Foil Barrier Pouches

Foil barrier pouches are built on a PET/AL/PE laminate, where an aluminium layer stops oxygen, moisture, light and aroma almost completely. We run them as stand up pouches, flat bottom bags and flat sachets from 5 g to 25 kg, with zippers and one-way degassing valves. It is the structure for coffee, protein powder, smell-proof mylar bags and anything whose fat content attacks a lighter film. Foil is opaque to metal detection, so lines that inspect after filling take metallised PET instead.

In this range173 products

Minimum orderFrom 1,000 pieces

SamplesStock samples free

Lead time15-25 days after approval

About foil barrier packaging

When the Shelf Life Has to Be Measured in Years

A foil pouch is a PET/AL/PE laminate: print and strength on the outside, an unbroken layer of aluminium in the middle, a sealant on the inside. That aluminium layer is what separates foil packaging from everything else — it does not slow light and oxygen down, it stops them. Almost every twelve or eighteen month shelf life claim in flexible packaging rests on it.

What the Aluminium Layer Actually Buys

Oxygen. Effectively zero transmission, where a metallised film still lets some through. This is what keeps coffee, nuts and fats from going rancid.
Light. Total block. Vitamins, pigments and essential oils degrade in daylight, and a clear window is a hole in that protection.
Moisture. The barrier that stops powders caking and crisps softening.
Odour, both ways. Aromatics stay in; the smell of whatever is stored beside it stays out.

Where Foil Is Worth the Cost, and Where It Is Not

Choosing a barrier against the job
If the product	Specify
Has to last a year or more, or ships by sea into a hot market	Foil
Is aromatic, high in fat, or light sensitive	Foil
Sells through in weeks and is not fragile	Clear or metallised PET/PE
Has to carry a kerbside recycling claim	Mono-material PE — see recycled and recyclable options
Has to compost at end of life	PLA/PBAT compostable, with a shorter shelf life

The Honest Trade-off

A foil laminate is not recyclable in a kerbside stream, and no amount of wording changes that. If your market or your brand needs a recycling claim, the choice is between shelf life and end of life, and it is better made deliberately at the quote stage than discovered later. We will specify both and tell you what each does to the date on the pack.

Foil runs in every format we make: coffee bags with valves, stand up pouches, mylar bags with child-resistant zippers, protein pouches, spout pouches and flat sachets, from 5 g sample sizes to 25 kg industrial fills.

Foil Laminate at a Glance

Structure	PET / AL / PE, with the aluminium unbroken
Barrier	Oxygen, light, moisture and odour, both directions
Shelf life	The longest we can specify
Window	Possible, but it is a gap in the barrier
Recycling	Not kerbside recyclable
Thickness	80–160 microns for most retail fills
Minimum order	1,000 pieces per artwork

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Where Foil Barrier Pouches Sits in the Range

The numbers are how many packs in this range are also in that one, counted from the catalogue rather than chosen by hand.

The Shapes This Range Is Made In

What This Range Is Used For

Frequently asked

Specifying Foil Barrier Pouches: The Questions That Decide It

What does the aluminium layer actually stop?

Oxygen, light, moisture and odour, in both directions. It is not a partial barrier that slows them down — an unbroken foil layer is effectively impermeable, which is why the longest shelf lives rest on it.

Is a foil pouch recyclable?

Not in a kerbside stream. Aluminium bonded to plastic cannot be separated economically. If a recycling claim matters more than shelf life, mono-material PE is the honest alternative and we will quote both.

Foil or metallised — what is the difference?

Metallised film is plastic with a vapour-deposited aluminium coating a fraction of a micron thick. It looks similar and costs less, holds moisture nearly as well, and is well short of foil on oxygen.

Can a foil pouch have a window?

Yes, but understand what it is: a hole in the barrier. On a light-sensitive or long-dated product a window can cost more shelf life than the packaging design gains.

What foil thickness do you use?

Typically 7 to 9 microns of aluminium inside an 80 to 160 micron total laminate. Thicker foil resists pinholing; thinner flexes better. The fill weight and the handling decide it.

Does foil crack or pinhole when the pack flexes?

It can, at fold lines, if the laminate is under-specified for a heavy or sharp fill. We set the aluminium gauge and the outer web against the product and the freight route rather than to a default.

Will a foil pouch pass our metal detector?

No — aluminium sets off a metal detector, so foil packs are checked before filling or with X-ray instead. Tell us your line at the quote stage and we will say what is workable.

Can foil pouches be retorted?

Yes, with a retort-grade laminate and a matched fitment where there is a spout. Both parts have to be specified for it; a standard structure delaminates in a retort.

Does foil hold smell in as well as it keeps oxygen out?

Yes, and that is a large part of why it is specified for coffee, spices and aromatics. For odour control specifically, the zipper matters as much as the film — a good laminate with a weak zipper still leaks.

Is the foil in contact with the product?

No. There is always a sealant layer between the aluminium and the fill, and that layer is what carries the food-contact certification.