How to select packaging film for powder supplements — and the mistakes that cost brands thousands.

Most brands spend months on their formula and about two weeks on their packaging film. This is backwards. The film is the primary barrier between your product and everything that degrades it — moisture, oxygen, light, heat. It also has to run correctly on the specific machine your co-packer uses. Getting it wrong is expensive.

This guide covers what actually matters when selecting film for powder supplement sachets and stick packs — in plain English, not spec sheet jargon.

The Two Things Film Has to Do

Before we get into material types, understand what film is actually required to accomplish:

1. Protect your product — keep moisture out, keep oxygen out (if relevant), maintain stability through the product's shelf life.
2. Run on the machine — seal cleanly, feed consistently, form the pouch correctly at production speed without jamming, tearing, or misfeeding.

A film that does one without the other is a problem. A beautiful, high-barrier film that won't heat-seal at your co-packer's sealing temperature is useless. A film that runs perfectly but lets moisture through will ruin your product in three months. Both matter equally.

The Core Film Structure: Laminates and What Each Layer Does

Most packaging film for powder supplements is a laminate — multiple layers of different materials bonded together. Each layer does a job:

Outer layer (print layer)

This is what your customer sees. Typically oriented polypropylene (OPP) or polyester (PET). PET is more rigid and gives a higher-quality print surface. OPP is softer and slightly less premium-looking but costs less and can have a nice matte finish.

Middle barrier layer(s)

This is where the protection happens. Common barrier materials:

• Aluminum foil — the gold standard for moisture and oxygen barrier. Opaque. Used for products with strict stability requirements or sensitive active ingredients. Heavier, more expensive, not recyclable.
• Metalized film (VMPET or VMOPP) — a thin aluminum coating on polyester or polypropylene. Good moisture barrier, reasonable oxygen barrier, lighter than foil, silver/shiny appearance. Less barrier performance than true foil but sufficient for most powder supplements.
• Transparent high-barrier films — silicon oxide (SiOx) or aluminum oxide (AlOx) coatings on clear film. High barrier without the metallic appearance — allows you to show the product through the packaging. Expensive. Used when the visual product presentation matters.

Inner sealant layer

The layer that touches your product and heat-seals the pouch closed. Almost always polyethylene (PE) or cast polypropylene (CPP). This layer has to seal at a temperature your co-packer's machine can hit, form a strong hermetic seal, and be food-safe in contact with your specific product.

The sealant layer is where most film-to-machine compatibility problems originate. Different PE grades seal at different temperatures. If your film's sealant layer requires 180°C to seal and your co-packer's machine maxes at 160°C, you're not getting a seal. Always confirm sealant layer specifications with your co-packer before ordering film.

Matching Film to Your Product

Product Type	Recommended Barrier	Why
Standard protein powder (whey, pea, collagen)	Metalized laminate (VMPET)	Good moisture barrier, cost-effective, standard shelf life requirements
Electrolyte / salt-heavy blends	Metalized or foil laminate	Salts are hygroscopic — higher moisture barrier protects flow and clumping
Products with fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K)	Foil laminate or high-barrier transparent	Fat-soluble vitamins oxidize — low oxygen transmission rate critical
Botanical extracts / adaptogens	Foil laminate	Many botanical actives are sensitive to both moisture and light
Coffee or flavor-forward products	Foil laminate	Flavor compounds permeate standard barriers — foil prevents loss and contamination
General wellness / fiber blends	Metalized laminate	Lower barrier requirements, cost-effective option is usually sufficient

The Specifications That Actually Matter

When your film supplier sends you a spec sheet, these are the numbers to pay attention to:

• Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate (MVTR) — how much water vapor passes through the film per unit area per day. Lower is better for most powder products. Foil = essentially zero. Metalized = very low. Uncoated films = too high for most supplements.
• Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR) — how much oxygen passes through. Critical for products with oxidation-sensitive ingredients. Foil is near-zero. Metalized is low but not as low as foil.
• Seal initiation temperature — the minimum temperature at which the sealant layer will form a bond. Must be within your co-packer's machine range.
• Seal strength — the force required to open a seal. For powder sachets, a minimum of 1.5–2.5 lbs/inch is typical. Too low and the pouch opens in shipping. Too high and the customer can't open it.
• Film gauge (thickness) — measured in microns or gauge. Thicker = stronger and more barrier, but stiffer and harder to seal. Thinner = more flexible but more fragile. Most powder supplement sachets run 80–120 micron total laminate thickness.

The Most Common and Most Expensive Mistakes

Ordering film before confirming machine compatibility

The single most common and most costly mistake. A brand orders 100,000 impressions of printed film based on their designer's mockup, then discovers at production time that the sealant layer doesn't seal at their co-packer's machine temperature, or the film gauge is too thick for the feed system, or the film width is wrong for the sachet size.

The fix: Get your film supplier's technical spec sheet to your co-packer before you order. Ask them to confirm compatibility with their specific machine and your target pouch size. Do a proof-of-concept run with a small film sample before committing to a full print run.

Choosing film based on appearance without considering barrier

Matte finish looks great. Clear film shows the product. Soft-touch lamination feels premium. None of these things matter if the barrier performance is wrong for your product. We've seen brands choose film because it looked amazing in the mockup, only to discover their electrolyte product was clumping inside the pouch within 60 days because the moisture barrier was insufficient.

Forgetting about the print area vs. seal area

Your die line (the template for your pouch) has a print-safe area and a seal area. Artwork that runs into the seal area — including ink, metallic effects, or design elements — can compromise seal integrity. Your designer needs your film supplier's die line, and your film supplier needs to review artwork before printing. Don't skip this step.

Underestimating lead time

Custom-printed roll stock takes 10–14 business days from artwork approval to delivery. Not from when you order — from when the film supplier approves your artwork. Artwork revisions add time. This is the most consistent cause of delayed production runs we see at Overgang. Order your film before you think you need to.

Not specifying core size and roll diameter

Your film needs to be wound on cores that are compatible with your co-packer's machine. At Overgang we use 3-inch cores. Maximum roll OD (outside diameter) on our machine is 15 inches. If your supplier winds film on 6-inch cores at 20-inch OD, it won't load. Confirm these specs with your co-packer before your supplier produces the rolls.