Spout and Retort Pouches for Liquids and Cooked Food

What is in the spout and retort pouch range?

Most pouches on this site hold dry goods. These five hold liquids, gels, purees and cooked food, so the film, the seals and the fitments are all different.

A spout pouch has a plastic spout welded into the top or corner, with a screw cap. A retort pouch is sealed, then cooked in a pressure vessel. A chub is a tube of film clipped at both ends.

The table gives each one a job.

Who uses spout and retort pouches in the UK?

Drinks brands come first: cold brew, juice, smoothies and ready-mixed cocktails sold at festivals and online. Baby food and fruit puree brands use the same spout pouch at 90 g to 120 g.

Ready meal producers, from curry kitchens to pet food makers, use retort pouches because the product keeps at room temperature after cooking in the pack.

Sports nutrition brands use gel pouches. Butchers, bakeries and raw pet food producers use chubs. The spout pouches with a screw cap are the entry point for most liquid products.

• Cold brew, juice and smoothie brands
• Baby food and fruit puree producers
• Ready meal, soup and sauce kitchens
• Wet pet food and raw feeding brands
• Sports nutrition and energy gel brands
• Butchers and bakeries packing dough or sausage meat

What size spout pouch holds your volume?

Spout pouches are sized in millilitres rather than grams, with the spout size chosen to suit the product. Thin liquids pour through an 8.6 mm spout. Purees and sauces need 10 mm or 16 mm.

Sizes below are common stand up spout pouches, measured width × height + gusset, with the spout centred in the top seal or set into a corner.

Which laminate works for liquids and for retort?

Liquids need a thicker inner PE layer than dry goods, 80 to 100 microns on its own, so the seals hold under the weight of the contents. PET / PE or PET / foil / PE are the usual builds for spout and drink pouches.

Retort is different. The inner layer is cast polypropylene, CPP, not PE, because PE softens at the 121 °C used to sterilise the pack. A typical retort build is PET 12 / foil 9 / CPP 70 microns.

Hot fill is a halfway house. Filling at 85 to 95 °C into a standard PET / foil / PE spout pouch works for sauces and juices that are then cooled fast. The retort pouches with a CPP inner layer page sets out when you need the full retort build. Higher barrier, food-contact and compostable films are quoted as options on request.

How do drink pouches differ from spout pouches?

A drink pouch is a spout pouch built to be drunk from, not poured. The spout is at the top centre, the cap is small enough to hold in the mouth, and the pouch is usually 200 ml to 330 ml.

Some drink pouches skip the spout and use a straw hole: a weak point in the top seal that a straw pushes through. That is the lower cost version for children's juice and festival cocktails.

Clear film shows the colour of the drink, which sells juice and cocktails. The drink pouches with a top spout are offered clear, printed or foil with a window.

• Top centre spout, small cap, 200 ml to 330 ml
• Straw hole option for lower cost
• Clear or windowed film to show the drink
• Freezer-safe film on request for frozen cocktail pouches

What makes an energy gel pouch different?

An energy gel pouch is small, 30 g to 60 g, and opened with one hand while moving. The tear-off top is the whole point. It must tear cleanly, every time, without the user needing to look.

Shaped pouches, like the tall slim shape in the photo, fit a cycling jersey pocket. Some brands use a mini spout with a cap so the gel can be taken in two goes.

Gels are thick and sweet, so the inner layer needs to resist sugar crystals and the pouch needs a wide enough neck. The energy gel pouches with a tear-off top are made to the shape and volume you specify.

What is chub packaging and who needs it?

A chub is a cylinder of film, filled by a machine that forms the tube, fills it and closes each end with a metal clip. Sausage meat, cookie dough, raw pet food and some putties and sealants are sold this way.

The film comes on a roll, printed with your design repeating along its length. There is no zipper and no spout. The customer cuts the end off.

Chub film is usually a PA / PE or PVDC-coated film, 60 to 90 microns, chosen for its strength and its barrier to oxygen. The chub packaging film with clipped ends is quoted by the roll and the number of chubs it will make.

Which spouts, caps and fitments are available?

Spouts come in 8.6 mm, 10 mm and 16 mm neck sizes. The number is the inside diameter of the spout. Caps are screw caps with a tamper band, or push-pull sports caps on drink pouches.

Corner spouts suit pouring, as the pouch can be tipped like a jug. Top centre spouts suit drinking and squeezing. Baby food brands use a rounded cap that is larger than the neck.

Retort pouches are plain sealed, with a tear notch, or fitted with a zipper for pet food that is used over two days. A chub has only its two clips.

How are spout and retort pouches printed?

Spout and drink pouches print in full colour on the front and back, with the gusset usually plain. Clear film takes a white block behind text so it reads against the liquid.

Retort pouches use inks that survive the 121 °C cycle. Plate print is the norm for retort because runs are large, though digital print is offered for trial batches.

Chub film prints as a repeat pattern along the roll. The repeat length is set by the chub length, so a 300 mm sausage has a 300 mm repeat. The design must still read when both ends are gathered into a clip.

Finishes on spout and drink pouches are usually gloss, which suits a drinks fridge. Matte and soft touch are offered for baby food and premium sauces, and spot gloss can pick out a logo on a matte pouch.

What goes wrong with liquid and retort pouch orders?

The spout size is the usual mistake. A thick puree will not pass an 8.6 mm spout and a thin drink pours too fast through a 16 mm one.

On retort, the error is ordering a standard PE laminate and finding the seals fail in the retort. On chubs, it is a repeat length that does not match the machine.

• Spout too small for the viscosity of the product
• Standard PE inner layer sent through a retort cycle
• Thin film on a 1 litre pouch, so the bottom seal splits when dropped
• Chub repeat length that does not match the filler
• Hot filling above 95 °C into a non-retort pouch

How do you order spout and retort pouches?

Send the product, its volume in millilitres, how thick it is and how it will be filled: cold, hot or retorted. Say whether the customer pours it, drinks it or squeezes it.

Pricing starts at £0.25 per unit and is confirmed in writing, with the quantity set per order. Our designers then draw the artwork onto the spout pouch dieline for a free proof, with the spout position marked.

Production is 4 to 6 business days from approval. Free tracked delivery to a UK address follows and takes 2 to 3 business days. Any misprint or transit damage reported inside 10 days with photos is reprinted or refunded.

1. Say what goes in the pouch and how thick it is.
2. Give the volume per pouch and the quantity.
3. Tell us the filling method: cold, hot fill or retort.
4. Choose the spout size and cap style.
5. Approve the free proof with the spout marked.
6. Receive the pouches with spouts fitted and caps on.