What The Packaging Lab does

The Packaging Lab is a custom flexible packaging manufacturer headquartered in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, founded in 2019 by Dan Niblo, Jeff Searson, and Peter (who passed away in September 2023). The company produces digitally printed stand-up pouches, lay-flat pouches, rollstock film, and flow wrap film for small and mid-sized brands in food and beverage, health and wellness, pet products, household goods, and beauty and personal care. Operating with no minimum order quantities and a 24-hour production turnaround, the company targets the long tail of direct-to-consumer and emerging brands that conventional flexographic converters underserve with high minimums and longer lead times.

Production is centered on an HP Indigo 20K digital press that eliminates the plate fees associated with traditional printing, enabling cost-effective short runs and reducing setup overhead. The company runs a self-serve e-commerce platform with 24/7 availability, an instant pricing calculator, dieline downloads, artwork upload functionality, and order tracking, supplemented by an in-house Design For Me service that delivers three custom concepts with revisions. All manufacturing is U.S.-based at the company's Brooklyn Park headquarters and operations facility on Winnetka Ave N, with a secondary contact/mailing location on Xylon Ct.

The business model is purely transactional: per-unit pricing with a $300 setup fee for first-time designs, volume-based discounts, and feature add-ons (zippers, hang holes, windows) priced per unit. Faster production turnaround commands higher unit prices, and free FedEx Ground shipping is included to U.S. addresses. The company is founder-owned, bootstrapped with no disclosed venture capital, employs approximately 30 staff, and reports a 5/5 Trustpilot rating across 314 reviews.

Name

The Packaging Lab

Legal name

The Packaging Lab

Website

https://thepkglab.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Packaging Lab, founded in 2019 in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, digitally prints stand-up pouches, lay-flat pouches, rollstock, and flow wrap film with no minimum orders and 24-hour turnaround, serving SMB and direct-to-consumer brands across food, health, pet, household, and beauty verticals online.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Flexible Packaging Manufacturing

NAICS

Plastics Bag and Pouch Manufacturing (326111)

SIC

Plastics, Foil & Coated Paper Bags (2673)

akta.pro primary industry

Flexible Plastic Packaging (Bags, Pouches, Sachets) Manufacturing (IMANAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Flexible Packaging Printing (Film/Poly/Paper Print) (IMALAKAG)

Keywords

• Custom flexible packaging
• Digital printing services
• Stand-up pouches
• Rollstock film
• No minimum printing

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Flexible Packaging Products: One-time product sales of custom printed stand-up pouches, lay-flat pouches, and rollstock film. Pricing is per-unit based on quantity, size, material, finish, and production speed. Setup fees apply for first-time orders. Revenue is transactional with no recurring subscription component.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Packaging Lab manufactures and sells custom digitally printed flexible packaging products—stand-up pouches, lay-flat pouches, rollstock film, and flow wrap film—using an HP Indigo 20K digital press in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Orders require no minimum quantity (as few as one pouch), with production turnaround as fast as 24 hours, free FedEx Ground shipping to U.S. addresses, and an optional in-house graphic design (Design For Me) service for customers needing artwork creation.

Product overview

The Packaging Lab offers a portfolio of custom flexible packaging products centered on digitally printed pouches and film. The core offerings consist of Custom Stand-Up Pouches (with bottom gussets for retail shelf display), Custom Lay-Flat Pouches (3-side sealed, lying flat), and Custom Rollstock Film (for automated packaging machinery), along with Flow Wrap Film for high-speed snack bar applications. The company provides supporting services including a Design For Me in-house design program and a Free Sample Pack for product testing. All products are manufactured in the U.S. using HP Indigo digital printing technology with no minimum order quantities and production turnaround as fast as 24 hours.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Stand-Up Pouches Custom digitally printed flexible pouches with an expandable gusset on the bottom that allows them to stand upright on retail shelves. Available with resealable zippers, hang holes, and high-barrier materials suitable for food-safe applications.
• Custom Lay-Flat Pouches Custom digitally printed flat pouches (also called lay-flat or 3-side sealed pouches) designed to lay flat when filled, ideal for single-use applications and smaller volumes. Available in white, metallized, or clear materials with optional zippers and hang holes.
• Custom Rollstock Film Digitally printed flexible film used on customer packaging equipment for products such as drink powders, granola bars, nuts, seeds, and candy bars. Specifications are dictated by the customer's packaging machinery.
• Flow Wrap Film Flexible packaging film designed for flow wrap packaging machinery, used for high-speed snack bars and similar products requiring horizontal form-fill-seal packaging.
• Design For Me Service In-house graphic design service where professional designers create custom packaging artwork based on customer requirements, including three design concepts, feedback meetings, and revisions. Targeted at customers without in-house design resources or packaging artwork.
• Free Sample Pack Free sample pack containing all standard sizes, materials, and finishes offered by The Packaging Lab, allowing customers to test fit and evaluate options before ordering custom packaging.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5/5 stars on Trustpilot from 314 reviews highlighting fast turnaround and print quality
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Refine Packaging: Refine Packaging offers custom flexible pouches, rollstock, and stand-up pouches for small and mid-sized CPG brands, competing directly with The Packaging Lab in the short-run custom pouch segment.
• PakFactory: PakFactory is an online custom packaging company offering pouches, boxes, labels, and flexible packaging with self-serve ordering and short-run capabilities — a comparable digital-first custom packaging e-commerce player.
• NoBull (NoBull Print & Packaging): NoBull is a small-batch digital pouch and flexible packaging printer focused on short-run custom orders with quick turnaround, directly competing for the same SMB and emerging-brand customers as The Packaging Lab.
• ePac Flexibles: ePac Flexibles is a digital flexible packaging company offering short-run, quick-turn custom pouches and rollstock film with no plate fees — the closest direct competitor to The Packaging Lab's e-commerce-native model, with a broader geographic footprint.

Emerging players

• Sticker Mule: Sticker Mule is a digital-first custom printing company built on a no-minimum, fast-turn, e-commerce-native model for stickers and labels — an adjacent emerging player demonstrating the same online short-run custom-print playbook The Packaging Lab uses for pouches.

Broad incumbents

• ProAmpac: ProAmpac is a large global flexible packaging manufacturer serving food, beverage, and consumer goods with a wide portfolio of pouches and film — a broad incumbent whose specialty and high-volume offerings compete for the same end customers when they scale.
• Mondi Group: Mondi is a global packaging and paper group with significant flexible packaging operations across consumer goods end markets — a broad incumbent competitor for higher-volume flexible packaging customers.
• Berry Global Group: Berry Global is a major global manufacturer of plastic packaging products including flexible films and pouches, serving consumer goods end markets that overlap heavily with The Packaging Lab's customer base.
• Amcor: Amcor is one of the world's largest packaging companies, producing flexible films, pouches, and rigid containers across food, beverage, healthcare, and personal care — a broad incumbent that competes for larger-volume flexible packaging orders.
• Sealed Air: Sealed Air is a large packaging conglomerate with food and protective packaging lines including flexible films, competing for the food and consumer goods customers The Packaging Lab serves.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@thepackaginglab
• Facebookfacebook.com/pkglab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-packaging-lab
• Instagraminstagram.com/pkg_lab
• Xx.com/pkg_lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Packaging Lab