Custom Kraft Paper

Custom Kraft Paper: The Strongest Sheet in the Range

Of every grade in our Custom Papers collection, kraft is the one most businesses end up ordering in the largest volume. It is not as specialized as cheese or greaseproof paper is. It is the general-purpose stock that quietly handles half the wrapping tasks in a retail or food operation, and its value lies in strength rather than barrier performance.

Where the Strength Comes From

The name has nothing to do with craft or handmade production. Kraft is German for strength, and it refers to the sulfate pulping process used to make it. That process dissolves lignin from wood chips while leaving cellulose fibers largely intact and unusually long. Fiber length is what determines tear resistance, so kraft ends up considerably stronger than papers made by mechanical or bleached chemical routes. This is also why Kraft is the standard liner material in corrugated board: the outer facings of a shipping box are doing structural work, and they need fiber that holds.

Natural Brown Versus Bleached White

Both start from the same process. The difference is what happens afterward.

Natural kraft skips bleaching entirely, retaining residual lignin that produces the familiar brown tone. It is the stronger of the two, since bleaching shortens fibers slightly, and it costs less because a processing stage is removed. Brands positioning around sustainability, craft production, or artisanal identity generally choose it for the visual signal alone.

Bleached white kraft trades a small amount of strength for a clean, bright print surface. Where color accuracy matters, a retail brand with a precise palette, or packaging that needs to read as premium rather than rustic, white kraft delivers reproduction that brown simply cannot.

Weight Selection by Application

Basis weight matters more here than in any other paper we supply, because Custom Kraft Paper covers such a wide range of jobs.

Lighter stock in the 30–50gsm range suits void fill, tissue-style wrapping, and interleaving. Mid-weight around 60–90gsm is the general retail wrapping and bag range. Heavier stock from 100gsm upward handles outer wrapping, shipping protection, and anything that needs to survive handling on its own.

Ordering too light to save costs is a common error. A sheet that tears on the counter costs more in reprinted stock and customer impression than the weight upgrade would have.

Food-Grade Kraft Is a Separate Specification

This distinction matters and is regularly overlooked. Industrial kraft used for void fill and shipping is not automatically approved for food contact. Food-grade Custom Kraft Paper is manufactured under different controls and carries FDA compliance for direct contact.

If your kraft will touch an unwrapped product, specify the food-grade version explicitly. For greasy items, Kraft on its own is the wrong choice regardless of grade. Custom Greaseproof Paper carries the barrier that kraft lacks.

How Kraft Sits Against Our Other Papers

Kraft is strong but not specialized. That boundary is worth understanding.

For oven work, Custom Parchment Paper is correct. For meat counters, Custom Butcher Paper is a kraft variant tuned specifically for breathability. Cheese needs the two-ply construction of Custom Cheese Paper, and frozen storage requires the moisture barrier in Custom Freezer Paper.

Where Kraft leads is retail wrap, bags, void fill, gift presentation, and outer protection, anything where tear strength matters more than a barrier.

Printing on a Brown Substrate

Natural kraft absorbs ink and shifts color. Whites disappear entirely unless printed with opaque white ink, and pastels look muddy. Bold, high-contrast single-color artwork consistently outperforms detailed multi-color designs on this stock.

We print in 1-color, 2-color, or full CMYK with water-based and soy-based food-safe inks, and we will flag at the proof stage if your artwork is likely to lose definition on brown.

Extending Kraft Across Your Setup

Retailers pair printed kraft with Custom Mailer Boxes for e-commerce fulfillment and Custom Gift Boxes for presentation orders. Florists use it as outer protection alongside Flower Bouquet Paper, and bakeries run it beside Custom Bakery Boxes for counter wrapping.

Ordering across formats from one custom packaging company keeps your brown-stock color consistent, which matters more on kraft than on white since the substrate itself varies between mills. Request a free quote and physical samples for your Custom Kraft Paper, and we will confirm weight and grade against your application first.