“We needed packaging that could keep up with e-commerce peaks and our new café concept,” says Mira, COO at NusaWear. “But we couldn’t afford to lose the brand feel our customers expect from every unboxing.”
Based on insights from packola‘s work with fashion and food brands in Asia, we suggested a single, adaptable print path that could handle apparel shipping cartons and café takeaway boxes with consistent color and fast changeovers. I’ll admit, I was wary at first: apparel and food packaging under one roof is a recipe for headaches if you don’t set guardrails.
Here’s where it gets interesting. NusaWear agreed to a deep-dive interview process with our team—walking through SKUs, peak weeks, food-safety requirements, and the tactile expectations of their clothing customers. What follows is their story, in their words and mine.
Company Overview and History
NusaWear started in Jakarta as a digitally native apparel brand with a loyal following across Southeast Asia. The brand’s identity leans minimalist: earthy tones, high-contrast typography, and uncoated textures that feel natural. In 2024, they launched NusaBites, a café concept inside select retail stores. That move opened a second packaging front: takeaway food carriers alongside apparel shipping boxes.
Before the change, they relied on mixed suppliers for corrugated shipping boxes and boutique folding cartons. Lead times stretched during holiday peaks, and color drifted SKU to SKU. Their café rollout made “short-run and on-demand” a necessity. They wanted custom clothing packaging boxes that felt premium without excessive embellishment, and custom togo boxes that were sturdy, food-safe, and brand-consistent.
I remember Mira’s first ask: “One workflow, fewer dependencies, no shortcuts on food safety.” Fair ask, but not simple. Apparel boxes beg for Soft-Touch Coating or Spot UV. Food carriers need Water-based Ink systems and careful substrate selection to align with EU 1935/2004 and store-level handling. We needed a plan that respected both worlds.
Quality and Consistency Issues
Color accuracy was the first pain point. On kraft and CCNB, NusaWear saw ΔE variances that hovered in the 4–6 range during busy cycles. Their team could see it in side-by-side unboxings. Apparel customers notice. The café team also reported occasional fiber tear on glue flaps, a structural detail that frustrates staff in the lunch rush.
There were reject rates around 7–9% during peak weeks, primarily due to registration drift and substrate shifts between suppliers. The problem wasn’t catastrophic, but it created inventory surprise. As a sales manager, I’ve learned: customers can live with a few hiccups, but not with unpredictability.
Let me back up for a moment. Mixing finishes was part of the confusion. A portion of the apparel boxes used Soft-Touch Coating and Spot UV on folding carton stock, while café boxes ran uncoated kraft. Without harmonized color management—ISO 12647 or G7—plus defined ink systems, we were asking for day-to-day surprises.
Solution Design and Configuration
The turning point came when we mapped everything to Digital Printing for Short-Run and Seasonal SKUs, with Offset Printing reserved only for longer campaigns. Apparel shipping boxes moved to corrugated board with a matte laminate exterior and Soft-Touch Coating on select SKUs; café takeaway boxes stayed with kraft folding carton, printed with Food-Safe Ink (water-based) and clear guidance that prints wouldn’t contact unpackaged food surfaces.
Ink systems were split by end-use: UV-LED Ink for apparel cartons requiring rich blacks and razor-sharp type, and Water-based Ink for café carriers with low migration expectations. Finishes stayed practical: Die-Cutting and Gluing for both, Spot UV reserved for apparel’s hero SKUs. Material standards aligned with FSC sourcing, while color management moved under a tighter ISO 12647/G7 target; post-press controls added registration checks and board crush tests. We kept custom togo boxes simple and sturdy to avoid flap tearing under load.
Q: how to make custom boxes for shipping?
A: Start with the product’s protection needs, then pick a substrate that stands up to your logistics: corrugated board for impact resistance and folding carton for smaller, lighter SKUs. Define print tech by run length—Digital Printing for on-demand and Offset Printing for stable, long-run campaigns. Lock your color targets (ISO/G7), and treat finishes like tools, not decoration. For apparel, Soft-Touch Coating and Spot UV add feel; for food carriers, keep to Water-based Ink and clear handling guidelines.
Project Planning and Kickoff
“We read packola reviews and compared them with two regional suppliers,” Mira told me. “Then we asked for a packola discount code to pilot the first five SKUs across apparel and café.” Fair ask. We scoped a four-week pilot: sample packs, press checks, and shelf-light tests to watch how prints look under store lighting versus daylight.
Change management mattered. We trained store teams on handling and storage—humidity can warp uncoated kraft—and we added simple QA sheets for each delivery. There was an early objection about color on raw kraft; we calibrated curves and set ΔE expectations by substrate. Not perfect, but honest and predictable. We also kept custom clothing packaging boxes in short-run batches—200–500 units—to watch data before scaling.
Quantitative Results and Metrics
Fast forward six months. ΔE on apparel cartons now sits around 2–3, even on darker palettes. Rejects went from roughly 7–9% down to about 3–4% in peak weeks, aided by better registration and tighter substrate specs. FPY% hovers in the 91–93% range, up from the mid-80s. Waste rate shifted from about 10–12% to roughly 6–8%—mostly by standardizing board and dialing post-press settings.
Output per shift rose about 15–20%, largely due to changeovers that now average 20–30 minutes instead of the old 40–50. We won’t pretend it’s flawless; on humid days, kraft still behaves like kraft. But the workflow is resilient. Apparel unboxing feels consistent, and café teams say glue flaps hold up when boxes are stacked two-high.
As for the business side, the payback period lands in the 9–12 month range for NusaWear, depending on campaign volume. Seasonal and promotional runs now happen on-demand without overstock. We plan upcoming work with custom clothing packaging boxes for spring drops and simpler café carriers for weekend surges. And yes, we continue to fine-tune with **packola** through each new SKU—steady, practical, and honest about trade-offs.
