Author: John Rumsey

Barrier Bags are Your Best Bet

Published on by John RumseyLeave a comment

When storing food or coffee it’s imperative to consider the best options, barrier bags provide an oxygen barrier in order to protect products. Often times these bags can be found in an upright form in order to display their contents while they are preserving the freshness of the products and preventing spoilage. 

It’s important to keep in mind that in using this type of storage there is an implication of the elements in our atmosphere causing degradation, and oxygen is often the culprit. the idea behind a barrier bag -or foil bag- is to eliminate the oxygen inside of the package so the contained product is able to sustain a longer shelf life. 

Due to the lowering of oxygen in the bags being the goal there is a need for different materials than standard Polyethylene or Polypropylene, or even a combination of different materials. Oxygen rates are not the only transmission rates that are tested to ensure proper preservation; also tested are water vapor transmissions, carbon dioxide transmission rates, and more. Below is a description for each type of permeation test for barrier bags.

Oxygen Transmission Rate (O2TR) – oxygen permeability testing has evolved over the years and many tests are conducted using sensors for measuring oxygen permeability and infrared for water vapor. The ability to keep oxygen levels at the desired rate depends on the permeability of the bag being used.

Water Vapor Transmission Rate (WVTR) – The water vapor transmission rate measures the amount of moisture able to pass through a material. Some products with high moisture content need to release moisture during storage, while others don’t. 

Carbon Dioxide Transmission Rate (CO2TR) – Carbon dioxide transmission rates are important for items such as carbonated beverages and other products containing carbonation. A low transmission rate will keep carbonation from escaping during storage. Fruits and vegetables release CO2 and having a barrier bag to allow carbon dioxide to escape can be advantageous during shelf storage.

Coffee packaging – Ground coffee releases fewer CO2 than whole bean coffee, and the moisture content for whole bean coffee and ground coffee is imperative for the proper taste. Both types of coffee and their packaging are dependent on each of the aforementioned types of testing, and both moisture transmission and oxygen transmission come into play as well. 

Polyethylene bags have high oxygen transmission rates and they can work for short-term storage and protection, but they are not capable of barrier packaging. Seal-able and coated paper bags provide minimal oxygen barrier and can help items stay fresher longer. Some coffee roasters will use coated paper bags for whole bean coffee storage. 

Co-Extruded poly bags are made from more than one material. Layers of materials such a nylon and poly help make these bags form an oxygen barrier, and they are typically used for home and industrial use. Co-Extruded Poly bags with the addition of an EVOH layer will lower oxygen transmission rates and provide better barrier protection than those without the EVOH layer. EVOH is a co-polymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol made for barrier packaging. Foil laminated barrier bags have the lowest light and oxygen transmission and are used to increase shelf life for many products, like potato chips. For coffee packaging, a foil bag is recommended as it will help preserve the freshness of the coffee. 

How to Be Proactive with Slack Fill 

Published on by John RumseyLeave a comment

Slack fill is something that’s been relevant since California had regulations that revised the exemptions of this, and also widened the scope of both food and nonfood items. The rationale behind this is that it’ll protect the customers and disable using the packaging size as an unfair competition. The regulations offer the same rules in terms of slack fill, and as there are waves after waves of anti-packaging continuing, a lot of times, the empty space in packaging becomes a glaring problem. So how do you stop slack fill? You need to be more proactive of course! Here are some ways for you to be more proactive with slack fill so that it isn’t a problem with your packaging. 

Do an Audit of the Packaging 

An audit of the slack fill will show the baseline for what exactly are the packaging alignments and the regulations needed to offer better components and aspects of this that have to be addressed. This is done with a packaging expert and a legal team, offering explanation and justification for this, along with a composite package, and the best way to look at empty space and how to render it for the proper regulations. The research on tis is warranted at times. 

Communicate Packaging Functions 

Communication on packaging functions is essential, since a lot of professionals in packaging have reduced the amount of this to offer reduction or sustainability on this. The optimization of this, the constraints of manufacturing, the product protection, and the labeling of such are all there, and through communicating you can properly optimize this so that it costs a whole lot less and fulfills the regulations, and it can then be screened to help explain when it’s properly documented during the audit of this too. 

Tell Consumers how Much Fill there Is 

This is good because it can help seal the gap between whether or not something is slack fill, or if it’s supposed to be legally functional. Slack fill is the difference between the capacity of your container and the amount of product that’s there. This is easy for milk, since it fills the entire package, but in most cases, there is not always a good idea of the type of conformity of this. 

You need to understand that if you tell them and show that there aren’t gaps, or maybe the gaps are there to add fill for protection can help customers better understand the need for this. You also want to make sure that when consumers open it, there isn’t a bunch of gaps and such and also there is a “headspace” that’s above the height of your spheres.  You want to make sure that clearly sowing the communication of the empty space is good. 

Adopt Sections to Show the Fill Level 

You want to make sure that you show that there is a clear section of the packaging which shows the fill level of this. It will fill the height of the packaging clearly, communicating to customers as well, providing the exemption too. You want to make sure that with this, you do look at the fill level, and making sure that you look at how you can offer the right ways to be proactive with this to avoid the slack fill. Customers don’t like slack fill, since it can be ugly, distracting and whatnot, and you’ll want to, with this, make sure that you’re not improperly using this, but instead, being proactive and smart with it as you go along, and as you start to work on your packaging needs as well. 

Shipping and E-commerce changes

Published on by John Rumsey1 Comment

This year and last have changed how our economy runs.  The changes from the pandemic and lockdowns have really moved us to shop more from home then we do in person.  The swap has been incredible.  Shipping things across the nation goes back quite a bit in time. Images of postmen on horses in the early American west may spring to mind. Runners with messages back in Greece may also creep into your thoughts. But how is it that we’ve little to no recollection of parcels being taken from one far off land to another? Why is it always mail and written letters that we think of crossing continents? 

In reality, boxes are more prevalent than anything but shipping containers now.  We have moved into a new realm of commerce.


The old thoughts are gone and the new generation has taken hold. The biggest reason is likely just that: continents are made of land. Traveling on land was much harder back in the day and took much more time for fewer, smaller items. Yet when you think of shipping overseas, the namesake of the word is the first thing you focus on: ships. Crossing bodies of water on huge vessels laden with packages, goods, parcels, and people was no problem and took little energy thanks to sails.

What does this mean with modern travel when ii t comes to these? It really means that now the whole industry even how it gets there is changing.  It is more about speed then anything now.  So, now that we have planes (“airships”), trains, and trucks, the process is just as reliable, quick, and efficient as ships were back in the day, if not more so. Our goods, toys, books, technology, clothes, and whatever else we order off the internet arrive safe and sound on our doorsteps in shipping supplies made to withstand long bouts of travel. We can easily pay for our things online thanks to credit cards and the internet. And what we see online is what ends up arriving at our houses, just as promised. It’s kind of amazing, really.

How many new companies have started this year?  Millions of eCommerce ones I believe.  So, it comes as no surprise that the most abundant new businesses popping up in the last few years revolve around shipping things to people who order something on an online catalog. This is called e-commerce, and it’s wildly popular for entrepreneurs looking to carve their niche in a budding industry. So long as you think of a product that’s specific enough to capture a wide audience’s attention and convince them they need it, especially from your company, you’ll have a decent chance of succeeding.

So do you jump into this new realm?  I think it is wise. Whether or not you’re one of these entrepreneurs taking advantage of online goods sales, you’ve definitely been affected by the arising culture. Almost everyone has accounts saved on some website online because purchasing something off the internet and having it sent to your house is just so much easier than going to a store to find what it is you’re looking for. You save time, energy, and gas by simply clicking a button on your computer at home and waiting for your items to arrive in shipping supplies.

Save Money On Packing Product for your Company

Published on by John Rumsey1 Comment

If you are part of 2020 then you are probably living with a garage full of boxes and bags from online purchases.  If you are reading this in the future that may seem rather strange, or in the past, it makes no sense. But what happened this year was a change in how the entire country shopped.  We are now in a world where it is taboo to go out and shop in person.  The pandemic s has even made it illegal in some places to do and has shut down tons of brick and mortar stores all over the country. 

This has left so many companies with the task of surviving by selling online and sending all their items through the mail.  It has been a huge change and the Black Friday Sales and Cyber Monday sales have gone through the roof for online sales and it has shown the entire world that this is the new way to shop.  But this also means that so many companies are struggling to keep up with this new way of doing business and are not staying competitive.  So I want to go over some ways to save money on packing all those products and maybe help you stay relevant in this new and cutthroat industry. 

There are some amazing tips and tricks to not going under and a lot of it has to do with taking just a little time to negotiate a good deal.  That is something that you will do a lot in business and you will get better at it over time.  Once you learn that there really are a ton of options and places to shop you learn that you can ask for more and expect more as well.  I know that negotiating was something that took me some time and the power to walk away is always worth having.  It is also an amazing feeling to know that you are not bound to make a bad deal or forced into it.  I have seen people lose their entire lives by making bad deals and signing personal liability away on contracts.  It is a crushing thing to see. 

So work hard, on making deals but make the deals in the right places as well.  One area that you will be using a ton and many companies don’t focus enough on this area is shipping supplies.  If you are selling online is should make sense that you will send that item out and every single order gets mailed.  What this means is that you have to buy the shipping supplies in order to pack that item up and get it out.  If you are losing money on each and every order by not getting your boxes, bags, and tape at a good price then you may be in trouble. 

I know your competition has a good deal and they are taking all that money to buy more advertising and inventory.   So make sure you shop around and are buying in bulk and with a big discount.  You don’t need to shop at a local big box store or Amazon.  You are now a company so go to the source and not only will you probably get the best price, but some good advice on items to use as well.

How To Start An ECommerce Company

Published on by John RumseyLeave a comment

If you have been keeping up to date with recent developments in the business world, then you may have heard of this little thing called eCommerce. Of course, I am being a little bit facetious in this manner. If you are worth anything in the business world, then you’ve definitely heard of eCommerce. The thing about eCommerce is that it has continued to become more and more popular with time, and it seems as though things are only going to become more and more lucrative as time goes on.

I have a lot of business partners who have looked into starting their own eCommerce companies, but it is true that it can be harder to start this type of business than one may think. Fortunately for you, I have a lot of experience and extensive knowledge about this sort of topic, So if you are looking for some brief tips and tricks on how to start your next eCommerce business, then you are in the right place my friend. The first thing you need to know is that I am a man of honesty and complete integrity, and I would never speak on a topic like this unless I had complete faith in my own skills and ability to properly impart my wisdom and knowledge onto you. With that being said, let’s get into it.

The first thing you need to know about eCommerce is that there are many different types of eCommerce business. The online world is broad, and this translates to the way that business is done within an online setting. For starters, let’s talk about a few different business models for eCommerce companies. The first type is called Business to Consumer, which is exactly what it sounds like. Basically, this model is for businesses that are looking to sell specific products and goods directly to consumers. There is also a model called Business to Business, which is basically where a company is selling products specifically to other businesses that want to buy them. An example of this might be a packaging and supply company that sells shipping boxes to other businesses. Businesses that need shipping boxes in order to ship out their products can buy from this packaging and supply company, and therefore participate in Business to Business eCommerce. Within the different models of eCommerce businesses, there are also different business models and means of selling and distribution.

So let’s talk a little bit more about eCommerce. Within online buying and selling, there exists a delivery model called Direct to Consumer. This means that the eCommerce business is making, manufacturing, selling, and distributing all it’s own products directly to the customers that are buying it. This is a model that a lot of eCommerce companies have been using for years, and it is often where the biggest profit margins can be found in any business. There is also another eCommerce delivery model known as wholesaling, which entails selling mass quantities of products or goods in bulk, usually to other businesses. If you have not put it together already, this type of delivery model usually falls within the Business to Business model of eCommerce. There is a lot more that you need to know about eCommerce before you start your own company, so make sure to come back for part two of this article!

Treats in Boxes are Better than Bags

Published on by John RumseyLeave a comment

It is a little interesting how things are packaged these days.  Even now, I find that the way shopping happens is strange.  As you stroll through the store looking to get groceries (or treats, in this article’s instance), do you ever stop to consider how much plastic our food is housed in? Bags of noodles are in plastic. Almost all frozen foods are in a plastic bag within a cardboard box. All of this plastic is simply everywhere and all around. 

Plastic, unfortunately, reigns supreme in packaging so much of our food, even though it’s quite toxic for the environment and can take anywhere from 450 to 1000 years to decompose. That’s almost 1800 to 4000 times longer than it takes cardboard to decompose, people. Wow, that means that it is a much more difficult product to get rid of and yet we tend to trash a vast majority of it in the ground and not recycle it.  

This goes for all the small things in your life.  Ponder on how you can help make differences as well.  The next time you’re walking down the candy aisle, as we’ve finally come to focus on, take a close look at all the candies in plastic and those in cardboard. It’s really quite crazy how much plastic we actually use, especially in that one aisle alone! Imagine how much other plastic packaging you’d find in every other aisle of the store, though. It is a big switch up and it can help your persective.

So why am I going about saying that candy boxes are, by far, much more useful overall than bags? When you think about it, though, we see bags far more often at stores, though. Plastic reigns supreme in the packaging of candy unless you’re at the theater looking to get your licorice fix.  It hurts to see and I want to work on making a change.

Is there really a true need for all of this plastic thought?  Why is this, though? Why is it that plastic bags are far more common than cardboard candy boxes? And why is it that, half the time, the small cardboard boxes have plastic bags of candy within them? It simply is annoying that the FDA puts these rules together just to let us taste and eat plastic too.

Part of it is likely freshness. A sealed plastic bag is guaranteed to keep candies fresh. And while sugary candies are likely much better off at staying “fresh” for longer than chocolates, the whole point is to have an extremely long shelf life.  The thing is, plastic isn’t very environmentally friendly. So if you make your own candies are confectionaries, think about popping your treats in cardboard boxes for your customers. They’re more sustainable, typically have dividers within so that you can include different candies in different compartments, and they’re classier with a touch of uniqueness in the face of all the plastic we see daily. I believe that there has to be another way for all of this.

We must find another change.  No matter which you opt for, though, consider the environmental impact you’re making by choosing not to go with plastic. Your customers can feel much better about being able to recycle something more natural than plastic, to boot.

Be Careful with USPS and eBay

Published on by John RumseyLeave a comment

I love the new world we are living in.  Everyone is using online shopping and the eCommerce world is thriving.  We changed how we shopped as a nation this year do to all the pandemic legislation.  It has been a crazy time, but one thing has thrived when most of the economy crashed, and that was the online selling world.  But as millions of people are jumping into selling online there is a lot to know about some of the most basic places to start.  Tons of people are heading to eBay to start their company and I think that is a great and super easy choice, but there are things to know.  There is also a lot to know about USPS and how you plan on sending your items to your buyers once they make a purchase.

This year is 2020 and eBay has made some fundamental changes to the way things work.  They decided to get rid of PayPal as a major way people could pay for items.  This was a very sad thing to see, but now it makes the costs of selling on eBay a little more straight forward.  What you used to do was to pay a fee to eBay for listing your item online.  That allowed people to see how many items you had for sale.  Now sometimes they give you a limit of items you can list and they will allow you to it for free and charge you after that limit. But now they are not only charging a listing fee but they charge a seller’s fee.  Every time you sell an item they used to charge 10%.  That means if you sell an item for 100 dollars you would receive a 10 dollar bill from eBay at the end of the month.  This means that you only make 90% of the money you sell on eBay.  But there is a little more to it. When someone used to pay with PayPal you would be charged a 3% charge for that transaction.  So on each sell, you would actually lose 13% of your money.  But now that has changed and eBay cut out PayPal.  You now only pay 12.5% directly to eBay. 

This is a fee you need to think about when selling any item on eBay because you will be charged no matter what and it will come a month later.  So prepare and budget for this cost and remember to charge more for it.

But another area is when you go to send your items to your buyer.  You need to make sure you are not losing money on shipping supplies.  This means that you have to buy boxes and bags and tape to send those items.  Shipping supplies are expensive and you should not buy them directly from USPS.  This will cost a ton of money and you will end up having issues.  So one thing you need to see is that many people will offer free shipping on eBay.  That means that you will be charged to ship the item out of the original selling price.  So make sure to add that cost to your selling price. I remember losing money on my first sale because after fees I lost 40% of the profit when I purchased all the stuff to ship and sent the item.

All about Chipboard’s Uses 

Published on by John RumseyLeave a comment

There are so many different types of ways to package items, with one of them being chipboard. This is something that lets you package different items. You may wonder what the uses for this are, and the chipboard is used more than you might believe, for a variety of different products in various industries. Here, we’ll go over the different uses of this. 

Beauty Items 

A lot of us love cosmetics, and you’ve probably gotten a product that’s in chipboard packaging. Because it’s super durable, and because there are different partitions which help with keeping products separated, this is one of the best for packaging beauty items. Concealer, perfume, eyeliners, and the like all come with this, and since they’re partitioned, it lets everything come safely to the store or to the customer’s hands. 

Lightbulbs 

Did you know that lightbulbs come with this? This is because the packaging is good to protect these super fragile items by offering them cushioning on ever single side. There is also a hole near the top portion of this, in order to ensure that the bulbs are then individually sold, and from there, hung on different racks made of metal. Chipboard also reduces the environmental results of this, and this is something you don’t have to fret, since you don’t have to worry about the carbon footprint that comes with this. 

Because of chipboard, you don’t have to worry about breaking lightbulbs as much, since they do protect them in a much better manner than other kinds of packaging. 

Tech Products 

If you’re someone who buys the current phone, or even some snazzy new headphones, the tech industry is blessed by this. Shattered screens and tech toys are the last ting you want, and with chipboard, you can avoid all of that. That’s because different partitions then get added towards the boxes, offering extra cushioning too, and they also let customers know a bit more about everything that they’re buying too, with brands looking to incorporate sleeves too, making this look sleeker than ever before! 

Small items of Food 

Chipboard is great for a lot of smaller food items, but also for protecting them from daily wear and movements. It also does look to consider the weather issues and also keeps anything that’s not wanted to come in contact with this. Soggy bread and cookies are the last thing that you want, and with chipboard, they protect just that, offering product integrity that’s so durable, it keeps everything from breaking down, so that you can look at this and chow on down! 

And that’s not all, it’s small, convenient, and also some with other little partitions. These partitions are great if you’re selling different, tiny products that require you to separate all of this, letting you have the different snacks that you want, without the possible guilt that may come with potentially ruining this. 

With that said, this is but a few of the many ways for you to use chipboard, and it’s considered one of the most versatile products currently on the market. You can even use this for scrapbooking, so if you’re curious about how to use this, you can add chipboard to the different products that you’re creating, and you can even make it custom too. Everyone loves a little custom item, and with chipboard products, you get just that, and some of the best types of products that you can get. Ry chipboard for any of these products, or so much more if you’re someone who wants a unique item for your products right now as well. 

Packaging Gamification to Improve unboxing 

Published on by John RumseyLeave a comment

Packaging design is great for a lot of reasons. When you leverage packaging in order to create playful experiences, it enhances everything. One such manner is unboxing and gaming. 

People love games. They make it fun, exciting, and thrilling for all sorts of people. Giving people a game that they can play while unboxing is magical in a sense, because it allows them to really interact with the items that they have.   Here, we’ll go over how the gamification of things is being used for the better of many people’s lives, ensuring that you’re getting the same high-quality experience all around. 

Th Examples OF Such 

There’s a lot of great examples of this type of packaging. 

One of the most common is puzzle boxes, which are boxes that can offer puzzles for people to solve. 

The second one is hidden compartments, which you can further add to a game by making it so that customers need to solve these things in order to progress. 

Finally, there’s AR and VR treasure hunts. These are made with the AR and VR technologies that people love, thereby enhancing the overall experience and really making it fun for everyone. It’s a simplistic game, but the results of such are out of this world. 

The applications 

Some of the most popular applications are in the world of subscription boxes. So many subscription boxes love to add these games to everything, because the person who gets this every single month is able to bring these boxes to life and really make things shine.

The second one is holiday packaging. Adding some fun holiday games to your packaging brings people together, and makes the holiday seasons even more fun.

The third application is kids toys. A lot of kids toys benefit from this type of packaging, because let’s face it, kids love games. Parents love them too, and when you’re able to bring a game into all of this, then you’ve come to the right place. 

The Benefits 

There’s a lot of great benefits for adding games to your packaging. It might not seem like much, but there are some expansive benefits worth mentioning when we look at games and incorporate them into the overall packaging experience. 

It boosts engagement, which is something that so many people are able to enjoy. More engagement means more spread and awareness of what you have to offer as a packaging or business provider. 

The other benefit is that it encourages social media sharing. Again, better brand engagement with both new and old people, and also incorporates better experiences on all fronts. 

The third reason is that it makes everything memorable. Memorable packaging plays such a large part in the overall success of your packaging that it’s no wonder why people will enjoy it. Being able to handle all of this and give a worthwhile customer experience really enhances the overall hype that you feel with your packaging, and gives people a boost of encouragement. 

So yes, when you give your customers something like this, it changes the game. 

Future Trends 

The next step with this packaging is to create fully-integrated forms of digital games that are triggered by physical packaging interactions. While still a ways away, it’s one to consider, and really enhances the experiences on all fronts, and really creates a worthwhile packaging interaction not just with the brand, but the customers too, improving the overall scope of each of the interactions, and boosting your overall online presence for not just now, but also for future experiences with new and old customers that come around as well. 

Did you think these drinks have so much sugar?

Published on by John Rumsey1 Comment

Now it may be 21st century but some things can still surprise you.  It is really incredible what I am now learning about health and not because of the pandemic.  One of those areas that come to mind is teeth thanks to all these stupid mask mandates.  When it comes to dental health, so often we hear to stay away from candies. Why is it that candy of all things seems to be the “big bad guy” of the dental world? Well, one of the main reasons is how sugary they are. The more sugar you consume, the more likely that sugar is to take hold on your teeth and cause plaque to build up and eat away at your teeth’s enamel.  Part of this is done for some awful reasons. 

The thing is, there are other food and drinks out there that have far more sugar than candy boxes contain; you just don’t ever hear about it.  It is something that our media and FDA try to keep out of all news so we become addicted to it and are forced to use it in our foods every day.  Our tariffs that are placed on alternatives destroy any possibility of having it any other way.  

So, we’ve come up with a list of those drinks that are pretty common yet have tons of sugar. Whether you’re trying to stay hydrated playing sports or want to enjoy juice at home, you should definitely keep an eye on drink labels if you want to keep your teeth healthy.

It really is sad to see that grape juice is mostly just bad for you.  Tooth decay can often occur because of the various “healthy” fruit juices you may have at home. But were you aware that grape juice contains more sugar than almost any other type of juice?  That is because it is simply not really good for you at all.  A twelve ounce glass of grape juice contains more than 58 grams of sugar. That’s 2 full ounces of pure sugar in the twelve ounce glass and around 20 grams more than a can of soda.  This means it can really harm your health and you should think about drinking something else on a regular basis.

It is truly sad to think that a health drink like vitamin water could be one of the least healthy drinks of all.  But drinks with “vitamin” in their names aren’t always as healthy as they may advertise. While they may be packed with specific vitamins, be sure to check the label for what all is within. So before you grab yourself a vitamin water, you should know that a regular twenty-ounce bottle has 31 grams of sugar. For comparison, a regular size candy bar has around 27 grams.So, think about that the next time you want to drink healthy things.  Go get a water instead. 

We all know that sports drinks like Gatorade are not super healthy, but are there for a purpose of allowing you to keep up a sporting activity.  This is another common go-to drink for people who are active in sports and exercise. Unfortunately, it may not be the best choice for post-exercise rehydration. While it can vary between flavors, a typical twenty-ounce bottle of Gatorade averages 34 grams of sugar.  This is a terrible way to feel healthy and for most people, they are rotting their teeth while they play basketball. Why not eat a few candy boxes instead.