Discreet Polybag and Shrink Sleeve Packaging with Blind Label Options

Rigid packaging gets the attention, but most discreet programmes ship in flexible packaging: a polybag on the counter, a shrink sleeve over a bottle, a blind label over a barcode. The flexible half of the programme is quoted per piece rather than per carton, which means the packaging cost sits inside the product's margin rather than beside it, and a programme that prices flexible packaging like rigid packaging gets the margin wrong by a factor of ten.

We supply flexible discreet packaging for wellness and accessory programmes: printed and plain polybags, shrink sleeves and blind labels, as a standalone packaging programme or as a component to the buyer's own packer.

Polybags: the format that carries the discretion

The standard discreet polybag is an opaque or metallised PE bag with a zip or a heat seal, printed plain or with a blind label covering the entire panel. The discretion comes from three decisions: opacity, because a clear bag on a counter is not discreet at any print quality; label coverage, because a blind label has to cover the barcode, the origin panel and any print that shows through; and seal type, because a zip bag that can be opened and reclosed by a child is a different audit question from a heat-sealed bag that cannot.

Shrink sleeves: the label is the programme

A shrink sleeve is printed PETG that is applied over a container and steamed or heat-shrunk to fit, and it is the cheapest way to give a plain bottle a full-colour brand. For discreet programmes the sleeve does the same job in reverse: it covers an existing label, a moulded-in logo, or a window. The fit is the specification: a sleeve that shrinks to the wrong diameter wrinkles at the shoulder, and the wrinkle is where a blind label peels. We quote against the container sample rather than the drawing and verify the shrink on the actual bottle.

Specification

Blind labels: coverage is the audit

A blind label is quoted by coverage, and coverage is measured, not assumed: the label has to cover the barcode, the origin panel and any secondary print on the container, with a stated overlap on every edge. We ask for the container artwork or the physical container before quoting, because a label that covers the artwork but not the moulded-in recycling mark is not a blind label. Labels are printed on opaque stock with an adhesive that holds on the container's surface, and the adhesion is verified per lot on the production container material rather than on a test panel.

Compliance and materials

Flexible packaging declares to REACH for the material stream, and the declaration covers the film, the ink and the adhesive as three separate lots because each migrates differently. FSC-certified paper and board are quoted on request for programmes that carry the chain-of-custody claim. The graphics rule is absolute across this programme: no explicit content on any printed surface, plain or labelled, and the artwork review happens at the proof stage before a single bag is printed, because a printed bag with the wrong artwork is scrap at the full print cost.

Related reading

Our rigid packaging programme covers the carton and insert half of the category, and the packaging category lists the full range.