中文Quietly, in an Essex suburb, a packaging firm has just placed a bet on how Britons will buy shampoo, sauce and supplements a few years from now. BakPac, the flexible packaging division of label printer Bakers, has installed two new automatic spout inserters from Japanese manufacturer Totani — a investment of more than £500,000 that the company says will add capacity and capability for custom-printed spouted pouches.
It is the kind of move that sounds mundane until you zoom out. Spouted pouches — those stand-up, squeeze-friendly packs with a little plastic nozzle — are one of the fastest-growing corners of flexible packaging. They are lighter than bottles, cheaper to ship, and increasingly the format of choice for everything from laundry liquid to protein drinks.
Steve Baker, managing director at Bakers, is blunt about why the company moved now. “Spouted pouches are a really exciting area for BakPac. The refill market in the UK is still at an early stage, but we believe it is a question of when, not if, demand grows.” That is a confident wager on a behavioural shift that has been predicted for years but has stayed stubbornly just over the horizon in the UK.
BakPac, based in Brentwood, sees demand rising across beauty, wellness, drinks, food, supplements, household and automotive markets. The maths of refill makes the case for it: a pouch uses far less plastic than a rigid bottle, and a refill sachet uses less still. As brands scramble to hit packaging-reduction targets, the spouted pouch keeps looking like a sensible answer.
The install itself was a project. Both Totani ST-30 machines went in starting Monday 10 August, with Totani engineers on site for four days before completion the following week, followed by a week of training. It was not BakPac’s first rodeo — the team already runs an automated spout inserter from Galaxy Packtech, installed back in 2024. The new machines relieve bottlenecks in spouted pouch production and add speed and flexibility.
Baker is clear about where spout insertion sits in the process: “Spout insertion is one of the final stages in the production process, after printing, laminating and pouch conversion, so it is critical that we protect quality and delivery.” Get it wrong at the end and you waste everything that came before. Having two Totanis means BakPac can support customers as they scale — whether they are testing a new refill concept, moving into higher-volume repeat work, or simply want a trusted trade partner with specialist capability.
The choice of Totani was no accident. Baker says the brand has a reputation for high-quality engineering and came recommended by Galaxy Packtech, the trusted supplier that already provided BakPac’s five pouch converters and its first automated spout inserter. A visit to Totani’s headquarters in Japan in May left the Bakers team “impressed” after testing the machines.
And the appetite is not yet satisfied. Discussions are already underway about investing further in automatic spout inserters as demand grows. “This is a significant investment, but it is also the start of where we believe this market can go,” Baker said.
BakPac is initially offering 10, 17.5 and 21.5mm spout sizes, with pouch formats ranging from a dinky 50ml up to a hefty 5 litres. That span covers a toddler’s drink pouch and an industrial refill jug alike.
Whether the UK refill boom arrives on BakPac’s timeline is anyone’s guess. But the company has done the unglamorous, expensive work of being ready before the rush. In packaging, that is often the difference between riding a trend and watching it pass by.
Source: Printweek — “BakPac eyes emerging market with spout inserters install” (21 August 2026)
