Buying honeycomb paper in bulk: what to write on the purchase order

Two quotes land on your desk. Both say "honeycomb paper, 80 GSM, 380 mm x 250 m". One is a lot cheaper.

There is a good chance they are not the same product. One supplier may count the length after the paper is pulled open. The other may sell lighter paper and call it 80. You find out on the packing table, usually after the bulk order is paid.

Here is the short answer. A good purchase order for honeycomb paper fixes eight things in writing: paper GSM, flat length, flat width, roll diameter and core, tissue, colour, packing against moisture, and the FSC claim with its certificate code. Then it ties the bulk order to a sample you have tested yourself.

We make honeycomb paper wrap at Jagannath Polymers in Jaipur, and we export to 20+ countries. I would still give you this list if you buy from someone else.

A buyer with a clear purchase order is a better customer for every honest supplier, including us.

The purchase order in one list

This is what I would write on the order. The numbers are examples to show the format. They are not a recommendation for your product.

1. Product: honeycomb paper wrap, natural kraft, die-cut, in rolls.
2. Paper: 80 GSM, with the tolerance agreed in writing.
3. Flat width: 380 mm.
4. Flat (unexpanded) length: 250 m per roll.
5. Roll outer diameter, core inner diameter and core type (flush, extended or notched), to suit your dispenser.
6. Tissue interleaf: yes or no, its GSM, and whether it comes on the same roll.
7. Packing: each roll wrapped, pallets stretch-wrapped, pallets dry when loaded.
8. FSC: the exact claim (for example FSC Recycled 100%) and the supplier's FSC certificate code, both on the invoice.
9. Quality: "to match the approved sample dated ...", with a piece of that sample kept by both sides.

Each line is explained below.

Paper GSM: why it changes cushioning and tearing

GSM is grams per square metre. It tells you how heavy the paper is before it is cut. The international test method for it is ISO 536:2019, published by the International Organization for Standardization.

Heavier paper makes stiffer cell walls. Stiffer cells spring back after a knock, so they cushion better, and the paper is less likely to rip at the slits when a packer pulls fast. Lighter paper is cheaper per metre and folds tighter around small items. Go too light and the cells collapse flat under the product, or tear open at the ends of the cuts.

There is no single right GSM. A 300 g perfume bottle and a 4 kg ceramic vase need different paper.

I would never pick GSM from a brochure. Ask for two grades and test both on your own products.

You can check the GSM yourself in two minutes. Cut a 10 cm x 10 cm square from the flat paper, before it is pulled open. That square is one hundredth of a square metre. Weigh it on a scale that reads to 0.01 g and multiply by 100. A square that weighs 0.80 g is 80 GSM. Cut three squares from different parts of the roll and take the average.

Here is one warning. Paper takes up water from the air, so a damp roll weighs more and reads higher. This is why paper labs condition samples at 23 °C and 50% relative humidity, the standard atmosphere in ISO 187:2022. Weigh your squares in a dry room, not on a wet monsoon afternoon.

Flat length versus expanded length

This is the line where most buyers lose money.

Honeycomb paper travels flat. When you pull it, the cuts open into cells and the paper gets longer. If you have hung a paper kandeel at Diwali, you know the idea... it comes flat in the box and opens into a lantern.

Some suppliers quote the flat length of the roll. Others quote the expanded length, because it is a bigger number. Either is fine, but only if the quote says which one. A quote that says "250 m" without the word flat or expanded tells you nothing.

Write the word FLAT on your order.

My rule of the trade is simple. Compare quotes per kilo of paper, or per flat metre at the same GSM, never per roll.

A cheap roll is very often a short roll.

You can check the flat length without unrolling 250 metres. Die-cutting makes slits. It does not remove paper, so the weight of the paper tells you its length:

Flat length in metres = net paper weight in grams ÷ (GSM × flat width in metres)

Take a roll of 80 GSM paper, 0.38 m wide, with 7.6 kg of paper on it. 7,600 ÷ (80 × 0.38) = 250 m. Weigh an empty core and subtract it, and weigh any tissue separately. If the answer comes out at 170 m, you have found the reason for the cheap price.

To see how an expanded figure relates to the flat one, mark 1 m on the flat paper and pull it open the way your packers do. Then measure it again. The ratio depends on the cut pattern and on how hard people pull.

With our cut, 1 m of flat paper opens to about 1.6 m. So our 250 m roll is 250 m FLAT, and it gives roughly 400 m once it is pulled open. A supplier who quotes "400 m" for the same paper is not giving you more. That supplier is simply counting the other way.

I have to admit something here. The product page on our main site, Jagannath Polymers, says our rolls are generally 250 metres and does not say flat or expanded. That gap is ours. The answer is flat.

Width

Width decides how many turns it takes to cover your product, and whether the roll fits your dispenser. Write the flat width on the order, in millimetres.

You will see the same roll called 15 inch, 381 mm and 380 mm. Those are close but not identical, and a dispenser built for one can bind on a roll that is slightly wider.

I would choose the width for your most common product, not your biggest one. A roll much wider than the product wastes paper at both ends of every pack.

Roll diameter and core, if you use a dispenser

A dispenser takes rolls up to a maximum outer diameter, on a spindle that fits a certain core. Ask the supplier for both numbers: the roll's outer diameter and the core's inner diameter.

Check them against your dispenser before you order 500 rolls.

Ask for the roll weight too, because a packer lifts it onto the dispenser many times a week. And ask how tightly the rolls are wound. A loose roll slumps on the spindle and feeds unevenly.

If you ask us for a quote, send us your dispenser's roll limits with it.

Tissue interleaf for glossy items

For high-gloss, lacquered or soft finishes, put a thin tissue layer between the product and the honeycomb. The honeycomb does the cushioning. The tissue gives the surface something smooth to touch, and it stops small parts poking through the open cells.

Some rolls come with tissue wound in with the honeycomb paper. Some buyers run a separate tissue roll instead. Either way, put it on the order: tissue yes or no, its GSM, and whether it comes on the same roll.

Colour: natural kraft or white

Natural kraft is the brown, unbleached paper most people picture, and it is the usual default. White honeycomb paper is made from bleached paper. It looks cleaner in a premium unboxing and usually costs more. It also shows every dusty fingerprint from a warehouse floor.

Choose white if your end customer sees the wrap and your brand needs it. If I were packing for a warehouse or a trade buyer, I would stay with natural kraft.

Moisture and storage in monsoon and in containers

Paper and water do not get along. Damp honeycomb paper loses stiffness, so the cells fold flat sooner and tear more easily. Left damp for long, it can smell musty or grow mould.

In India, June to September is the hard season. Store rolls in their original wrapping, on pallets, off the floor, and away from outside walls and loading doors. Open only what you will use that week, and use the oldest stock first.

Containers need extra care. A closed container cannot breathe, so moisture in the cargo condenses on the cold walls and roof and drips back. The Transport Information Service of the German Insurance Association (GDV) names the largest sources of that condensation: the cargo, its packaging, the wooden floor and any hygroscopic packing materials. Its advice is to load cargo as dry as possible.

So the order should say: each roll wrapped, pallets stretch-wrapped, pallets dry at loading. If your container may wait at a port in the monsoon, ask for desiccant bags as well.

I would not accept rolls that arrive soft or smelling musty, whoever made them.

At our end, honeycomb paper is made and stored in a moisture-controlled plant, and every lot is checked for moisture before it is packed. That protects the paper up to the container door. After that, the packing on your order has to do the work.

How to check an FSC claim yourself

FSC is the Forest Stewardship Council. An FSC claim tells you the fibre comes from FSC-certified forests, from recycled material, or from a mix of these with controlled sources. Anyone can print "FSC" on a brochure. You can check the claim yourself in ten minutes, for free.

1. Ask for the FSC certificate code in writing. It is not the licence code. The licence code looks like "FSC C123456" and sits beside the FSC logo on products, as FSC's trademark standard FSC-STD-50-001 V3-0 (effective 1 July 2026) sets out. The certificate code is the one that goes on invoices.
2. Search the code, or the company name, on FSC Search, FSC's public certificate database.
3. Check that the status is valid, not suspended or terminated. Check that the company name and address match the company invoicing you.
4. Check the scope. The record lists the product types the certificate covers and the FSC claims it can make. Paper wrapping should be inside it. FSC's chain of custody standard asks certified buyers to check both the validity and the product scope of their suppliers' certificates in this database, regularly.
5. Check the invoice. Clause 5.1 of FSC-STD-40-004 V3-1, FSC's chain of custody standard (effective 2 May 2021), says sales documents for FSC products must show the seller's certificate code and a clear FSC claim for the products, such as "FSC Mix Credit" or "FSC Recycled 100%". No claim on the invoice means no FSC claim reaches you.
6. Watch for traders. The same standard says every change of ownership needs its own chain of custody certificate if the FSC claim is to carry on. If a trader invoices you, the trader's certificate is the one that counts, not the mill's.

Jagannath Polymers has held an FSC chain of custody certificate since August 2023, audited by SGS, and our honeycomb paper is available FSC-certified.

Please run the six steps above on us before you trust us. Our certificate code is SGSHK-COC-400324 and our licence code is FSC-C193292. Most of our FSC honeycomb paper is invoiced as FSC Recycled, made from 100% recycled fibre.

A simple sample test before the bulk order

A sample costs you a few hours. A wrong container costs you a season.

I would not sign a bulk order without these six steps, and we are happy to be tested this way.

1. Ask for a sample of the exact grade and roll size you plan to buy, with GSM, flat length, flat width and FSC claim written on its label.
2. Weigh the roll and work out its flat length. Cut three 10 cm squares and check the GSM.
3. Pull 5 metres through your dispenser, or by hand, at your packers' real speed. Count the tears. Check that the cells open evenly across the full width.
4. Wrap 20 of your real products the way your team will. Drop a few packed boxes from table height onto a corner, an edge and a face, then open them.
5. Leave a 1 metre piece overnight in the dampest corner of your warehouse, and pull it again in the morning.
6. Keep a labelled piece as the reference. Put the sample's date on the purchase order, and compare the first bulk delivery against it.

What goes wrong with cheap rolls

Most complaints about honeycomb paper are not really about honeycomb paper. They are about rolls that were cut, wound or stored badly. These are the usual ones:

1. The roll is short, because it was quoted in expanded metres or simply carries less paper than promised. The weight check catches this.
2. The paper is too light or too weak, so it tears at the slits when pulled fast.
3. The die-cut is uneven. Worn blades leave uncut bridges, so the cells open on one side of the roll and not the other.
4. The winding is loose, so the roll slumps on the dispenser or its edges get crushed in transit.
5. The rolls arrive damp, feeling soft and smelling musty.
6. The paperwork is missing. "FSC" appears in the brochure, but there is no claim or certificate code on the invoice.

Of these, weak paper is the one that hurts most, because it hides in your costs. Buyers who leave us for a cheaper roll usually come back for the same reason. The paper tears, so packers wrap each item twice, and the paper used per order goes up. The roll was cheaper. The packing was not.

And one honest limit. Honeycomb paper is not for everything. For heavy items with sharp corners, or goods that may sit wet for weeks, test hard before you switch.

Keep your current packing until the test says otherwise.

Where we fit

Jagannath Polymers was founded in 1995 and has manufactured packaging since 1997. We make honeycomb paper wrap in Jaipur for ecommerce brands, warehouses, distributors and exporters, in India and abroad. The raw paper is tested before it reaches the line. Every honeycomb lot is then checked for GSM, roll weight, moisture and cut quality, and samples go through strength, drop and usage tests on a dispenser. Our quality page has the full list.

We do not publish prices here, because they depend on your specification and volume. Send us what you ship, your dispenser, roughly how many orders you pack a month, and where the goods go. We will suggest a width and grade to test, and we will send a sample you can put through every step above. Our contact page has our email and phone.

If our roll fails your test, tell me. I would much rather hear it at the sample stage than from inside a container.