Pre-Made Pouch Machine vs VFFS for Cannabis Packaging

There are two ways to put cannabis in a bag by machine. A pre-made pouch machine fills bags that arrive finished. A vertical form fill seal machine, or VFFS, makes the bag from a roll of film while it fills. Both work. They suit different products.

How each one works

Pre-made pouch machine. You buy printed bags from a bag supplier. The machine picks a bag, opens it, fills it and seals it. The RotoBagger and the EcoBagger family are pre-made pouch machines.

VFFS. You buy printed film on a roll. The machine pulls film over a forming tube, seals the back and bottom, fills, then seals the top and cuts. The MarsCompak is a compact VFFS that makes pillow, stand-up, zipper and gusset bags at up to 80 a minute.

Where pre-made pouches win

• Shelf look. Pre-made stand-up pouches are made on converting equipment built only for that. Seals are flat, corners are clean and the bag stands straight.
• Child-resistant zippers. Certified child-resistant zipper pouches are an off the shelf item from bag suppliers. That is why most flower and edibles brands start here.
• Small runs and many SKUs. You can order a few thousand bags per strain. Changing bags on a servo machine is a recipe change on the touchscreen.
• Simple operation. One operator loads bags. There is no film tracking or forming tube to set up.

Where VFFS wins

• Cost per bag. Roll film costs less than finished pouches. At high volume that adds up.
• Speed. A VFFS runs faster than a pouch bagger on free-flowing product.
• Simple bag styles. Pillow bags and single-serve packs are natural fits.

Where each one struggles

Pre-made pouches cost more per bag, and zippers must arrive pre-opened because no machine opens a zipper. VFFS needs longer runs to pay off, film changeovers take longer, and a formed bag rarely looks as premium as a pre-made pouch.

Which one for which product

• Flower in eighths to ounces: pre-made pouch. Brands want the premium bag and the child-resistant zipper.
• Gummies in resealable pouches: pre-made pouch.
• Single-serve edibles, snacks and sample packs: VFFS, or a flow wrapper for bars and cookies.
• High-volume, one or two SKUs, price-driven: VFFS.

Realistic cannabis speeds

On flower, a RotoBagger runs 20 to 30 bags a minute and a RotoDuplex runs 35 to 50. Edibles run faster: 25 to 35 and 50 to 70. Food brochures quote higher numbers for the same machines because rice and nuts flow better than flower and do not need the same weight accuracy.

The short answer

If your brand lives in a printed child-resistant pouch, buy a pre-made pouch machine. If you sell high volumes of a simple bag and care most about cost per unit, look at VFFS. Some operations run both.

Talk to someone who runs these machines

Tell us your product, your bag and how many units you need per shift. We will tell you which machine fits and what it takes to install it. Contact LeafyPack or call +1 (657) 267-0059.