TL;DR: A poorly structured brief is the single biggest cause of requotes and sample delays — get your bag dimensions, fill weight, material preference, and valve position confirmed before you send anything.
TL;DR: Printed production samples typically require 3–5 working days after artwork approval, but incomplete briefs add an average of 7–10 days to that timeline through revision cycles.
What a complete brief actually contains — and what’s usually missing #
When a brand manager sends us a request for coffee bag samples or a quote, the brief quality varies enormously. Some arrive with a full dieline, confirmed laminate structure, and fill weight already tested. Others say “kraft pouch, 250g coffee, zipper, please quote.” Both come through the same enquiry form. The difference in how fast we can respond is about two weeks.
A complete brief for coffee bag and valve pouches has six components: bag format and finished dimensions (W × H × gusset), target fill weight in grams, laminate structure preference or barrier requirement, valve type and preferred position, zipper style (press-to-close, slider, or no reseal), and intended print method with colour count. If you can provide all six upfront, we can return a quote within 2–3 working days. Missing two or more of those fields and we’re back-and-forth before we can even enter the job into our QC-03 sample intake log.
Bag dimensions are the most commonly missing item — and the most consequential. A 250g whole-bean coffee bag needs different panel dimensions than a 250g ground coffee bag because ground coffee has a higher bulk density and packs smaller. We’ve had briefs where the requested dimensions would produce a bag physically too narrow to accept a standard 30mm degassing valve on the front panel without overlapping the side gusset seal. That requires a complete structural rework.
Sample types, what each one costs you in time #
There are three sample stages we run for coffee pouches, and conflating them is where timelines slip.
White samples (also called unprinted structural samples) are made from a proxy laminate — often plain PET/PE or a kraft equivalent — and exist only to confirm bag construction: dimensions, gusset depth, seal width, valve fitment, and zipper operation. We produce white samples in 3–5 working days from a confirmed brief. They cost nothing in press time but tell you everything about whether the structure works before a single colour is printed.
Printed proofs (digital or short-run inkjet) are colour-accurate representations of your artwork on a flat laminate sheet. They are not produced on the bag-making machine, so they don’t validate seal quality or valve insertion — they validate colour, text, and barcode legibility. Resolution for print-ready artwork should be minimum 300 DPI at final size, with a 3mm bleed on all cut edges. We work in CMYK for standard runs; for Pantone matching on a flexo or rotogravure job we need Pantone codes specified in the brief, not just visual reference images.
Production samples (also called pre-production or GP samples) are made on the actual production line, with production film, production seal settings, and full valve insertion. These are the samples you use for shelf-life testing, fill trials on your packing equipment, and retailer submission. Lead time is 10–15 working days from artwork approval for a new laminate structure; 7–10 working days if you’re reordering an existing structure with a new design.
| Sample Type | Timeline from Brief | What It Validates | When to Request It |
|---|---|---|---|
| White / Unprinted Sample | 3–5 working days | Structure, dimensions, zipper, valve fit | Before committing to artwork development |
| Printed Proof (digital) | 5–7 working days | Colour accuracy, artwork layout, barcode | After structure is confirmed |
| Production Sample | 10–15 working days | Seals, barrier, fill compatibility, full spec | Before placing a production order |
For most new product launches, we recommend running white samples and production samples — skipping the printed proof is fine if your brand team is comfortable approving colour digitally against a calibrated monitor, which we support via G7-certified colour profiles on request.
The one variable that makes quotes impossible to compare fairly #
Coffee pouch quotes from three different suppliers will almost never be comparing the same product, even if the bag format looks identical. The laminate structure is where the divergence lives.
A standard three-layer kraft/PET/PE structure at 85gsm kraft face with 12µm PET and 80µm PE sealant layer has a meaningfully different barrier performance — and a different cost — than a four-layer kraft/PET/VMPET/PE structure with 9µm metallised PET replacing a foil layer. Both might be quoted as “kraft coffee bag with good barrier.” The oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of the first structure sits around 15–30 cc/m²/day depending on the PE sealant grade. The second drops that to under 2 cc/m²/day. For a whole-bean coffee with a 12-month shelf life target, that difference matters considerably.
When you receive quotes, ask every supplier to state the full laminate structure in their quotation — substrate by substrate, with GSM or micron thickness for each layer. If a supplier won’t or can’t provide that, the quote is not comparable. Per GB/T 10004-2008 and our internal QC-03 intake procedure, we specify all laminate layers explicitly in every quotation document we issue.
Also watch for valve cost inclusion. A standard 30mm one-way degassing valve adds approximately $0.04–0.07 per unit at typical MOQ ranges of 5,000–10,000 pieces. Some suppliers quote the bag price without the valve; others include it. That delta, multiplied across 10,000 units, is a real number.
Artwork file preparation — what causes delays at our end #
We work with print-ready PDF (PDF/X-4 preferred), AI, or EPS files. Embedded images must be minimum 300 DPI at final output size. All fonts converted to outlines. Colour mode: CMYK for standard flexo; include Pantone references separately if spot colour matching is required.
The three most common file problems we log under our artwork intake checklist (form AW-02) are: missing bleed (we need 3mm minimum on all edges), RGB images not converted to CMYK, and text placed too close to the seal zone. For coffee pouches specifically, the bottom gusset fold and the fin seal or side seal will obscure anything within 8–10mm of the bag edge. Designs that place barcodes or mandatory label text in that zone require redesign, which costs 5–7 days of back-and-forth with the brand’s design team.
One industry debate worth flagging: some converters require full bleed across the valve cutout area, while others (including us) prefer the valve position to be marked as a blank zone on the dieline so print doesn’t apply adhesive in that area. Neither approach is wrong — but they require different file setups. Clarify which convention your supplier uses before sending final artwork.
Specification Notes for Brand Partners #
When you brief us on a coffee pouch project, the minimum information we need to quote accurately is: bag format (stand-up pouch, flat bottom, side-gusseted, or pillow), finished flat dimensions with gusset depth, target fill weight in grams, one-way valve requirement (yes/no, and preferred diameter — 30mm is standard), zipper type, laminate preference or barrier specification, print colour count, and target order quantity.
The gap that most consistently causes extra sample rounds is fill weight without bulk density data. A 500g fill weight for ground espresso and 500g for coarse filter grind occupies different volumes. If you can provide a rough bulk density (grams per litre) or a filled bag from a current supplier, we can set correct dimensions from the start.
Our standard sampling timeline from a complete brief is: white sample in 3–5 working days, production sample in 10–15 working days from artwork approval. Jobs with custom laminate structures or non-standard valve sizes add 3–5 working days for material sourcing. The fastest way to shorten the overall timeline is to arrive with a confirmed structure rather than asking us to recommend one — though we’re happy to do that too, with your shelf-life and market data in hand.
How do I know if my bag dimensions are correct before ordering samples?
Send us your fill weight, product bulk density if you have it, and your target bag format. We’ll back-calculate the recommended panel width, height, and gusset depth using our standard volume-to-dimension formula and send you a dieline within 1–2 working days for review before any samples are cut.
What’s the minimum order quantity for production samples?
Production sample runs typically require a minimum of 100–200 units to run a meaningful seal validation and produce enough pieces for fill testing. This is separate from your commercial MOQ, which for coffee pouches generally starts at 5,000 units for flexo-printed structures.
Can I compare quotes if suppliers are using different laminate structures?
It depends on whether your shelf-life requirement is fixed or flexible. If you need a 12-month ambient shelf life for roasted whole beans, an OTR above 2–3 cc/m²/day is likely too high regardless of price. If your product moves in 60 days and is sold through a cold chain, a lower-barrier structure may be fully adequate. The laminate structure drives the price — make sure the spec is comparable before treating the quote numbers as equivalent.
Planning a packaging project? Contact our team to request a complimentary specification review and sample quote.
