Shelf Ready Packaging.

A perforation runs around the case, so the stocker pulls a tab and the hood lifts away from the tray in one piece. The tray stays on the shelf as the facing, and the hood goes out with the store's cardboard.

Clean-tearing perforations take careful die work, since a perf that snags leaves ragged edges at the front of the shelf. We sample the tear on the actual board before approving the die.

They do take some strength away, which is why the perforation pattern and the stacking load are designed together. Cases still have to survive a full pallet stack and a distribution centre before anyone tears them open.

We usually build the tray in B-flute and keep the perforations clear of the corners that carry most of the load. The tray also has to hold its shape once the hood is gone, so the front lip and sides are sized for that too.

Most large chains publish an SRP manual, and it is the first document we ask for. It sets case dimensions, how the case is identified, how it opens and how it sits on the shelf.

The dimensions are handed to you, so the tray has to fit the product within millimetres. Too loose and the units fall over, too tight and they jam when shoppers pull one out.

The tray front stays on the shelf for as long as the stock lasts, so we treat it as a permanent brand panel. Litho-laminated fronts give a sharp printed face, and bold brand blocking helps several trays read as one when they sit side by side.

Colour coding by variant lets staff and shoppers tell flavours or sizes apart quickly. A strip of shelf-edge messaging can run along the lip at hand height.

The trays and hoods are corrugated board, and we can run them in recycled grades that go back into the ordinary cardboard stream. Keeping the case to board alone, with no plastic windows, makes it easy for the store to bale the hoods with the rest of its cardboard.

Recycled grades are our volume material for SRP, so choosing them doesn't change the structure or the print options.

We size it to the case count first, then check it against the shelf depth and height in the retailer's planogram. Tell us how many units go in each case and how they should face, and we work the tray and hood around that.

Tray height matters as well. It should be low enough that shoppers can see the product and high enough to keep the front row upright.

Shelf ready cases have a 500-unit minimum with us. Most SRP work runs at far higher volumes once a line is listed, so the first order often serves as a pilot for one retailer or region.

If the chain revises its manual later, we update the dieline to the new rules and carry on from there.

Expect 7 to 10 business days for production, or 5 to 7 if the order is rushed. We'd suggest a sample first, made in 5 to 7 business days, so you can time the open-and-shelve step and send it to the retailer for approval.

The sample fee gets credited to your production order, and we ship to distribution centres and warehouses nationwide.