Quality Standard

Board and paper minimums

For any rigid or folding box, we start with greyboard at 1200 g minimum. That's the floor. For spirits and heavier bottles, we recommend 1400 g. We don't use recycled greyboard. We don't use high-moisture paper. Those two choices cause warping, weak corners, and a box that feels cheap the moment someone picks it up.

The facing paper starts at 157 g for specialty or coated stock. Anything lighter tears during wrapping or shows glue marks. For solid wood boxes, the board rule doesn't apply, but the principle does: we reject wood that's too green, too knotty, or too thin for the joinery. You get a box that holds its shape, not one that sags on a shelf.

We also check the grain direction on paper and wood. Paper wrapped against the grain curls at the edges. Wood cut against the grain splits when you drive a hinge screw. These are the failures you don't see in a photo. They show up after three months on a shelf. So we set the minimums and we stick to them.

Insert and bottle fit checks

Our insert rule is simple: the bottle must be held at four points. No unsupported neck, no unsupported shoulder. That applies whether the insert is a velvet tray, EVA foam, blister, or moulded pulp. We don't leave a bottle resting on its base with nothing touching the sides.

Then we test it. A loaded box gets shaken for ten seconds. There should be no movement. Tilt it 45 degrees and the bottle should not slide. Invert the box and the bottle should not release. If any of those fail, the insert gets reworked before the box ships. For solid wood boxes with routed grooves, we check the groove depth and width against the actual bottle, not just the drawing.

We also check the insert's fit inside the box. If the insert is too tight, the lid won't close. If it's too loose, the bottle rattles. We measure the gap and adjust the insert or the box body. A bottle that arrives with a scuffed label is a return. We'd rather catch it here.

Tolerances and colour control

Our control tolerance is plus or minus 1 mm on inserts and plus or minus 2 mm on the box body. That's tight enough for a snug fit but loose enough to avoid jammed lids. For foldable boxes, the creases must not crack when folded, magnet positions stay within plus or minus 1 mm, and corners must hit 90 degrees when erected.

Colour is the part buyers worry about most. We match Pantone references, approve a first article, and pull samples mid-run. Black, deep blue, and burgundy are the hardest to hold, so those get extra attention. If the first article doesn't match, we stop and redo the plates. You approve the colour before mass production starts.

We also check colour consistency across the run. A box that matches the proof at the start can drift by the end. So we pull samples every few hundred units and compare them to the approved first article. If the drift is visible, we adjust the ink or the stain. You don't get a run where half the boxes are one shade and half are another.

In-house pre-shipment checks

Before any order ships, we run the box through our in-house checks. A bottle-loaded box gets a 1.2 m six-face drop test. Stacking top load is 40 kg or more for 24 hours. We simulate truck and sea vibration and check for internal movement. These are our checks, not a standard you'd find in a manual.

If a box fails any of these, we don't ship it. We open it up, find the failure point, and fix the structure or the insert. For solid wood, we also check the hinge, the clasp, and the lid alignment. A box that creaks or sticks on opening is a reject. You'll never see it.

We also check the packaging the box ships in. A wine box that arrives with a crushed corner is a failed delivery, even if the box itself was fine when it left. So we pack with enough void fill and corner protection. And we test the packed carton, not just the wine box. That's the only way to know what your customer actually receives.

Questions buyers ask