Food and beverage packaging: designed right from the start

Food and beverage packaging is not just a protective layer for the product. It is a mobile legal document: if any mandatory information is incorrect, the shipment may be recalled or fail to pass the distributor's control gate. This page helps you understand what needs to be designed, what the law requires, and how Sinh Vũ can assist in the process.

What is food and beverage packaging

This is a packaging group designed uniformly from structure, materials to graphic labels, specifically for consumer products in the food and beverage (F&B) sector. The dual goal is to protect the product throughout its journey from the factory to the consumer's hands while fully complying with Vietnam's labeling regulations.

Common structures in the industry include:

• Stand-up pouches with resealable zippers (stand-up pouch): commonly used for snacks, spices, cereals, and tea.
• Three-side seal pouch or pillow pack: popular for single servings of 10 to 30 grams.
• Folding paper box: used for cakes, flour, breakfast cereals, and as gift packaging for Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Metal tin boxes: premium cakes, gift tea, products that need long-term preservation.
• PET plastic bottles (polyethylene terephthalate, clear and impact-resistant plastic): for beverages, juices, liquid seasonings, typically ranging from 350ml to 500ml.
• 330ml aluminum can: soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, fruit juices.
• Tetra Pak sterilized paper box 200ml to 250ml: milk, juice stored at room temperature.

Complex laminate materials (laminate, multi-layer combinations) are the primary choice for dry food due to their moisture resistance, good gas barrier, and sealability. A drawback to note: laminate is harder to recycle than single paper, and print colors must be tested on actual materials because colors appear differently on laminate than on regular paper.

When to choose, when not to

F&B packaging is suitable when you fall into one of the following cases: producing processed food or beverages that need to be placed on retail shelves, products undergoing self-declaration according to Decree 15/2018, launching multiple SKUs at once and needing a consistent identity system, seasonal products for Tet or Mid-Autumn that need early design locking, or export-oriented products that need to comply with target market regulations.

Do not use full F&B packaging design services if you only need temporary labels to test the market with a very small batch, without a stable product formula, or if the product does not belong to the food or beverage category.

Costs, time and quantity

The cost of designing F&B packaging ranges from moderate to high depending on the complexity of the structure, the number of SKUs, and compliance requirements. Simple packaging like bottle labels or single-layer bags will be quicker and involve fewer items than multi-layer boxes with trays or gift tin boxes.

The reference timeline from brief to complete print file is 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the number of revision rounds and the time you take to approve legal content. For products tied to the Tet and Mid-Autumn seasons, Sinh Vũ recommends starting the design project several months earlier than your planned printing date, as these timelines cannot be shortened arbitrarily.

Regarding print quantity: each structure and material has its own minimum economic quantity threshold as reported by the printer at the time. Sinh Vũ does not guarantee print prices and does not represent the printer. Sinh Vũ delivers the technical file in the correct format for you to directly request quotes from the printer and compare.

Important technical note: folded paper boxes require a dieline (cutting and folding template specific to the printer), with a 3mm bleed and a 5mm safe area. Missing this step may result in incorrect cuts in production, even if the file looks good on screen.

What does Sinh Vũ need from you to get started

For Sinh Vũ to develop a suitable structural and graphic solution right from the first meeting, please prepare the following information:

• List of SKUs: how many products, how many specifications of weight or volume.
• Legal product information: official product name, ingredients, dosage, expiration date, name and address of the responsible entity, storage instructions. This is mandatory content according to Decree 43/2017 and Decree 111/2021.
• Nutritional information table (if available): energy, protein, carbohydrates, fats, sodium, and additional indicators according to Circular 29/2023/TT-BYT. If not available, samples need to be sent for testing at the designated lab before finalizing the label.
• Projected distribution channels: retail supermarkets, e-commerce platforms, exports, or horeca channels (restaurants, hotels). Supermarket channels require EAN-13 barcodes and regional information based on the shelf height of each chain.
• Target market: domestic or export. Exporting to the US requires an English Nutrition Facts label according to FDA regulations; exporting to the EU requires highlighting allergy information and recycling codes; exporting to China through GACC requires separate registration, approval times vary, and legal experts need to confirm at the time.
• The preliminary budget and timeline require print files: so Sinh Vũ can arrange the appropriate scope of work and provide early warnings if the deadline is too close to the actual workload.
• Current brand assets: vector logo file, color palette, font if available. If there is no brand yet, Sinh Vũ needs to know to add the identity development phase before moving to packaging.

When you have prepared the above information, the next step is to send your needs to Sinh Vũ to receive advice on the scope and solutions suitable for your specific product.