A flexible packaging quote is only as accurate as the details behind it. Send a factory seven things — film structure, pouch format, dimensions, print, quantity, product type and certification needs — and you get a firm number in one round. Send only “500,000 pouches, please quote” and you get a padded estimate that changes three times before the order is placed.
What Is a Packaging RFQ?
An RFQ (request for quotation) is the document that tells a factory what to price. In flexible packaging it is not a formality — it is the actual engineering brief. A film structure that looks identical on a photo can differ by 40% in material cost depending on whether the barrier layer is EVOH, metallised PET or aluminium foil.
Most factories handle incomplete RFQs in one of two ways. Either they quote a mid-range structure and add a safety margin, or they reply with a long list of questions and the quote slips a week. Both outcomes cost you time. The fix is simple: put the seven details below in your first email.
The Seven Details That Decide Your Quote
Here is what a sales engineer needs to produce a firm number, and why each item matters.
| Detail | Example | Why it changes the price |
|---|---|---|
| Film structure | PET / AL / PE, or mono-PE | Barrier layer drives resin cost |
| Pouch format | Stand-up, flat bottom, roll stock | Converting steps and waste differ |
| Dimensions | 160 × 240 + 70 mm | Material area sets the floor price |
| 8-colour gravure, both sides | Plates and ink coverage | |
| Quantity | 50,000 pcs per size | MOQ and unit price tiers |
| Product | Roasted ground coffee, shelf life 9 months | Barrier and valve requirements |
| Certifications | FDA food contact, BRC factory audit | Documentation and audit costs |
Send all seven and most factories can quote within 24–48 hours. Send five and the quote comes back with assumptions you did not agree to. Send three and you are really asking for a price range, not a quote.
Why Do Vague RFQs Get Higher Prices?
Because the factory prices the unknown. A buyer who does not state the barrier requirement forces the sales engineer to assume a high-barrier structure, since under-specifying food packaging is a bigger commercial risk for the factory than over-specifying it. The quote then carries a 10–20% cushion that nobody removes later.
Vague quantities hurt even more. Flexible packaging pricing has fixed costs that do not scale down: gravure cylinders, press setup and film changeover all get amortised across your run. At 5,000 pouches those fixed costs can triple the unit price compared with 50,000. Stating a realistic annual volume — not just the first order — lets the factory quote honest price tiers instead of pricing defensively against a small trial.
There is a second-order effect too. When your RFQ is vague, different factories fill the gaps differently, so the quotes you receive are not comparable. You end up comparing one quote for PET/AL/PE against another for PET/EVOH/PE, which is a comparison of two different products.
How Much Does Printing Setup Change the Math?
Printing method is where RFQs most often mislead buyers. Gravure printing needs an engraved cylinder per design and per size, commonly adding a few hundred dollars per cylinder and a 7–12 day setup, but it wins decisively at high volume because the unit print cost drops sharply. Digital printing skips cylinders entirely, which makes it the right answer for SKUs under roughly 10,000 units, seasonal designs or frequent artwork changes — at a higher per-unit print cost.
State your expected split across SKUs in the RFQ. A realistic example: four designs at 8,000 units each and one hero SKU at 60,000 units is a digital-plus-gravure recommendation, and a factory that sees those numbers upfront will quote both routes. For a deeper comparison of the print methods themselves, see our guide to choosing a custom printed roll stock manufacturer, and for format-level cost trade-offs see the four-side seal pouch cost breakdown. Both pair well with this checklist before you send anything out.
How Do You Compare Quotes From Different Factories?
Once two or three quotes arrive, normalise them before comparing prices. Four checks take ten minutes and prevent most bad decisions:
- Same structure? Confirm the layer stack and total thickness, in microns, line by line. A 5 μm thinner barrier layer is not a saving; it is a different shelf life.
- Same dimensions? Check width, height and gusset, including whether height includes the seal area.
- Same inclusions? Degassing valves, zippers, hang holes and matting all carry real costs. A quote without a valve on a coffee pouch is missing a component, not saving money.
- Same terms? Compare Incoterms, lead time, payment and the cylinder cost treatment — amortised into the unit price or billed separately.
One more practical rule: ask each factory to state the assumed structure in writing. If a quote is silent on structure, it is not a quote.
What Should You Send If You Do Not Know the Structure Yet?
It is common to be unsure — that is what the product section of the RFQ is for. Describe the product, its fat and moisture content, the distribution channel, the target shelf life and any legal barrier requirements. A competent factory’s engineering team will propose a structure and justify it — for US food contact, that means a structure built from resins compliant with FDA 21 CFR 177.1520 (polyolefins) and related regulations, and for the EU, EU 10/2011 on plastic food contact materials.
Two things to request with any proposed structure: a certificate of analysis from a recent barrier test on that structure, and blank physical samples so your fill trial can run before you commit. If the proposed structure is a mono-material recyclable design, ask specifically for shelf-life data on it, because mono-PE and mono-PP structures trade some barrier for recyclability and the trade-off must be proven, not assumed.
FAQ
What is a flexible packaging RFQ?
It is a request for quotation that specifies your film structure, pouch format, dimensions, print requirements, quantity, product type and certification needs. The more complete the RFQ, the more accurate and comparable the quotes, because the factory does not have to guess and pad the price.
What details matter most for an accurate packaging quote?
Film structure, exact dimensions and realistic quantity tiers matter most, because they set material cost and fixed-cost amortisation. Product type matters equally for barrier selection. Print method, pouch format and certifications refine the number.
How much do gravure cylinders cost?
Cylinder pricing varies by size and country, but buyers should budget a few hundred dollars per cylinder per design and size, plus roughly one to two weeks of setup time. This is why gravure suits high-volume runs, while digital printing avoids cylinder costs on smaller quantities.
Why is my pouch quote so much higher than the unit price I saw online?
Listed prices usually assume high volumes, simple structures and no accessories. Your quote may include higher-barrier film, valves, zippers or lower quantities. Ask the factory to break the price into film, converting, printing and accessories so you can see which component drives the difference.
Before you finalise the closure and finish decisions that the RFQ implies, the zipper, easy-tear and spout pouch selection guide on OMOPACK and their comparison of matte versus gloss pouch finishes are useful reading to confirm the accessories in your specification.
How many quotes should I request?
Two to three is usually enough. More quotes rarely help unless each factory quotes the same written specification. Normalise structures, dimensions and terms first; otherwise you are comparing different products.
Can I get an accurate quote without artwork finished?
Yes, if you state the number of print colours, whether printing is on one or both sides, and your expected print method. Artwork affects plate costs but not the base film price, so a structure-and-quantity quote is reliable before final artwork exists.
