Quality Standard

Board and paper standard

We start with greyboard at 1200 g minimum. For spirits and heavier bottles, we recommend 1400 g. Anything less and the box feels cheap, flexes under load, or cracks at the corners. We don't use recycled greyboard. It's inconsistent, and you'll see it in the edges. And we reject any facing paper with high moisture content. Moisture is what causes warping and peeling later.

For the facing, we use specialty or coated paper at 157 g minimum. That's the layer your customers actually touch. We stock kraft, white card, gold and silver cardboard, flocked paper, and leather-textured paper. Flocked paper gives you that soft suede feel. Leather-textured paper looks like leather without the cost. You can mix materials, but the board underneath stays the same. That's the part we won't compromise on.

One thing buyers miss: the board and facing have to work together. A heavy greyboard with a thin, weak facing will still show scuffs and scratches at the corners. A thick facing on a light board won't hold its shape. We test combinations before we quote. If you want a rigid lid-and-base box, you need a board that won't bow when the lid stays open. If you want a foldable box, the creases have to be scored just right so they don't crack when the box is erected. We've seen both fail in samples from other suppliers. The fix is always the same: start with the right board, then match the facing to it.

Insert and bottle fit

The insert rule is simple: the bottle is held at four points. Two points at the base, two at the shoulder or neck. No unsupported neck, no unsupported shoulder. If the neck floats, the bottle will move in transit. It doesn't matter how nice the box looks.

We check fit three ways. Shake the closed box for ten seconds. No movement. Tilt it 45 degrees. No slide. Invert it. No release. If any of those fail, the insert goes back for adjustment. We use velvet trays, EVA foam, blisters, and paper mould inserts. Each one gets the same checks. The material changes, the rule doesn't.

The four-point rule is not just about shipping. It's about the unboxing moment. When your customer lifts the bottle out, it should come out cleanly, with no foam stuck to the label and no torn paper. That means the insert has to grip the bottle firmly but release it without a fight. We adjust the density of the EVA foam or the shape of the paper mould until the fit is right. You'll see it in the sample. If you're using a bottle with an unusual shape, like a Burgundy or a champagne bottle, tell us before we make the insert. A standard Bordeaux insert won't fit a Burgundy bottle, and forcing it will damage the label.

Tolerances and colour control

Our control tolerance is plus or minus 1 mm on inserts, plus or minus 2 mm on the box body. For foldable boxes, we also check that creases don't crack, magnet position is within 1 mm, and corners hit 90 degrees when erected. These are not suggestions. If a box is out of tolerance, it's reworked or scrapped.

Colour is the hardest part. We match to Pantone, then you approve a first article before we run the full order. After that, we sample mid-run. Black, deep blue, and burgundy are the worst offenders. They show every variation. Don't expect a perfect match across materials, a coated paper and a flocked paper will never look identical. But we'll get it close, and we'll show you the proof before it ships.

Tolerances and colour are where we see the most back-and-forth with new buyers. You might think a 2 mm difference on the box body doesn't matter. It does. A lid that's 2 mm too wide will slide around and look sloppy. A lid that's 2 mm too narrow won't close. Same with the insert. A 1 mm gap at the neck means the bottle rattles. We measure every batch against the approved sample, not against the drawing. Drawings lie. Samples don't. If you're matching an existing box, send us the box, not just the dimensions. We'll reverse-engineer the tolerances from the physical sample.

In-house pre-shipment checks

Before packing, we run three physical tests with an actual bottle loaded. Drop test from 1.2 m on six faces. Stacking test with 40 kg or more on top for 24 hours. Vibration simulation for truck and sea conditions. After each test, we open the box and check for internal movement. Any movement means the insert failed. We fix it before it leaves.

That's the part most buyers don't see. You get a box that looks good, but the real test is what happens in a container for three weeks. We simulate that. If the box survives our checks, it will survive your customer's courier. If it doesn't, we don't ship it. Simple as that.

We also check the small things that ruin an unboxing. Are the magnets aligned so the lid closes straight? Does the ribbon pull smoothly without fraying? Is the logo embossed cleanly or does it show cracks at the edges? These are not part of the drop test, but they matter just as much. A box can survive shipping and still look bad when your customer opens it. So we check both: the structure and the finish. The drop test tells you the bottle won't break. The finish check tells you the box won't embarrass you.

Questions buyers ask