Packaging · 3 min read
Kraft or white packaging? How to pick for your brand
Kraft and white board compared for bags, boxes, cups and wraps: how each looks, how colours print on them, and which suits cafés, bakeries and retail.
Jais Brandworks · Lower Parel, Mumbai ·
Brown or white. It sounds like a small choice, but it changes how your packaging looks, how your logo prints and what your customers think of you before they have tasted anything.
What kraft says
Kraft is paper and board in its natural brown, without bleaching. It reads as natural, handmade and down to earth. That is why bakeries, cafés, organic food brands, delis and a lot of new restaurants pick it.
Kraft works well for:
- Paper bags for bakeries, sweet shops and takeaway
- Salad bowls and food boxes for healthy food brands
- Kraft greaseproof wraps for sandwiches and wraps
- Cafés that want a warm, simple look
What white says
White board looks clean, crisp and premium. It is the better canvas for colour, so it suits brands where colour carries the identity: a bright orange burger brand, a pink dessert café, a hotel with a deep navy crest.
White works well for:
- Full-colour designs and photographs
- Brands with bright or pastel brand colours
- Hotels, fine dining and retail where a polished look matters
- White greaseproof paper with a repeating logo pattern
How colours print on each
This is where people get surprised.
Ink on printed packaging is mostly transparent. On white board, the paper reflects light back through the ink, so colours look bright and true. On kraft, the brown shows through and changes the colour.
- Dark colours (black, navy, deep green, maroon) print well on kraft and look rich.
- White ink on kraft looks good and gives a strong contrast, but it needs to be planned as a separate colour.
- Bright and light colours (yellow, pink, light blue, orange) go duller and browner on kraft. Your yellow will not look like your yellow.
- Photographs generally look better on white.
If your brand colour is light or bright and you love kraft, there are options: use a dark version of the logo, print a white block under the colour, or use kraft for some items and white for others.
A kraft bag with a dark one-colour logo. Brand shown is a sample.
A quick comparison
| Kraft | White | |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Natural, warm | Clean, premium |
| Best colours | Dark colours, black, white ink | Any, including bright colours |
| Photos | Muted | Sharp |
| Shows grease and stains | Less | More |
| Suits | Bakeries, cafés, delis, healthy food | Burgers, desserts, hotels, retail |
Mixing both
You don’t have to choose one for everything. A café might use kraft bags and kraft refreshing towels but white cups with a full-colour logo. A restaurant might use white greaseproof paper inside a kraft takeaway bag. As long as the logo and colours are consistent, a mix can look very deliberate.
What about the environment?
Kraft looks eco-friendly, and paper packaging in general is easier for customers to recycle or compost than plastic. Whether a particular product is recyclable depends on what it is made of and whether it has a coating or lamination. Food boxes and cups often have a lining to hold grease or liquid. If sustainability is part of your brand story, ask us about the specific material for each product, and we’ll tell you what it is made of so you can describe it honestly.
Not sure? Look at both
The easiest way to decide is to see your logo on both. We send mockups on kraft and white side by side, and plain samples if you want to hold them. Or try both yourself in the Try-On.
Choosing bags specifically? Read how to choose the right paper bag.
