Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) are the two most quoted sheet materials for thermoformed fruit and produce punnets in retail and merchandising projects. Both run well on standard thermoforming equipment, but they differ in clarity, toughness and sealing.
Use it as a working checklist when you write your next enquiry.
This category covers a family of products rather than a single item. In practice a buyer defines thermoformed fruit and produce punnets by three things: the base resin, the format or dimension, and the performance or certification level it has to meet. Typical options in this category include vented base and side walls; stack and nest geometry; clip or film lid options. Materials most often specified are Polyethylene Terephthalate, Polypropylene, Polylactic Acid, Recycled PET, and the choice between them changes stiffness, temperature resistance, chemical behaviour and price.
In the retail and merchandising sector the decision is usually driven by shelf presentation and print quality, with stack strength as a secondary requirement. Typical end uses include pegboard blisters, shelf trays, counter displays.
Typical values for a general purpose grade are listed below; filled, stabilised and speciality compounds will differ.
| Material | Density | Tensile strength | Service temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polyethylene Terephthalate | 1.35-1.40 g/cm³ | 50-70 MPa | -40°C to 70°C |
| Polypropylene | 0.90-0.91 g/cm³ | 25-40 MPa | -10°C to 100°C |
| Polylactic Acid | 1.24 g/cm³ | 50-60 MPa | up to 55°C (HDT) |
Polylactic Acid is frequently the default selection here: PLA is compostable in industrial facilities, not in a backyard heap, so label it carefully.
Polylactic Acid grades offer bio-based and industrially compostable, while Polyethylene Terephthalate brings excellent barrier to CO2 and moisture. For retail and merchandising service the difference shows up in UV stability and in the long term behaviour under load.
Both materials can be validated quickly with a small sample run, which is the cheapest way to settle the argument for your own application.
Beyond the base resin, most suppliers offer UV stabilised, food contact, flame retardant, anti-static and recycled content versions of the same product. Ask which additive package is included, because it is often the difference between a part that lasts three years and one that lasts ten.
Each step below has its own control points, and skipping one of them is where most defects start.
Secondary operations such as printing, welding, machining and assembly are often cheaper to do in the same factory, and they reduce the risk of mismatch between components.
Work through these points in order and most specification mistakes disappear.
Send this list to your supplier with the drawing and you will receive comparable quotations from every factory you contact.
For standard sizes and colours the minimum is usually one pallet or one production run; for custom tooling the economic minimum depends on the tooling cost amortised over the expected volume. Send us your annual volume and we will calculate the break even point.
Yes. {mat1} is one of our regular materials for this item, and we can supply virgin, modified and certified grades with full traceability. Material certificates and test reports are issued per batch.
Colour is controlled with a masterbatch reference approved by the customer, and every production lot is checked against the approved sample under standard lighting before shipment.
Standard production tolerance follows the relevant ISO or DIN tolerance class for the process; tighter tolerances are possible after machining or grinding, but they add cost. Define the tolerance only on the functional dimensions.
We can provide ISO 9001 quality system documentation, material certificates, RoHS and REACH statements, and where applicable food contact, flame retardancy or drinking water approvals. Tell us your target market and we will match the document set.
Our team supplies thermoformed fruit and produce punnets to retail and merchandising customers worldwide, with samples, material certificates and full inspection reports available before mass production.
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