1.10 per unit
Printed to your artwork or plain, sold in runs of 100 up to 5,000 units per product online. Freight to the US, UK, Canada and Australia is inside the price.
How an online order runs
- Add the units you needThen check out with your delivery address. Add other products to the same order on the way.
- A digital proof comes backLaid on the dieline, before anything prints. Change it as often as you need.
- Pay once you approve itPay by PayPal invoice or bank transfer after you approve your digital proof, or cash on delivery in the US and Canada.
- We make it and ship it deliveredYour delivery date is confirmed with the proof, against the spec and your fill date. Freight and customs are handled on the way to you.
Another size, board or finish, or more than 5,000 units? Send the spec for a price instead. Freight by market and our terms cover delivery and remakes.
Get a price for Bread Bags
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Matching the bag to the shape of the loaf
We size from the loaf itself, not from a stock list. Send the weight and the length of your longest bake, and the bag is drawn with enough length to fold over twice, which is what keeps flour off the customer’s coat.
| Baguette and ficelle | Long, narrow flat bag, open at one end; the tip of the loaf can stand proud |
|---|---|
| Sourdough boule | Block-bottom bag with a wide base so the round loaf sits upright |
| Bloomer and batard | Flat or side-gusseted bag sized to the length, folded over at the top |
| Sandwich and tin loaves | Gusseted bag with a window so the slices and the crumb are seen |
| Several rolls or a mixed order | Square-bottom bag with a twisted or flat paper handle |
Kraft, white, or a window in either
- Natural kraft. Strong, warm and the color most people expect a bakery bag to be; prints well in one or two dark colors.
- White kraft or bleached paper. Brighter, shows a full-color logo cleanly and reads as a patisserie rather than a farmhouse loaf.
- Glassine or PLA window. A strip down the front lets the scoring and the crust be seen without opening the bag.
- Greaseproof lining. Only for enriched breads such as brioche, focaccia with oil or babka, where butter would mark plain kraft.
Why the paper breathes and when it should not
A crusty loaf needs a bag that lets moisture through. Uncoated kraft does this on its own, and a few micro-perforations in a windowed bag do the same for the film. The result is a loaf that stays crisp on the day it is sold and slowly firms rather than sweating.
Soft breads are the exception. A tin loaf or a milk bread sold to last several days is better in a lined bag that slows drying. The two are often sold side by side, so many bakeries order one printed design on two papers: plain kraft for the crusts, lined for the soft loaves.
A bag that is too tight squashes the ears of a scored loaf. Leave a finger’s width either side of the widest point.
Printing a bag that gets carried down the street
A bread bag is a walking sign. It is carried by hand, often with the top folded and the logo facing out, so the print belongs high on the front panel where the fold does not hide it. One or two colors on kraft look deliberate and keep the price down; full color works on white paper for a bakery whose branding depends on it. Food-safe water-based inks are used on every bag, and nothing is printed on the inside face that touches the bread.
The same paper and print set carries across to printed paper lunch bags for sandwiches and pastries, so the counter looks like one brand.
Handles, closures and the walk home
- Fold-over top with a printed sticker seal — the cheapest closure and the most common.
- Tin-tie strip glued to the top edge, so a half-eaten loaf can be closed again at home.
- Twisted paper handle for bags holding several loaves or a weekend order.
- Flat die-cut handle hole on a block-bottom bag for a single heavy sourdough.
Where bread bags sit in a bakery order
Most bakeries order bread bags alongside boxes for the more delicate things on the counter. The bags take the loaves; boxes carry cakes, tarts and pastries that would crush in paper. Our full range of custom bakery boxes and bags is built on the same print set, which keeps a single artwork file working across every item you hand over.
Counting how many bags a bakery really uses
Bread bags are ordered by the size, and most bakeries get the mix wrong the first time. The baguette bag is used most, because baguettes sell in the largest numbers and often go out two at a time. The boule bag comes next, then the tin-loaf bag, then the handled bag for larger orders. A useful first order is weighted the same way, and the next one is set from what actually ran out.
Storage matters too. Flat bags stack in a drawer under the counter; block-bottom bags take more room because they are folded with a base. If space behind the counter is tight, a side-gusseted bag folds flatter than a block bottom and still holds a round loaf well enough for the walk home.
Bread Bags — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Paper
- Natural kraft 50–70 gsm, white kraft or bleached paper; greaseproof-lined option for enriched breads
- Styles
- Flat baguette bag, side-gusseted loaf bag, block-bottom boule bag, handled bag
- Window
- Optional glassine or PLA film strip, micro-perforated for crusty loaves
- Closure
- Fold-over with sticker, tin-tie strip, twisted or die-cut handle
- One to two colors on kraft, full color on white; water-based food-safe inks
- Sizing
- Drawn from the length and weight of your longest loaf
- Minimum
- 100 bread bags per size
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to six colors, printed on the outer face only and before any lining goes on.
- Color
- Food-safe inks throughout. Kraft mutes color; a white board or liner is needed for anything photographic.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, and fit confirmed by filling a plain sample from your own kitchen or line.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, kept. Molded pulp needs a tool per shape, which is a longer lead and a larger one-off.
- Food contact
- Every board food-contact grade, with grease resistance built into the sheet and never a PFAS treatment.
- Sustainability
- Aqueous linings and unlined boards repulp with ordinary paper. PE-lined cups need cup collection, and we say which you have.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build bread bags on
Food packaging is chosen for what the food does to it: grease, steam, heat and time. Every board here is food-contact grade, and none of them uses a PFAS treatment for grease resistance.
Food-grade virgin board
Bleached board made for direct food contact. Clean, bright, no recycled fiber and no mineral-oil risk from recovered paper.
14–24ptGrease-resistant board
Resistance built into the sheet rather than sprayed on. Holds fries, pastry and butter without darkening. PFAS-free.
16–24ptPE-lined cupstock
Board with a polyethylene film for hot and cold liquid. Microwave-safe for reheating; recycled only where cup collection exists.
260–350gsmAqueous-lined cupstock
A water-based lining instead of PE. Repulpable in ordinary paper recycling in more places, and compostable; a slightly shorter hold time.
260–320gsmGreaseproof and glassine
Dense, calendered paper that resists fat through the fiber. Wraps, liners and interleaves; breathable, so pastry stays crisp.
30–55gsmFood-grade corrugated
E and B flute with a food-contact liner, vented where steam has to leave. Pizza, catering and anything hot and heavy.
E and B fluteMolded pulp and bagasse
Fiber pressed into a shape. Holds heat, resists grease with no lining, composts, and takes only an embossed or one-color mark.
Molded to shapeRecycled board
Post-consumer fiber. Used for outers, sleeves and anything that does not touch food directly — not for direct contact.
Non-contact onlyNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Food finishes are limited by what may touch food, and that is the point.
Food-safe inks
Printed on the outer face only. Every food pack we make uses them, laminated or not.
Uncoated kraft
No coating at all. Breathable, so pastry stays crisp, and it takes one or two colors.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance without a plastic film, so the pack still repulps.
Molded emboss
A logo pressed into pulp or bagasse. No ink, nothing to rub off, and it survives grease.
Grease-resistant face
Not a finish you can see. It is in the sheet, it is PFAS-free, and it is why the print stays clean.
Matte lamination
Available on outers and sleeves that never touch food — a cake box lid, a carrier, a gift sleeve.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing food packaging around a portion, hot: bread bags
Food is sized by serving, not by dimensions, and it is served hot, heaped and in a hurry. Send us the portion — or better, the box you use now with the food in it — and we size to how it is actually filled.
- Portion, heaped
- Fries, popcorn and salad are served above the rim. A box sized to a level fill looks mean and spills in a bag.
- Lid clearance
- Enough that a loaded burger or a topped cake does not touch the lid. This is the single most common complaint about a food box.
- Venting
- Hot food steams. Vents in the lid keep pastry and fries crisp; a sealed box is right only for cold food.
- Grease path
- Where the fat sits decides the board. Say if the food is fried, buttered or sauced, and whether it is held for minutes or an hour.
- Stacking in a bag
- Delivery boxes are stacked five high on a bike. The lid has to hold the box above it off the food below.
- Sample fill
- A plain box filled from your kitchen settles the size in one try, and we send one before the run.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Bread Bags in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about bread bags? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
Do paper bread bags keep a sourdough crust crisp?
Yes. Uncoated kraft lets moisture leave the loaf, so the crust stays crisp on the day of sale instead of softening as it would in plastic.
What size bread bag does a baguette need?
A long, narrow flat bag open at one end, sized to the length of your baguette. The tip can stand out of the bag, which is how most bakeries hand them over.
Can a bread bag have a window?
Yes. A glassine or PLA strip down the front shows the crust and scoring. For crusty loaves we micro-perforate the film so it does not trap moisture.
Which bread bag works for a round boule?
A block-bottom bag. Its flat, wide base lets the round loaf sit upright instead of rolling to the side of a flat bag.
Are your bread bags safe for direct contact with bread?
They are printed with water-based food-safe inks, and nothing is printed on the inside face that touches the loaf.
Should brioche go in the same bread bag as sourdough?
Better not. Butter-rich breads mark plain kraft, so enriched loaves go in a greaseproof-lined version of the same printed bag.
Can bread bags be closed again after opening?
Yes, if you choose the tin-tie strip. It is glued along the top edge so the customer can fold and twist the bag shut at home.
Do you make bread bags with handles?
Yes. A twisted paper handle suits bags carrying several loaves, and a die-cut handle hole works on a block-bottom bag for one heavy loaf.
How many colors can be printed on a kraft bread bag?
One or two colors give the cleanest result on natural kraft. For full-color artwork we recommend white kraft, where the colors stay true.
Can the bread bag match our bakery boxes?
Yes. We print bags and boxes from the same artwork, so the logo, colors and type line up across everything on the counter.
What is the minimum for printed bread bags?
One hundred per bag size. A bakery with a baguette, a boule and a tin loaf would usually order three sizes from one design.
Which bread bag size does a bakery use most?
Usually the baguette bag, because baguettes sell in the highest numbers. We suggest weighting a first order toward it and adjusting the next one.
Same range
