The Complete Guide to Packaging Procurement: Process, Strategy, and Common Challenges

Last Updated on October 17, 2025 by Packoi Team

Packaging procurement doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you’re sourcing eco-friendly materials or managing multiple suppliers, a well-structured approach can save costs, improve efficiency, and strengthen your brand identity.

In this article, we break down the procurement process into simple, actionable steps that will help you choose the right partners and avoid common pitfalls.

What Is Packaging Procurement and Why Does It Matter?

Packaging procurement refers to the complex system of sourcing and packaging material and print services that align with your brand image. It requires the procurement team to balance packaging quality, printability, sustainability, and cost.

Strategic sourcing and negotiation strategies result in lower packaging costs while maintaining a high quality standard. While similar terms exist in the business sector, they don’t hold the same value.

• Sourcing: Finding the right materials and assessing potential suppliers.
• Purchasing: Placing your order with the supplier and managing delivery schedules.
• Procurement: A complete process that includes material selection, supplier assessment, pricing negotiation, quality control, and long-term partnerships.

A well-executed packaging procurement strategy will result in consistent supply, avoid production delays, and optimize shipping logistics. The packaging procurement process also directly impacts your brand’s image.

The quality of your product packaging, its design, environmental impact, and ease of unboxing are all determined during the procurement stage. All of these factors play a crucial role in overall customer satisfaction.

3 Types of Packaging

Before we get started, it’s important that we discuss the three types of packaging. You’ll need to devise a procurement plan with these types in mind.

Primary Packaging

Primary packaging is the material that covers your raw products. Most end customers will only interact with this type of packaging. It should have attractive colors, a comfortable texture, and an easy-to-open design.

Example: The colorful plastic wrapper of a chocolate bar.

Secondary Packaging

Secondary packaging is designed to consolidate products and protect the primary packaging. This type of packaging is aimed at retail stores that deal in wholesale. It can be a standard brown cardboard box or a colorful cardstock that reflects your brand identity.

Example: A box that houses a dozen individually wrapped chocolate bars.

Tertiary Packaging

Tertiary packaging is designed to safely transport large shipments of products. This type of packaging is safety-focused and doesn’t require external branding. Instead, it should have safety symbols and handling instructions on the outside.

Example: A large carton or crate containing several boxes of individually wrapped chocolate bars.

Understanding the Packaging Procurement Process

Now that you have a basic understanding of the packaging procurement process. It’s time to dive into the specific steps involved in procurement.

Step 1: Identifying Packaging Requirements

Each product has unique packaging requirements, which determine its packaging priorities.

• Heavy Items – Prioritize sturdy packaging materials
• Luxury Goods – Prioritize premium-feeling packaging materials.
• Liquid Products – Prioritize leakproof designs and watertight seals.

This is also a good time for you to consider branding opportunities. Think about the colors, designs, and materials that complement your brand logo and image. Take your time at this step until you have a clear idea of your packaging vision.

Step 2: Scouting Local & Global Suppliers

The key differentiators between a local and international packaging supplier are time and cost. Several global suppliers offer competitive prices but a longer lead time.

International suppliers need to account for tariffs, customs, and supply chain efficiency. It can often result in a long delay between your order placement and final product delivery.

Several global packaging companies offer a one-stop shop solution. You don’t have to look for raw material manufacturers or packaging printers. The supplier handles everything. Leaving you with more time to focus on other aspects of your business.

Local packaging suppliers provide you with more precise control over the final product. Whereas international suppliers offer better prices, especially for volumes.

Step 3: Set Supplier Selection Criteria

You need to set clear selection criteria for potential packaging suppliers. Be clear about your quality control, production speed, delivery time, consistency, and cost requirements.

The exact details of your selection criteria will depend on your packaging needs and procurement budget. A thorough selection criterion can act as an early quality assurance indicator.

Shortlist suppliers that meet your selection criteria. The following steps will help you choose the right suppliers from your shortlist.

Step 4: Explore Supplier Product Range

Always check the supplier’s product portfolio. Reliable suppliers have years of packaging manufacturing experience and have diverse product lines. Look for the following on the supplier’s website.

• Diverse packaging solutions such as boxes, bags, bottles, and wrappers.
• Lots of material choices such as paper, plastics, cardboard, glass, and recycled materials.
• In-house packaging design and printing can result in significant cost savings.
• Ability to keep up with industry trends such as minimalist or biodegradable packaging.

A reliable supplier should meet all your current packaging needs with room for future expansion. A diverse product portfolio is also a sign of competency and overall operational efficiency.

Step 5: Ask About Customization Options

Customization is a necessary part of the strategic packaging procurement process. Take an existing packaging design and adapt it to your brand aesthetics. Here are five ways you can customize your packaging materials.

1. Colors: Use colors that stand out from the competition.
2. Size: Adjust your packaging dimensions to reduce material waste.
3. Texture: Adding texture to your packaging enhances the unboxing experience.
4. Branding Designs: Add your business logo, tagline, artwork, and other design elements to the packaging.
5. Finish: Use matte, glossy, and foil finishes to increase the visual impact of your packaging.

Look for packaging suppliers that can accommodate your customization requests. Customization increases the final packaging cost, but it results in higher customer satisfaction.

Step 6: Request Early Samples

Early samples minimize risk and help you identify potential issues early on in the packaging procurement process. Many businesses offer early product samples before you place a large order. This ensures you’re getting the right material quality, texture, and print.

You can also use these samples to reiterate on packaging specs until you get the desired outcome. Requesting and reviewing samples can increase average lead times. However, skip this step and you might run into some costly delays later on.

Step 7: Check MOQ Flexibility

MOQ or minimum order quantity is a manufacturer’s order limit. Certain suppliers, especially international ones, will only accept orders of one thousand pieces or more.

As the order volume increases, the price per item decreases significantly. This principle is called economies of scale, and it provides large manufacturers with a big competitive advantage.

Strict MOQ requirements hurt small businesses. It also prevents you from testing new designs and concepts. Look for suppliers that have flexible MOQs.

Step 8: Eco-Friendly Packaging Materials

You have to stay updated on market demands. Eco-friendly packaging materials have more benefits than you might think.

1. Decreased Environmental Impact: Reducing the use of plastic-based packaging keeps our cities and oceans clean.
2. Regulatory Compliance: The EU has introduced the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) that requires all product packaging materials to be recyclable by 2030.
3. Branding Opportunity: A new business strategy is to use eco-friendly packaging as a marketing tool to improve brand awareness.
4. Loyal Customers: Research shows that customers in the US are more concerned about sustainability goals. People want to support companies that ethically source and use recyclable packaging materials.

The best part of eco-friendly packaging is its cost efficiency. It offers similar performance to plastic packaging materials while improving your brand’s image among consumers.

Step 9: Compare Shipping & Lead Times

Shipping delays are an unfortunate but inherent part of the logistics process. Your procurement team needs to compare shipping and lead times among suppliers and pick one that can deliver items reliably and consistently.

Alternatively, you can bulk order your packaging to prevent unwanted delays. However, that results in additional overhead, inventory management, and higher shipping/freight costs.

Your packaging strategy should strike a delicate balance between material costs and shipping times to ensure smooth operations.

Step 10: Seek Value-Added Services

Value-Added Services (VAS) are extra services provided by the supplier with no additional cost. Part of an efficient packaging procurement strategy is to find these extra services.

Here are some popular value-added services that a packaging supplier can provide.

1. Technical Consultation on Packaging Materials
2. Graphic Design Services
3. Prototyping Support
4. Labeling and Regulatory Compliance Support
5. After Sales Support

These extra efforts by the supplier build trust with customers and are a good foundation for a long-lasting business relationship.

Step 11: Review Pricing & RFP Options

At the end of the day, price is the most important factor in any packaging procurement process. Once you have your final procurement list with all the required services and add-ons, it’s time to request a quote.

Always get a detailed quote from multiple suppliers and compare their services. Prices for the same packaging materials can vary based on two key factors.

1. The supplier used alternative materials.
2. The supplier is far away. So shipping costs are higher.

Instead of a general quote, we recommend detailed RFPs (Requests for Proposal). An RFP is a document with a list of desired packaging materials.

It’s sent by the buyer to various packaging suppliers. The suppliers will respond with a proposal containing a cost breakdown. Afterwards, the buyer can easily compare the proposals and choose the best one.

Step 12: Test Customer Service Quality

You can never be sure about the service quality beforehand. An easy way to test the customer service is by calling and asking for procurement advice. Ask the supplier to guide you through the packaging process and see their response.

A reliable supplier will respond promptly, stay professional throughout the conversation, and even share tips to save money on procurement. Only place your order after you’re satisfied with the customer service team’s response.

6 Elements to Building an Effective Packaging Procurement Strategy

An effective packaging procurement strategy involves strategic sourcing, which we discussed above, and cost optimization. Cost optimization is the process of highlighting all cost variables and tweaking them to reduce costs.

Here are six factors to help you build an effective procurement strategy.

1. Material Costs

Packaging materials are the biggest cost factor in any procurement strategy. Premium materials cost more and are subject to cost fluctuations based on supply and demand. When faced with expensive material costs, there are only two options.

1. Look for alternative materials that can deliver a similar customer experience.
2. Buy materials in bulk when prices are low.

Low-cost materials are readily available and remain at a consistent price. Your overall business strategy should account for premium feel vs. cost effectiveness.

2. Volume Discounts

The entire packaging supply chain is designed for large-volume orders. Packaging is a low-cost-per-unit item. Therefore, small orders are less profitable for suppliers.

Several packaging companies offer discounts for large volume orders. Large businesses regularly take advantage of volume discounts.

3. Spend Aggregation

Small businesses can use spend aggregation to take advantage of bulk discounts. Spend aggregation means several small businesses order packaging from the same supplier to get bulk discounts.

You will lose customization options when using spend aggregation. However, the cost savings more than make up for the loss of customization options.

4. Branding Costs

Speaking of customization, let’s talk about branding costs. Printing a logo or design onto generic packaging results in significantly higher cost-per-unit. The price of branding is directly related to design complexity and colors.

You can reduce costs by decreasing the design complexity and sticking with two or three colors.

5. Total Cost of Ownership

Cost management is a key part of a good packaging procurement strategy. But there are several hidden costs associated with packaging that fly under the radar. Total cost of ownership is an estimate of all direct and indirect costs in packaging procurement.

Direct costs are easy to measure. These are prices related to packaging material, graphic design, printing, and transportation costs.

Indirect costs refer to the intangible packaging cost factors that only show up over time. For example, the planning and procurement time an employee spends. Since you pay the employee an hourly wage, every hour spent negotiating with suppliers is an indirect cost.

Similarly, the time it takes to manage inventory and the loss of business due to failure to meet sustainability goals can indirectly affect your total costs.

A smart procurement strategy needs to consider all potential cost factors.

6. Risk Management

Risk management is an essential part of procurement. Especially when you rely on international suppliers, delays in bad weather, seasonal holidays, and geopolitical risks can affect lead times.

To counteract disruptions in the supply chain, you should diversify your supplier base. For example, Apple sources its iPhone screens from Samsung and LG. So if one supplier delays production, Apple can rely on the other.

Another way to reduce financial risks is to order 10% more packaging in the initial procurement phase. Hence, if there is a supply issue, you can rely on your stored packaging.

Common Challenges in Packaging Procurement and How to Overcome Them

Several challenges can arise during the packaging procurement process. Supply risks to cost fluctuations can disrupt production, causing serious financial and reputational damage to your business.

Here are simple techniques to overcome five common packaging procurement challenges.

1. Surge in Material Costs

The price of paper, plastic, foam, and digital printing can fluctuate due to global supply and demand or tariffs. Abrupt price changes are more common when sourcing packaging from international suppliers.

Solution:

• Negotiate long-term contracts with fixed pricing.
• Switch to different cost-effective alternative materials.

2. Supply Chain Disruption

Bad weather, over-stressed shipping routes, political instability, and other uncontrollable elements can result in supply chain disruptions.

Solution:

• Source your packaging from multiple vendors in different regions.
• Work with suppliers on expedited air shipping if needed.

3. Long Lead Times

Long team times are common in the packaging industry. Custom packaging is a big part of the delays. It takes more time to design, process, and ship. Suppliers are overwhelmed during holidays like Halloween or Christmas as several brands request custom packaging before the season starts.

Solution:

• The procurement team should place orders in advance.
• Distribute the workload over several suppliers to ensure timely production.

4. Currency Exchange Fluctuations

International packaging sourcing is subject to currency exchange rates. Packaging costs today can skyrocket the very next month.

Solution:

• Account for currency fluctuations in the budgeting phase.
• Source packaging from a mix of local and international suppliers.

5. Inconsistent Packaging Quality

Variation in material quality is often a big problem. Colors between production cycles can vary slightly, and the finish or texture of the packaging can be different.

Solution:

• Request, test, and approve samples before confirming a large order.
• Work with reliable suppliers who can guarantee consistency.

FAQ

Q1: What is Procurement in Packaging?

Procurement means finding the right packaging materials, calculating lead times, and negotiating with suppliers.

Q2: What are the Three Types of Packaging?

Use primary packaging for customer experience, secondary packaging for wholesale retailers, and tertiary packaging for bulk shipping.

Q3: Which Type of Packaging Supplier is the Best?

The best and most reliable packaging suppliers offer flexible MOQs, customization options, and early samples.

Q4: Local or International Packaging Procurement?

International packaging procurement is more cost-effective but comes with a higher risk of shipping delays.

Conclusion

Getting the perfect packaging procurement strategy is all about planning ahead, accounting for potential challenges, and working with reliable suppliers. Cost savings are only one part of a good procurement strategy. You also need to account for quality control, consistency, and building a good relationship with suppliers. Use this guide to get started on your next packaging strategy.

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