Custom Popcorn Bags
A popcorn bag costs a fraction of a box and does the same job right up until someone puts it down. Whether that matters depends entirely on where people eat what you are selling — and it is the only question worth asking before ordering.
- Formats
- Flat, bottom gusset, side gusset, sealed pre-fill
- Paper
- Grease-resistant food-grade kraft or white, 40–60gsm
- Sizes
- Single, regular and sharing as standard; any size to order
Get a price for Popcorn 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.
Where a bag is genuinely the right choice
Where it is wrong is equally clear: a cinema seat, a table, a car. A bag put down tips, and popcorn on the floor is a complaint about the food rather than the pack.
- Walking events, fairs and street food, where the bag never leaves a hand.
- Sampling and giveaways, where cost per unit dominates everything else.
- Pre-filled retail packs, where the bag is sealed and stacked flat.
- Anywhere storage space is tight — bags fold flat, boxes do not.
Flat against gusseted
A bottom gusset is the difference between a bag that can be set down for a moment and one that cannot. It costs very little more paper.
| Flat bag | Cheapest; holds least, folds smallest, collapses immediately |
|---|---|
| Bottom gusset | Stands when filled and supported; the usual event choice |
| Side gusset | Holds a block shape; better for pre-filled retail |
| Grease-lined flat | Sealed pre-fill; the supermarket format |
Butter is the whole material specification
Buttered popcorn will reach the outer face of plain paper within minutes, and the customer is holding it the entire time. That mark transfers to hands and clothes, and it is the single most common complaint about paper popcorn packaging.
Grease-resistant food-grade paper handles it without a plastic lining and stays repulpable. The board and barrier reasoning across the range is in our popcorn packaging notes.
Sweet and salted popcorn is far less demanding than buttered. If you only sell sweet, you can specify down and save money.
Printing on something held for the whole show
A popcorn bag is in someone's hands for as long as they are eating, at close range, usually in front of other people. Per penny spent it is one of the most-seen branded surfaces a venue owns.
One or two colors on natural kraft is the category standard: cheap, warm, and it hides grease marks far better than white paper, which shows every one.
Sizes, and how they are actually judged
Popcorn is bought by apparent volume, and a bag is judged by how full it looks rather than what it weighs. A bag filled to the top of a small size reads as more generous than the same weight lost in a large one.
Two or three sizes covers most venues. Because the pack is mostly air, stepping up a size costs very little paper and buys a noticeably better-looking serve.
Popcorn 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
- Formats
- Flat, bottom gusset, side gusset, sealed pre-fill
- Paper
- Grease-resistant food-grade kraft or white, 40–60gsm
- Sizes
- Single, regular and sharing as standard; any size to order
- One or two colors flexo on kraft; full color on white
- Supply
- Flat-packed; no assembly
- 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 popcorn 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: popcorn 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 Popcorn 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 popcorn 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.
Bag or box?
Bag if it stays in a hand the whole time. Box if it gets put down — a bag tips and empties.
Will butter soak through?
Through plain paper, within minutes, onto the customer. Grease-resistant food-grade paper stops it.
Do gusseted bags stand up on their own?
When filled and set down carefully, briefly. They are not a substitute for a box on a table or a cinema seat.
Is kraft or white better?
Kraft hides grease marks and costs less. White prints brighter and shows every mark.
What is the minimum order?
100 bags, flat or gusseted.
Does sweet popcorn need the same paper as buttered?
No — sweet and salted is far less demanding. If you only sell sweet, you can specify down and save money.
Bag or box?
Bag if it stays in a hand the whole time. Box if it gets put down — a bag tips and empties.
Will butter soak through?
Through plain paper, within minutes, onto the customer. Grease-resistant food-grade paper stops it.
Do gusseted bags stand up on their own?
When filled and set down carefully, briefly. They are not a substitute for a box on a table or a cinema seat.
Is kraft or white better?
Kraft hides grease marks and costs less. White prints brighter and shows every mark.
Same range
