Kraft or laminated bags for a bakery.
A bakery needs more than one bag: a greaseproof bag for pastries, a kraft bag for bread, and a carrier with handles for boxed cakes. This page compares kraft and laminated paper for each job. It gives the paper weight to ask for, and covers grease and steam, the two problems that catch bakeries out.
The short answerChoose kraft for a bakery's everyday bags and keep laminated for gift and celebration orders. Kraft breathes, so warm bread keeps its crust, and it recycles with paper. Laminated paper has a plastic film that holds steam in. Use 35 to 50gsm greaseproof paper for pastries, 70 to 100gsm kraft for bread, and a carrier of 100gsm or more for boxed cakes.
Kraft or laminated: which suits a bakery
The two are different papers, not different finishes. Kraft is an uncoated, long-fibre paper, brown or white. Laminated bags are made from coated art paper with a thin plastic film bonded over the print. That film is what changes how each one behaves at a bakery counter.
| Kraft | Laminated | |
|---|---|---|
| The paper | Uncoated brown or white kraft, 80 to 270gsm on ours | Coated art paper with a gloss, matt or soft touch film, 128 to 250gsm on ours |
| Warm bread | Breathes, so steam escapes and the crust stays crisp | The film holds steam in, so let bread cool first |
| Grease | Shows through plain kraft; use greaseproof paper for anything buttery | Box or wrap anything buttery first |
| One or two solid colours, foil and deboss suit the natural fibre | Full colour and photographs, crisp and saturated | |
| Recycling | Paper only, so it goes in ordinary paper recycling | The film complicates paper recycling in most streams |
| Best for | Everyday takeaway, bread and boxed cakes | Gift boxes, celebration cakes, seasonal orders |
Most bakeries end up with kraft for the counter and one laminated bag for the orders that leave as gifts. Both start at 1,000 units with us, so a second bag does not mean a big second order.
The four bakery bags
Greaseproof counter bag
Thin, food contact compliant paper that holds butter and oil back from the print. Pastries, cookies and croissants go straight in.
SOS kraft bag
No handles, a flat block bottom, stands open on the counter. Bread, rolls and pastries to carry out.
Kraft carrier
Kraft with handles, for boxed cakes and bigger orders. The paper weight goes up with what the bag has to carry.
Laminated carrier
Coated paper under a gloss, matt or soft touch film. The gift bag, for boxed pralines, celebration cakes and hampers.
Which paper weight for each bakery item
Paper is sold by weight, in grams per square metre, or gsm. A heavier paper is stronger and stiffer. The right weight is the lightest one that carries the order without tearing at the handles or the base.
| What you sell | Paper weight | The bag |
|---|---|---|
| Cookies, a croissant | 35 to 50gsm | Greaseproof counter bag |
| Two pastries, a sandwich | 35 to 50gsm | Greaseproof counter bag |
| A loaf | 35 to 50gsm, or 70 to 100gsm | Greaseproof bag, or an SOS kraft bag |
| Takeaway pastries | 70 to 100gsm | SOS kraft bag |
| A boxed cake | 100 to 150gsm | Kraft carrier with handles |
| Gift boxes | 128 to 250gsm | Laminated carrier with rope or ribbon handles |
Our greaseproof bags come flat, from 13 × 18 cm for cookies to 26 × 36 cm for a loaf. The SOS bags run from a 14 × 27 × 8 cm counter size to a 26 × 43 × 16 cm grocery size.
For a cake box, the bag's gusset should be as deep as the box is wide, so the box sits flat on the base. Send us the box size and we size the bag to it.
Grease: why plain kraft is not enough for pastries
Butter, sugar glaze and oil soak into uncoated paper and show through to the outside of the bag, across your logo. Greaseproof paper is made to hold them back. Ours is white or brown greaseproof kraft in food contact compliant stocks, printed on the outside face only, so the food touches plain paper.
That is the rule worth keeping: anything unwrapped goes into greaseproof paper. Kraft and laminated carriers are for what is already boxed or wrapped.
Steam: why warm bread wants paper that breathes
A loaf keeps giving off steam after it leaves the oven. In plain kraft or greaseproof paper the steam escapes through the bag, and the crust stays crisp. A laminated bag has a film on the outside that holds the steam in, and the crust goes soft on the way home.
So warm bread goes into kraft or greaseproof paper. If a loaf travels in a gift bag, let it cool first, or wrap it in paper inside the bag.
Ordering bakery bags
- Kraft and laminated carriers from 1,000 units, SOS bags from 5,000, greaseproof counter bags from 10,000.
- Three weeks in production on every bag, made in China and quality checked before shipping.
- Kraft and laminated bags take screen print up to four colours, litho or metallic, Pantone matched or full colour. The laminated bag adds the film over the print.
- SOS and greaseproof bags are flexo printed, up to four colours.
- A free digital mockup with your artwork on the real bag first, then a printed sample to approve before the full run.
The bags this applies to: the Food Grade Bag, the SOS Paper Bag, the Kraft Paper Bag and the Laminated Paper Bag.
Questions
Can I put warm bread in a laminated bag?
You can, but the film holds the steam in and the crust goes soft. Let the loaf cool first, or use kraft or greaseproof paper, which let the steam out.
What gsm should a bakery bag be?
Greaseproof paper of 35 to 50gsm for pastries and anything buttery. Kraft of 70 to 100gsm for bread and counter bags, and 100gsm or heavier for carriers with handles. Laminated gift bags run from 128 to 250gsm.
Are kraft paper bags food safe?
Plain kraft carriers are for boxed or wrapped bakes. For food that goes straight into the bag, use paper made for food contact. Our greaseproof bags are food contact compliant stocks, printed on the outside only.
Is a laminated paper bag recyclable?
The film complicates paper recycling in most streams. Kraft has no film and goes in ordinary paper recycling, which is one more reason it suits a bakery's everyday bags.
What is the minimum order for custom bakery bags?
1,000 units for kraft and laminated carriers, 5,000 for SOS bags and 10,000 for greaseproof counter bags, three weeks in production. You see a free digital mockup first, and a printed sample before the full run.
Written by the Bag Bureau production team. Last updated October 2026.