BOPP Films, Printed Rollstock & Overwrap
The workhorse of flexible packaging: biaxially oriented polypropylene, printed, metallized or plain, slit to your web width and delivered on cores your machine actually takes.
What BOPP is and why almost every snack is wrapped in it
BOPP is polypropylene film stretched in two directions during manufacture, which aligns the polymer chains and gives it a combination of properties no unoriented film has: high stiffness at a low gauge, excellent clarity and gloss, good moisture barrier, dimensional stability at machine speed and a printable surface after corona or chemical treatment.
Practically, that means it runs fast. A flow-wrap machine at six or seven hundred packs a minute needs a film that will not stretch, will not telescope on the roll and will seal reliably in milliseconds. That is why the snack, biscuit and confectionery aisles are effectively an exhibition of BOPP.
Where BOPP is weak is oxygen. On its own it is a moisture barrier, not an oxygen barrier — so for oxygen-sensitive products it is laminated to metallized BOPP, to metallized PET or to an EVOH-containing structure. We will tell you which of those your shelf life actually needs.
The variants and what each one is for
Transparent BOPP is used where the product sells itself, and for overwrap on cartons and boxes. White opaque and cavitated white BOPP give a bright print base and hide the product — the standard for biscuits and bars. Pearlized BOPP has a soft sheen and low density, which means more area per kilo and a premium look for a modest cost.
Metallized BOPP is the economical barrier workhorse: it improves moisture and light barrier dramatically and oxygen barrier substantially, at a fraction of the cost of foil. Matte BOPP has become the default premium finish in coffee and craft categories, and it pairs beautifully with a spot-gloss logo.
Heat-sealable, twist-wrap, anti-fog and high-slip grades exist for specific jobs. Twist-wrap BOPP for individually wrapped candy is a good example: it has to hold a twist without springing back, which is a mechanical property you either specify or discover at the machine.
Buying rollstock: the details that decide whether it runs
A perfect film that arrives on the wrong core is a stopped line. When we quote rollstock we ask for web width, core diameter, maximum roll diameter, maximum roll weight, unwind direction, eye mark position and repeat length, and whether your machine reads the mark on the print or on the sealant side.
We supply slit rolls with the surface treatment level checked on delivery, because corona treatment decays over time and a film that sat in a warehouse for eight months can refuse ink or adhesive. Every roll is labelled with the job, lot, gauge, width, length and treatment.
For customers running several machines, we consolidate: one printed master run, slit to four or five different widths, delivered against one order. It lowers the cost per kilo and it keeps every machine on the same signed colour target.
What this product includes
Typical applications
- Flow-wrapped biscuits, bars, cookies and snack packs
- Vertical form-fill-seal bags for chips, nuts and cereals
- Carton and box overwrap for tea, cosmetics and confectionery
- Twist-wrapped individual candy and caramels
- Lamination webs for pouches and lidding structures
- Labels, tapes and industrial converting applications
Films, resins and finishes
- Transparent BOPP 15 – 40 µm in heat-sealable and plain grades
- White opaque and cavitated white BOPP for print brightness
- Pearlized BOPP for low density and a premium sheen
- Metallized BOPP for moisture, light and improved oxygen barrier
- Matte BOPP with registered spot-gloss varnish
- Twist-wrap, anti-fog and high-slip specialty grades
Frequently asked questions about bopp films
A mono-material all-PP structure is recycle-ready in polypropylene film streams, and BOPP is the natural base for a mono-PP laminate. A BOPP film laminated to PET or foil is not. If recyclability is a goal, tell us early — it changes the whole structure, not just the outer web.
We supply metallized BOPP and metallized PET as part of the structures we sell. For customers who buy film only, we quote metallized rollstock printed or plain and slit to your specification.
It depends on the machine and the pack weight more than on the product. Snack flow-wrap commonly sits between 18 and 30 µm; a heavier pack or a slower machine can take a thinner film than people assume. Send us the machine and the pack weight and we will recommend a gauge and, where it is safe, a down-gauge that saves you material.
Yes. Plain BOPP, metallized BOPP and POF are available as stock rollstock slit to your width, which is often what a co-packer or a seasonal line needs without committing to printed tooling.
Let's spec your packaging
Send us the product, the process and the volume. You get a structure proposal, a tooling cost and a lead time within 24 business hours.