Custom Coffee Bags
Custom coffee bags built for beans that are still giving off gas, from 100 units. A one-way valve that lets the CO₂ out and no oxygen in, a laminate that keeps the aroma where it belongs, and a format — stand-up, side gusset or box pouch — chosen by how the bag will sit on your shelf.
Fresh-roasted coffee is still breathing when you bag it
- Structure
- PET / foil or high-barrier met-PET / PE; kraft-faced option; mono-PE on request
- Valve
- One-way degassing valve, standard or filtered for ground
- Formats
- Side gusset, stand-up with bottom gusset, flat-bottom box pouch
Get a price for Coffee 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.
The valve, and why it is not optional
A one-way degassing valve is a small plastic disc heat-welded into the bag wall, with a membrane that opens under a fraction of a psi from inside and stays shut against atmosphere from outside. Bag the coffee the day it is roasted and the valve vents the CO₂ over the following week; without it you either wait days to bag or ship pillows. Coffee bagged more than two weeks after roast — or ground — can skip the valve, and most of it should not.
We place the valve high on the back panel where it is out of the print and above the bean line, so grounds do not sit against the membrane.
Three formats, chosen by the shelf
The side-gusset bag is cheapest and reads as traditional; the box pouch is the most film and the most shelf presence. Most roasters run a stand-up for retail and a side-gusset for the 2 and 5 lb wholesale sizes, and the general build of the stand-up is described on our stand-up pouch page for retail products.
| Side-gusset bag | The classic brick, tin-tie or fold-over; stands only when full, stacks flat |
|---|---|
| Stand-up pouch | Bottom gusset, zipper, stands empty or full; the retail default |
| Flat-bottom box pouch | Square base, five print panels, stands like a carton; the premium shelf |
Laminate, and the aroma
Coffee loses its aromatics through a poor barrier as surely as it gains oxygen, so the bag needs a real barrier layer — foil, or a high-barrier metallized film — with a PE seal layer inside. A kraft-faced version puts paper on the outside of that laminate for a natural look and keeps the same barrier underneath; the paper is cosmetic. For the sustainability story, a recyclable mono-PE structure with a barrier coating exists and gives a shorter shelf life; we set out the trade-off honestly on our guide to recyclable and compostable claims.
Whole bean and ground need different valves. Ground coffee releases gas faster and the fines block a standard membrane; a filtered valve solves it.
Closures, and the second week
Whatever the closure, the roast date needs a printed space. It is the one thing a coffee buyer looks for, and an inkjet box on the back panel is the honest way to carry it.
- Tin-tie — the wire strip folded over the top; cheap, traditional, does not seal.
- Press-to-close zipper above a heat seal — the bag is sealed until opened, then resealable.
- Pocket zipper — a zipper recessed into the top so the bag tears clean; the premium feel.
- Heat seal only, for a 5 lb wholesale bag that is decanted on arrival.
Coffee 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
- Structure
- PET / foil or high-barrier met-PET / PE; kraft-faced option; mono-PE on request
- Valve
- One-way degassing valve, standard or filtered for ground
- Formats
- Side gusset, stand-up with bottom gusset, flat-bottom box pouch
- Sizes
- 4 oz, 8 oz, 12 oz, 1 lb, 2 lb, 5 lb
- Closure
- Tin-tie, zipper, pocket zipper, heat seal
- Up to 10 colors, matte or gloss; roast-date box
- Minimum
- 100 bags
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 coffee 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: coffee 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 Coffee 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 coffee 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 I need a valve?
If you bag within two weeks of roasting, yes. The beans give off CO₂ that will pillow or burst a sealed bag; the valve vents it without letting oxygen in.
Where does the valve go?
High on the back panel, above the bean line and clear of the print, so grounds do not sit against the membrane.
Whole bean or ground — does the valve change?
Yes. Ground coffee needs a filtered valve, because the fines block a standard membrane and the gas comes off faster.
Is a kraft coffee bag a real barrier?
Yes, if the kraft is the outer face of a foil or metallized laminate. Paper alone is not; ask what is under it.
Which format should I choose?
Stand-up pouch for retail, side-gusset for wholesale sizes, flat-bottom box pouch when the shelf presence justifies the extra film.
Tin-tie or zipper?
A tin-tie is traditional and does not seal; a zipper above a heat seal keeps the bag sealed until opened and resealable after. Most specialty roasters use the zipper.
Can the bag be recyclable?
A mono-PE structure with a barrier coating is, and gives a shorter shelf life than foil. We will tell you the shelf-life cost before you choose it.
What sizes do you make?
4 oz to 5 lb. A 12 oz stand-up is the retail standard in the US; 250 g and 1 kg where metric is expected.
Can you print a roast-date box?
Yes, a blank inkjet area on the back panel. It is the thing buyers look for first.
What is the minimum order?
100 bags per size. Printed bags run on a roll, so the set-up is in the plates rather than a die.
How long does production take?
It depends on the structure and the print. We give a date with the quote rather than a number before we have seen the spec.
Will you send a sample?
An unprinted bag with a valve in your size, so you can fill it the day of a roast and watch it behave over a week before print.
Same range
