Pricing factors for lidstock packaging
What is a lidstock packaging?
Lidstock packaging (also called lidding film or lidding material) is a flexible film used to seal the top of a pre-formed tray, cup, container, or blister package. The lidstock is applied over the filled container and sealed—typically by heat, pressure, or ultrasonic sealing—to create a tamper-evident, protective closure.
Protects the product (barrier against moisture, oxygen, contaminants), provides tamper evidence, extends shelf life, and allows for branding and labeling.
Food (ready meals, dairy, fresh produce, meat, snacks), pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer goods in trays, cups, tubs, and blisters.
Multi-layer laminates or mono films such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyester, or foil-laminates. Layers provide combinations of sealability, barrier properties, printability, and stiffness.
What factors make up the price of lidstock packaging?
Unlike other flexible packaging products (mainly referring to pouches), a lidstock packaging manufacturer or supplier only needs to know two factors—”material structure” and “thickness”—to calculate the unit price of a product.
What do these two factors refer to?
Material structure
Refers to which materials are laminated together to form the lidstock packaging’s printing layer, barrier layer, and sealing layer.
Thickness
Refers to the total single-side thickness of the lidstock packaging in micrometers.
Two ways to quote the unit price of lidstock packaging
01/
Priced by kilogram
That is, how much per kilogram or per 1,000 kilograms—this is a common quoting method used by lidstock packaging manufacturers.
02/
Priced by square centimeter
That is, how much it costs per square centimeter; this is another pricing method used by lidstock packaging manufacturers. This method is somewhat cumbersome because the supplier must first convert kilograms into square centimeters using a formula, but its advantage is that it allows calculation of how many cups can be heat-sealed per unit square centimeter.
