Custom Mylar Bags for PET Food
Custom mylar bags for kibble, treats and raw-fed portions, from 100 units. A laminate that keeps the fat in the food from bleeding through the print, a zipper that survives a month of daily opening, and a base that stands up on a shelf under the weight of a full bag.
Fatty, heavy, opened every day for a month
- Structure
- PET / foil or metallized / fat-resistant PE; 4–7 mil by size
- Styles
- Stand-up pouch, flat-bottom box pouch, flat heat-seal for raw
- Sizes
- 4 oz to 20 lb; box pouch with carry handle above 10 lb
Get a price for Mylar Bags for Pet Food
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 fat problem
Kibble is coated in fat and treats are often mostly fat. In a thin bag it migrates through the inner layer, delaminates the print and shows as a dark, greasy patch on the outside within weeks. The answer is a laminate with a fat-resistant inner layer and a foil or high-barrier middle — the same barrier that keeps the fat from going rancid keeps it from getting out. For a bag that will sit in a warehouse for months before sale, we specify the full foil laminate rather than the metallized film.
| Treats, 4–16 oz | Stand-up pouch, metallized or foil, zipper, tear notch |
|---|---|
| Kibble, 2–5 lb | Stand-up or flat-bottom, foil laminate, heavy zipper |
| Kibble, 10–20 lb | Flat-bottom box pouch, 6–7 mil, slider or wide zipper, carry handle |
| Raw and frozen | Freezer-grade laminate, vacuum or heat-seal, no zipper |
A zipper that lasts the bag
A treat bag is opened a few times; a 5 lb kibble bag is opened sixty times. Standard press-to-close zippers clog with kibble dust and stop sealing after a few weeks, which is why owners end up with a clip on the bag. We use a heavy-profile zipper on kibble bags, or a slider zipper on the large sizes, and place it far enough below the tear line that fingers can get a grip. It costs a few cents more per bag and it is the difference customers notice.
A one-way degassing valve is only needed for fresh-roasted or fermented products. Kibble does not need one; treats occasionally do.
Standing up under the weight
A stand-up pouch with a bottom gusset holds up to about 5 lb before it slumps. Above that the flat-bottom, or box, pouch — with a square base and four side gussets — stands square under 20 lb and stacks. It uses more film, prints on five panels, and takes a die-cut carry handle at the top. For most kibble brands the 2–5 lb stand-up is the volume seller and the box pouch is the bulk size; we describe the general stand-up construction on our stand-up pouches page for retail products.
What the print has to carry
Matte print with a spot gloss on the logo and the product photo is the pet-food default and it hides fingerprints and shelf scuffs better than a full gloss.
- The guaranteed analysis and the ingredient list, which are long and set the back panel.
- Feeding guidelines by weight, which owners actually read — make them legible.
- Net weight and a lot code area for inkjet after print.
- A clear window is popular for treats and a mistake for kibble: fat and light do not mix.
Mylar Bags for Pet Food — 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 metallized / fat-resistant PE; 4–7 mil by size
- Styles
- Stand-up pouch, flat-bottom box pouch, flat heat-seal for raw
- Sizes
- 4 oz to 20 lb; box pouch with carry handle above 10 lb
- Closure
- Heavy-profile or slider zipper, tear notch; valve on request
- Up to 10 colors, matte with spot gloss; analysis and feeding panels
- Minimum
- 100 bags
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 mylar bags for pet food 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: mylar bags for pet food
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 Mylar Bags for Pet Food
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 mylar bags for pet food? 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.
Will fat from the food show on the outside?
Not through a fat-resistant laminate with a barrier layer. Thin bags let it migrate and stain the print within weeks; ours are built against exactly that.
Which zipper for a kibble bag?
A heavy-profile zipper, or a slider on the large sizes. Standard zippers clog with kibble dust and stop sealing after a few weeks of daily use.
Will a 5 lb bag stand up?
A stand-up pouch will, just. Above 5 lb we move to a flat-bottom box pouch, which stands square under 20 lb and stacks.
Can I have a carry handle?
Yes, die-cut into the top of a box pouch above the zipper. It is standard on the 10 lb and larger sizes.
Do I need a degassing valve?
Not for kibble. Only fresh-roasted or fermented products give off gas; most pet food does not.
Can the bag hold raw or frozen food?
Yes, in a freezer-grade laminate with a heat seal or a vacuum seal. We leave the zipper out on frozen bags, because it cracks.
Is a window a good idea?
For treats, yes. For kibble, no — fat and light together shorten the shelf life, and the window is a hole in the barrier.
Are the bags food safe?
Yes, the inner layer is food-contact grade. Pet food is regulated as food for this purpose.
Can you print the guaranteed analysis?
Yes, and we plan the back panel around it. It is long, so tell us the ingredient list early and we set the bag size to fit the text legibly.
What is the minimum order?
100 bags per size. Printed mylar runs 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 in your size and structure, so you can fill it with your food, seal it and open it sixty times before print.
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