Custom Chub Packaging
Custom chub packaging — a clipped film tube for ground meat, sausage, dough, cheese and pet food, in barrier film printed with your brand and sized to the weight — from 100. Spec and price the same working day.
A tube of film, clipped at both ends, holding a kilogram of product
- Film
- Co-extruded PE with nylon or EVOH barrier; 50–120 micron by weight; freezer grade
- Formats
- Printed flat tube on reel; pre-cut and clipped tubes for hand filling
- Closure
- Aluminum or plastic clip each end; tear strip or peelable seam
Get a price for Chub Packaging
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.
Products that come in a chub
| Ground meat and sausage | The most common; 250 g to 5 kg; barrier film; chilled or frozen |
|---|---|
| Cookie and pizza dough | A refrigerated dough log; a tear-strip film |
| Soft cheese and butter | Small chubs; a peelable film |
| Pet food | Fresh or frozen; large chubs; a tough film |
| Caulk and compound | Non-food; a stiff film that fits a gun |
Film and the clip
Chub film is a co-extruded barrier film — PE with a nylon or EVOH layer — that stretches, seals and holds oxygen out. It is supplied as a printed flat tube or as a roll for a form-fill-seal machine. The clip is an aluminum or plastic band applied by the clipper at each end. Film gauge follows the weight: 50–70 micron for a 500 g chub, heavier for a 5 kg. Our pouches for every product cover the alternatives for products that do not chub.
Sizing to the weight
- Lay-flat width — the circumference divided by two — from the diameter the product is packed at.
- Cut length from the weight and the density, plus the clip allowance at each end.
- A tear strip or a peelable seam for an easy open.
- A freezer-grade film for anything frozen.
Print on a stretched tube
Chub film is printed flat before it is formed, and the print stretches slightly with the fill, so fine type and barcodes are placed where the film stretches least — along the length, away from the clips. Full color flexo, food-safe, with the weight, the ingredients and the barcode in a reserved panel. A repeat is set so the design reads whole on every chub.
The barcode is verified on a filled chub, not on flat film. Stretch changes the bar widths.
Machines and supply
Chub film is supplied as printed flat tube on a reel for a chub machine or as a cut-and-clipped tube for hand filling. Tell us the machine and the reel is made to its core and width. A hundred chubs is a trial for a small producer; a butcher or a dough brand runs thousands a week.
Chub Packaging — 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
- Film
- Co-extruded PE with nylon or EVOH barrier; 50–120 micron by weight; freezer grade
- Formats
- Printed flat tube on reel; pre-cut and clipped tubes for hand filling
- Closure
- Aluminum or plastic clip each end; tear strip or peelable seam
- Sizing
- Lay-flat width from diameter; length from weight; clip allowance
- Flexo full color, food-safe; panel for weight, ingredients, barcode; verified filled
- Machine
- Reel made to the chub machine core and width
- Minimum
- 100 chubs
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in up to ten colors on the outer film, or digital for short runs and changing artwork.
- Color
- A white underprint carries normal color on metallised or clear film. Without it, every color takes on what is beneath it.
- Tolerance
- Bag width plus or minus 2 mm, length plus or minus 3 mm. Film stretches, so a barcode is verified on a filled bag.
- Tooling
- Print plates or cylinders per design, kept. There is no cutting die — the bag is formed and sealed rather than cut.
- Food contact
- A food-grade sealing layer against the product, with the inks trapped between layers rather than on the food face.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material PE or PP where the shelf life allows, which recycles as a soft plastic. A foil laminate does not.
- 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 chub packaging on
A flexible pack is a stack of films laminated together, and the middle layer is the barrier. The structure is chosen from the shelf life you need and what you want to be able to say about recycling.
PET / PE
A printable outer and a sealing inner. Moisture barrier, modest oxygen barrier. The everyday laminate for dry goods sold quickly.
2-ply, 70–110 micronPET / AL / PE
Aluminum foil in the middle: the strongest barrier against light, oxygen and moisture. Coffee, supplements, anything with a long shelf life.
3-ply, 90–130 micronMetallised PET
A vapour-deposited metal layer. Bright, lighter and cheaper than foil, with a weaker barrier. Most silver and gold bags are this.
2–3 plyMono-material PE
Every layer polyethylene, so the bag recycles as a soft plastic. Less barrier and a slightly softer hand; the sustainable choice where shelf life allows.
100–130 micronMono-material PP
Stiffer and clearer than PE, with better heat resistance. Suits a stand-up pouch that has to hold its shape on a shelf.
90–120 micronKraft-paper laminate
A paper outer over a film barrier. The natural look with a real barrier behind it; the paper takes only a matte, flat print.
Paper 60–80gsm + filmCompostable film
PLA and cellulose structures certified for industrial compost. Lower barrier, higher cost, and no home-compost claim unless the certificate says so.
60–90 micronLDPE mailer film
Co-extruded opaque film for shipping bags: tear- and puncture-resistant, weatherproof, and recyclable where soft plastics are collected.
60–80 micronNot 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.
Film is finished in the lacquer and the ink, not with a laminate.
Matte lacquer
A soft, non-reflective face. Hides handling marks and the most-used finish on a premium pouch.
Gloss lacquer
Wet-looking color. Reads cheaper on some categories and exactly right on confectionery.
Spot matte on gloss
A matte shape on a gloss field, or the reverse. The film equivalent of spot UV.
Metallised effects
Print over the metal layer so a color picks up the shimmer, or lay white under it for a normal color.
Registered emboss
A raised texture pressed into the film. Rare, expensive, and unmistakable in the hand.
Kraft-paper face
A paper outer laminated to the barrier. Matte and flat by nature; no varnish needed.
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 a pouch by what goes in it, not by a bag size: chub packaging
Film packs are specified by fill, not by dimensions. Two products of the same weight can need very different bags, because density decides volume — whole coffee beans take far more room than the same weight of powder.
- Fill weight and density
- Give us both, or send the product. We size from the volume it actually occupies, settled.
- Lay-flat width
- Half the circumference of the finished bag. It is the number a converter works to, and we calculate it from your product.
- Headspace
- Enough film above the fill to seal cleanly and for the bag to stand. Too little and the seal traps product; too much and the pack looks underfilled.
- Gusset
- Bottom gusset depth sets how the bag stands; side gussets add volume without width. Both are chosen from the shelf, not the fill.
- Seal width
- 5–8 mm. Wider on liquids and creams, which contaminate a seal, and on anything that will be posted.
- Sample fill
- A plain bag at the finished size, filled from your line, is the only reliable check before print.
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
Spec your Chub Packaging
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a film 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 chub packaging? 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.
What is chub packaging?
A film tube filled with a soft product and closed with a clip at each end — the format for ground meat, sausage, dough, soft cheese and pet food.
Is the film a barrier?
Yes, a co-extruded film with a nylon or EVOH layer that keeps oxygen out and suits chilled and frozen products.
Can it be printed?
Yes, full color flexo on the flat film before forming, with fine type and barcodes placed where the film stretches least.
How is it sized?
Lay-flat width from the packed diameter and length from the weight, with a clip allowance at each end.
Does the barcode scan on a filled chub?
Yes — we verify it on a filled chub, not flat film, because the stretch changes the bars.
What is the minimum order?
100 chubs.
Do you supply film for my chub machine?
Yes, on a reel made to the machine's core and width. Send the model.
Can I fill by hand?
Yes, with pre-cut tubes clipped at one end, filled and clipped at the other with a hand clipper.
Can it have an easy open?
Yes, a tear strip or a peelable seam.
Is it freezer safe?
In the freezer-grade film, yes.
Can it be used for non-food products?
Yes — caulk and compounds in a stiff film that fits a gun.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
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