New Florist Supplies
We are excited to let you know that a price list for our new florist supplies range is now available. This includes some suggestions for single roses as well as wedding buttonholes and corsages. I have to be honest, but when I think about packaging, flowers isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But recently we were asked to make something to hold a single rose. This isn’t the first time that this has happened. Many years ago we produced a rose cone for a customer looking for just that. And so we dusted off the tooling that was made back then, and the new customer was thrilled with it.
It left me thinking though, do we have any other products that might be useful for a florist? The most obvious one was cylinders for holding roses. We think that an 8cm diameter cylinder is probably about right, and we have suggested our three tallest cylinders with that diameter. They are 30cm, 42cm and 46cm.
Buttonholes and Corsages
After watching four of our children get married, we have become well acquainted with buttonholes and corsages. We think that they would fit well into a plastic box or clamshell. In our opinion, some of our lid and base boxes as well as our clamshells are about the right size, so we have listed those. The process for making boxes and clamshells is completely different. Boxes are hand glued while clamshells are moulded on a machine. That means that boxes are slower to make and more labour intensive. You won’t be surprised that this affects the price. If you ask us for our price list, you will see that the individual price of clamshells is much cheaper, but the quantity that you need to buy is a lot more.
Our New Florist Packaging Price List
That’s the reason why we’ve made a special price list just for you. This new florist packaging price list is designed to help you easily see which option might work best for you. It includes the price of a minimum quantity of packages as well as the individual price per unit. You will see that clamshells will cost you more, but you will get a whole lot more packages for your money. The other thing to remember is that clamshells will stack, taking up less space. The boxes won’t, so they will need more storage room.
Another thing to consider is that the clamshells have a hanger hole in them. That’s because they were designed for hang-sell. If that’s a problem to you, please ask us about it. There may be things we can do.
If you’d like a price list, please just send us an email. When you do, make sure that you ask for the Florist Supplies price list. Otherwise you will probably be sent a complete price list. You are welcome to our complete price list, but you will find it harder to find your way around, because there’s so much there. The Florist Supplies price list is nice and easy to follow, and everything that we think you need is on one page. At the same time, if you are looking for a different size, or have any questions, feel free to ask us about that as well.
Check Out Our Florists Page
Everything that you need to know apart from our pricing is on our “Florist Supplies” page, so make sure you take a look. You will find all of our recommended products and sizing there.
Large Macaron Packs
At Shiloh Plastics, we recently added large macaron packs to our range. These packs come in two sizes and both are a little different. However, both are designed with a cavity that has a 50mm diameter. The width of the cavity is 25mm. That means that they can hold a larger macaron than our other packs.
The first of our large macaron packs has a two piece design. For each unit you will receive two trays. Unlike our trays to fit 45mm macarons, one tray fits into the other to enclose the macarons. Each piece has a cut out tab to help with easy opening. This package will hold 24 macarons. The product code for this item is MACTR004.
The second large macaron pack is a clamshell. That means that rather than having two separate pieces, the two sides are joined in the middle with a hinge. This pack will hold 12 macarons and has the product code MACT005.
If your macarons don’t have a diameter larger than 45mm, you may like to take a look at our other products. You’ll find the full range here. Plus if you think any of these items might work for you, contact us for a price list. We’d be more than happy to help you find the perfect package for your macarons.
Cookie Packaging
A few weeks ago we gave our daughters and daughters in law a treat using our cookie packaging. It’s one of the perks of having a packaging company I guess. Anyway, we thought you might be interested to see how good cookies look in plastic cylinders.
The cylinders we used were the CY200100. They are 200mm high with a diameter of 100mm. Our cookies were roughly about 80mm. We put about 15 in each but probably could have added one or two. Each pack looks a little different because we have four very different girls. For our purpose, we just used what we had around the house as you can see in one of the pictures. However they look great just as they are. For sale you could easily put a sticker on the front. As you can see they make the perfect cookie packaging.
We sell our cylinders by the box quantity. The CY100200 comes in a box of 40. That means that if you are interested in purchasing these cylinders you will need to buy them in multiples of 40.
Some other sizes that you might be interested in for cookies are as follows:
| Product Code | Diameter | Height | Box Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| CY80100 | 80 | 100 | 136 |
| CY80100 | 80 | 110 | 102 |
| CY80135 | 80 | 135 | 102 |
| CY80150 | 80 | 150 | 87 |
| CY80190 | 80 | 190 | 68 |
| CY100110 | 100 | 110 | 60 |
| CY100200 | 100 | 200 | 40 |
You will find more cylinder sizes on our cylinder page. You may find some there that are also suitable for cookie packaging. Just remember that you must order a full box quantity. That is our minimum order size.
Choosing Your Packaging
Choosing your packaging might not always be as simple as it sounds. That’s because lots of things need to be considered. Of course the size and shape of your product are the obvious things to look at. If your product doesn’t fit properly into the package then that package probably isn’t the best choice.
However that isn’t the only thing you need to consider. For example, some kinds of packaging are made on fast machines. Alternatively, some are made predominantly by hand. It makes sense that those made on machines will be cheaper. However you will also find yourself needing to purchase many more pieces, because they are sold in much larger quantities. Therefore, if you only need a small quantity of packages, you could find yourself paying less for the ones made by hand. This is just one of the things you need to think about.
So let’s look at the different options:
Molded verses fabricated:
When choosing your packaging, the first decision to make is probably this one. It relates to what we have already discussed. That is it has to do with quantity.
Molded packaging includes any of our blister packs and clamshells as well as some of our trays. The lids and bases of plastic cylinders are also molded. This kind of product is made on machines with some of the process being completed by an operator. It is fairly quick to produce once the machinery is set up. However, because the setting up process takes time, it is only cost effective if the packaging is sold in larger quantities.
At Shiloh Plastics, our minimum order quantity for any of our molded packaging is 1,000 units, or a full box quantity. You will find all of our box quantities listed on our website or on our downloadable product list. If you would like to see our pricing you will need to ask us for our complete price list.
Fabricated packaging includes plastic boxes, pillow packs and the bodies of cylinders. They are cut by machine one or two at a time. After that they are hand glued. Therefore, they are much more hands on to make. The result is a more costly package. However the benefit is that we can sell them to you in much smaller quantities. Therefore a fabricated package may just suit you perfectly if you don’t need a large quantity.
Clamshell or Slide-in-Card
If you decide that you are going to use a molded blister pack, then the next decision you need to make is which kind. This decision could be taken out of your hands if you are looking for something straight off the shelf. That’s because you will be governed by what sizes are available in each range.
However, if you find yourself able to choose, there are some pro’s and cons for each style. These could help you with your decision.
Clamshells are a popular choice because product is totally enclosed in plastic. One benefit of this is that the backing card can be made of a much lighter material, saving money. In fact if your product is still in the early stages, and your turnover is quite small, you could even print your backing card on ordinary photocopy paper.
Slide in card blisters require a stronger card. That’s because the card actually becomes part of the package. A benefit though is that the blister itself will often be a little stronger than a clamshell blister due to the different manufacturing process.
We recommend at least stapling all of our clamshells to secure them. So there is no benefit there over slide in card blisters. However you can heat seal clamshells. We stock a hand operated spot crimper that can achieve this goal if you wish to avoid staples. Slide in card blisters can’t be heat-sealed. They must be stapled.
If you decide to have custom tooling made for a blister pack, a tool for slide in card blisters is usually less than for a clamshell. This too could influence your decision.
Which Kind of Box?
If you decide that you would like to use a box when choosing your packaging, how do you decide which style? The main things to think about are whether the product comes to you flat-packed or already assembled.
The benefit of a flat-packed box is that it will take up less space in a carton when we send it to you. This means that the freight for your packaging coming to you will be cheaper. Boxes in this category include basic flat-packed boxes, boxes with hanger holes, fabricated display boxes and most of our novelty boxes (excluding the triangle box).
Boxes that have already been assembled aren’t able to be flat packed. That means that they will be more costly to ship to you. Remember that when freight is sent, it’s not only the weight that is considered when pricing. The size of the box also adds to the cost. Fully assembled fabricated boxes don’t stack. Therefore, the major item being shipped is actually air inside the packages. This air takes up a lot of space, and so freight can be costly depending on how far away you are.
The benefit of a fully assembled package is that it could be more sturdy, giving better presentation. This could depend on what you are packaging, and how you are packing it though. Boxes that come fully assembled are lid and base boxes, fixed base boxes, the triangle novelty box as well as cylinders.
Hang Sell
Another thing to consider when choosing your packaging is whether you want your product to hang from a hook or stack on a shelf. The obvious choice for a hanging product would be a blister pack. However it’s not the only choice. If you only want to purchase 100 or so packages, then a fabricated option could be more attractive. Some fabricated boxes are made with hanger holes. Plus they can definitely be made as custom with hanger holes if you’re prepared to make a contribution towards the tooling.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a package that will stack on a shelf, a fabricated product will work perfectly. Plastic boxes and cylinders definitely make the product stand out. If your product is made for display, then a fabricated box or cylinder may be the package choice for you.
Do You Need Tooling:
An additional benefit to fabricated packaging is that the tooling is much less expensive. While we have quite a large range of packaging already in our range, you may not find exactly what you are looking for. If this is the case, you could consider having tooling made to suit your product perfectly. For anything molded, it makes sense that a mold and a knife will be required. This is a once off cost to yourself. For fabricated packages we just ask for a contribution towards tooling. This can be a much less costly option. However if you will need a lot of packaging, paying for tooling for a custom blister pack may still be the most cost effective package in the long term.
So these are a few things to consider when choosing your packaging. We hope you find them helpful. Of course, if you give us a call at Shiloh Plastics we will be happy to guide you through the process of finding the right package for you.
Large Holly Box
Everyone loves our novelty boxes. So we’re happy to let you know that we’ve just added a new one to our range. This box is similar to our existing holly box. However it’s much bigger. Also it’s designed to stack. The holly trim sits flush on top of the box. We’ve tried putting some biscuits in one, but they would be perfect for a swiss roll. We think truffles would be great too so long as they’re not too delicate. You may need to stack them inside. Rum balls would be great too.
We made a loaf shaped cake in a tin about 7.75 inches by 3 inches.It was a little snug, but the box still held it quite well. There are so many ways that you could use this box to showcase your Christmas treats.
These large holly boxes come in two parts. There is an inner part that is molded into a deep tray. Your goods can easily be put in that. Then the outer layer has been specially designed so that it can be sent flat packed. You simply need to open it up and pull it up from the bottom. Two pieces of the holly motif lock together to close the box.
The base of this holly box is about 180mm x 80mm. It tapers towards the top which is about 210mm x 112mm. From top to bottom this box measures about 80mm. The minimum order quantity is 100 boxes. If you think you could use a box like this, contact us today for a price.
If you haven’t seen our full range of novelty boxes, you can see it here.
Small Display Boxes
Recently we added some new display boxes to our fabricated range. These boxes are great for cakes and biscuits. However they are definitely not only for those things. They are great for showcasing a product. Our larger boxes tend to be used for gingerbread houses or square cakes. These ones would be great for a smaller cake. We’ve put a few biscuits in them to show what they look like, but really you could put anything in them.
These boxes have been really popular since we released them. One reason is that they can be flat packed. Display boxes have a similar look to cylinders. The obvious difference is that they are square. However cylinders are freighted fully assembled. That makes the shipping rather expensive. Because these boxes come flat packed, your shipping will probably be cheaper and you will achieve a similar look.
The minimum order quantity is 100 boxes. You can see our full range of display boxes here. Also don’t forget we have a large range of other plastic boxes. You will find flat packed boxes, lids with separate bases and some really special novelty boxes among our range. Give us a call to discuss exactly what you need and we will try to help you find it.
If you don’t find a box that suits you perfectly, we can design a custom box for you. We will just ask you to pay a contribution towards tooling. If you’d like to talk with us about that, we can give you a quote on what you could expect to pay. All pricing for our standard range is available on our price list, so ask us for a copy.