Bakery chain: 18 µm PE instead of 30 µm PP, 40% less material

A bread producer supplying the private label of a large retail chain was looking for a replacement for 30 µm PP wicket bags, which cracked during frozen transport. A dedicated PE formulation with a polyolefin blend made it possible to switch to 18 µm film: around 40% less material while keeping the look on the shelf and runnability on the wicket lines.

01 Customer

A Polish bread producer that supplies the private label of a large retail chain. It packs bread in wicket bags.

02 Challenge

The customer was looking for an alternative to 30 µm polypropylene wicket bags. The PP cracked during frozen transport.

The new packaging had to meet three conditions: transparency and the look on the shelf retained, stability on the wicket line, and resistance at low temperatures. The retail chain does not accept packaging through which the product cannot be seen.

03 Solution

• Material: a dedicated PE formulation with a polyolefin blend for bread packaging.
• Thickness: 18 µm PE film instead of 30 µm PP.
• Line: runnability on the wicket lines retained.
• Shelf: packaging appearance retained.

04 Results

Before and after

Material and thickness	PP 30 µm → PE 18 µm
Material consumption	around 40% less*
Cracking in the cold chain	eliminated
Unit packaging cost	lower
Structure	PE mono-material compliant with PPWR

05 What this means for you

Switching from PP to PE sounds like a step back in terms of stiffness. With the right polyolefin blend it is the other way round: you get thinner packaging that does not crack in frost and goes into the PE recycling stream. This is the strongest downgauging argument in our entire portfolio.

*Around 40% is the difference in film thickness: 30 → 18 µm. The case study is anonymised.