f you are starting a business selling cupcakes in a jar, your special jam on the Internet or getting a microbrewery off the ground, you need packaging that is economical and able to protect your glass bottles and jars. Wire-cut EPS packaging is the most economical form of polystyrene packaging available in small quantities. It provides shock absorbency if a package is dropped and can keep your product cold with the help of gel packs or dry ice. The thing that makes EPS (sometimes referred to as Styrofoam packaging) so economical in small quantities is the manufacturing process. The material is not molded, so it does not require an expensive mold that can cost between $16,000 and $20,000 to get started. It is not die cut so there is no additional cost for a cutting die that can run several hundred dollars or more. EPS for small and medium quantities of custom packaging is wire cut from a large block of foam. It can be economically wire cut into any two dimensional shape and pieces can be glued together in the factory to create finished custom packaging.
The accompanying photos are from a company that is selling a product they wanted to offer in a single pack, 2 pack and 4 pack. Starting with the customer’s sketches, Universal Foam Products created some prototypes for testing. The foam was sized to fit stock corrugated cartons so they could be ordered in small quantities. The prototypes were sent to our customer so they could ship their jars to different parts of the country and make sure the EPS would keep the jars from breaking. When the testing was successful, they then began to purchase the EPS in large quantities and market their product.
Universal has worked with companies shipping everything from fresh and frozen foods, wine and beer, as well as many non-food items. Once volume becomes large, it may be more economical to switch to molded packaging. We can provide that also. Let us assist you in planning the packaging for your product.
