Decision guide

Paper Bags: which one is right for you?

Paper bags are printed retail / handover carry bags — the bag a customer carries out of a store or receives at a takeaway counter. The paper-bag catalogue is organised as a 3 × 4 matrix — 3 styles (sizes) crossed with 4 paper stocks (materials), giving 12 SKUs. The customer picks both axes: *what size do I need?* and *what paper voice fits my brand?*

Technicals — side by side

Spec	Sprout on Butterfly	Sprout on Firefly	Sprout on RedBull	Sprout on Rhino	Classic on Butterfly	Classic on Firefly	Classic on RedBull	Classic on Rhino	Vogue on Butterfly	Vogue on Firefly	Vogue on RedBull	Vogue on Rhino
Material	High BF White Kraft Paper	High BF Brown Kraft Paper	High Strength FBB Paper Board	High BF Brown Kraft Paper Board	High BF White Kraft Paper	High BF Brown Kraft Paper	High Strength FBB Paper Board	High BF Brown Kraft Paper Board	High BF White Kraft Paper	High BF Brown Kraft Paper	High Strength FBB Paper Board	High BF Brown Kraft Paper Board
MOQ	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs	300 pcs
Production lead	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks
Print	Offset	Screen	Offset	Screen	Offset	Screen	Offset	Screen	Offset	Screen	Offset	Screen
Max colours	4	1	4	1	4	1	4	1	4	1	4	1
Sizes	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard	1 standard
	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure	Configure

Decide in four questions

Walk down from the first question — every branch ends at a product.

1. SIZE first — what's going in the bag?
   ├─ Small (wallets, cosmetics, phone cases, accessories under 6 in)
   │     → Sprout (8 × 10 × 3 in)
   │
   ├─ Medium (apparel, gifts, mid-size retail items)
   │     → Classic (10 × 14 × 4 in)  — bestselling size
   │
   └─ Large (sarees, large garments, multi-item retail carry)
         → Vogue (16 × 13 × 5 in)

2. PAPER second — what's the brand voice?
   ├─ Premium print quality matters (photography, gradients, multi-colour) → continue
   │   ├─ White background reads cleanest, lighter feel
   │   │     → Butterfly (white kraft 150 GSM, offset CMYK, twisted handles)
   │   │
   │   └─ Heaviest board, most premium structure
   │         → Redbull (FBB 230 GSM, offset CMYK, rope handles)
   │
   └─ Eco-led brand voice / single-colour screen print → continue
       ├─ Lowest cost, lightest paper
       │     → Firefly (brown kraft 100 GSM, screen, twisted handles, eco)
       │
       └─ Heaviest brown kraft, "strongest board in the range"
             → Rhino (brown kraft board 170 GSM, screen, PP rope handles, eco)

Easily confused

"Paper bag vs Kraft Mailer" — Both are kraft / paper. Paper bag is a handled retail carry bag (customer carries it from store / handover); kraft-mailer-family is a flat shipping mailer (courier-delivered). Different forms entirely.
"Butterfly is the eco one" — No. Firefly and Rhino are the eco-friendly papers (both are brown kraft). Butterfly (white kraft) and Redbull (FBB) are not eco-friendly because they're bleached / coated for offset CMYK printing.
"Redbull is the heaviest" — Two ways to read this. Redbull is the heaviest GSM (230) and the premium-feel paper. Rhino is positioned as "the strongest board in the range" — heavier brown kraft board (170 GSM) with PP rope handles for heaviest-load brown-kraft duty. The marketing reads Rhino as the most durable; Redbull as the most premium structure.
"Vogue is the saree bag" — Yes by primary use-case, but Vogue is just "the large size." It fits sarees and any other large item. Don't restrict by category.
"Sprout / Classic / Vogue means different paper qualities" — No. These are SIZE names, not paper grades. The paper grade is the second word: Butterfly / Firefly / Redbull / Rhino. A customer says "Vogue on Rhino" to mean "large bag in heavy brown kraft board."

When this family is the wrong call

Flat ecommerce shipping mailer → kraft-mailer-family (smaller, no handles, courier-graded)
Rigid printed box with carry handle → gable-monocarton-box (holds shape on a table) or gable-corrugated-box (heavier)
Premium gift box (no carry, customer keeps the box) → lid-and-bottom-rigid-box / saree-box-family
Waterproof requirement → not in this family (paper bags are not waterproof); polymailer-family is the plastic alternative
Food-direct contact → not certified; route to food-safe SKU
Carry handle on the box rather than a bag → gable-monocarton-box / gable-corrugated-box

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