Custom Printed Medicine Box | OTC & Supplement Cartons | MOQ 100
- Material: Virgin SBS 300-350gsm, low-migration ink
- Structure: Reverse tuck end, optional window
- MOQ: 100 pcs
- Lead Time: 10-15 days | Free dieline
Custom printed medicine boxes for OTC, supplement and pharmacy own-brand lines. Virgin SBS, low-migration ink, optional Braille, foil and spot UV. Free dieline, MOQ 100.
Our Advantages
No Die and Plate Charges For Digital Samples
High quality printing
Quick Turn Around
Starting from 500pcs
Custom size and style
Competitive Price
Free Design Support
To door delivery
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COMPANY SERVICES
| Bigger Discounts Offer for large orders | Bigger Discounts Offer for large orders Prices are negotiable based on your purchase volume and Fixated prices can be offered based on frequency of the order. |
| After-service | Sample cost is refundable if it's not good quality as we promised!We will refund you the defected goods values as contract listed,if the defective goods are beyond as we contracted.Our goal is to have no bad feedback and keep doing business in the future! |
| Risk Free, Quality Assurance | We've Sate of the art production facility and all printed jobs are run through our strict quality assurance department, so there are no quality complaints. |
| Printed Method | We use Off-set printing to achieve excellent printing results. However, Digital and screen printing is also available depending on box requirements. |
| About Us | Guangzhou Ecopaperbox established in 2011 is undoubtedly an accredited manufacturer of custom boxes which are exactly according to the needs and desires of the clients. Our top priority is meeting the needs and requirements of our customers. Custom Packaging and printing are provided to the customers with excellent quality on the regular basis so that maximum benefit can be achieved in the minimum amount of time. All boxes that made of paperboard, we can produce. You are welcome to make inquiry via info@ecopaperbox.com and contact us at +8619927709433. |
What Is a Printed Medicine Box?
A printed medicine box is the retail-facing carton for an over-the-counter medicine, supplement or health product - the one that has to sell itself off a pharmacy shelf while still carrying every piece of mandatory text. It is a harder brief than a prescription carton, because a prescription carton only has to comply. This one has to comply and compete, on a panel that is usually no wider than 60mm.
The layout problem is real. Dosage, active ingredients, warnings, storage conditions, batch and expiry fields, a barcode and often a Braille panel all have to fit alongside the brand block. On a small carton the regulatory text can occupy more than half the available surface, so the front panel has to work hard with very little space.
That is why OTC cartons lean on finishing rather than on more artwork. A foil-blocked logo, a spot UV panel or a strong single colour field reads from two metres away on a shelf; a busy front panel does not. Keep the front simple, push the detail to the back and sides, and let the finish do the shelf work.
Which Industries Use This Box, and How It Is Specified
Printed medicine boxes are quoted by retail channel, because the channel determines how hard the front panel has to work.
| Industry / use case | How we normally spec it |
|---|---|
| OTC pharmacy shelf | Reverse tuck end in 300-350gsm virgin SBS, bold single-colour front field with a foil or spot UV logo, full regulatory panel on the reverse. |
| Supplement and vitamin retail | Taller carton in 350-400gsm board with a supplement facts panel, often with a window so the tablet or gummy is visible. |
| Herbal and traditional medicine | Kraft or uncoated stock with 1-2 spot colours, which signals natural positioning better than a glossy CMYK carton. |
| Pharmacy own-brand | Simplified single-colour or two-colour print across a whole range, with the range differentiated by a colour block rather than by separate artwork. |
| E-commerce and subscription health | Carton designed to survive a courier bag with no outer, so board weight goes up and the finish has to be scuff-resistant. |
| Sample, trial and travel packs | Small-format carton in short digital runs, which is where a 100-piece MOQ is the deciding factor. |
If the box is sold in the EU it needs Braille and, for prescription products, tamper evidence - both change the dieline. Tell us the destination market at enquiry stage rather than at artwork stage.
Material Specification
Even on an OTC product the board specification follows pharmaceutical rules, because the carton still sits against the dose form.
| Component / stock | Specification |
|---|---|
| Virgin SBS / C1S 300-350gsm | Bleached virgin fibre with a coated face. Virgin stock is the norm for medicine cartons because recycled fibre can carry mineral oil residues (MOSH/MOAH) from old newsprint ink, which is the one contamination route regulators care about on a carton that sits against a blister. |
| FBB (GC1) 300-400gsm | Multi-ply virgin board, stiffer than SBS at the same weight. Used when a tall narrow carton has to stay square on a pharmacy shelf without going up in grammage. |
| Low-migration inks | EuPIA-compliant low-migration UV or water-based inks. Standard commercial UV ink is not acceptable on pharmaceutical cartons - it is the single most common compliance failure we see on artwork brought over from a general printer. |
| Braille embossing | Grade 1 Braille to EN 15823, minimum 0.12mm dot height, embossed after printing. Mandatory on human medicine cartons sold in the EU and increasingly requested elsewhere. |
| Tamper evidence | Glue-flap tear tabs, perforated first-open panels or a tamper-evident seal label. Required under EU FMD for prescription products. |
| Coatings | Water-based aqueous varnish. Film lamination is avoided on pharma cartons because it complicates recycling and can interfere with Braille dot height. |
Sustainability notes
- Virgin fibre is specified for a compliance reason rather than a quality one - recycled board can carry mineral oil residues, which is why medicine cartons stay on virgin stock even when the rest of a range moves to recycled.
- Aqueous varnish instead of film lamination keeps the carton kerbside-recyclable and, on Braille cartons, avoids flattening the dot height.
- Cartons ship and store flat, so a container carries several times more empty cartons than any pre-formed pack - a straightforward freight saving per unit.
- Right-sizing the carton to the blister or bottle is the largest single board saving available, and it also cuts secondary and pallet volume.
- Water-based glue and soy-based inks are standard across the line, with no solvent-based adhesive used anywhere.
Structure, Print and Shelf Options
On an OTC carton the finishing decisions matter more than on almost any other pack, because the shelf competition is dense and the panel is small.
| Option | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Closure | Reverse tuck end for machine filling, straight tuck end for a clean back panel, or a tamper-evident glued flap where required. |
| Window | PET window over the tablet strip or gummy pack. Adds visibility for supplements; not usually used where the product is light-sensitive. |
| Hang hole | Euro slot or round hang hole for peg display, which needs a reinforced top panel so the carton does not tear at the hole. |
| Braille | Grade 1 Braille to EN 15823, on a clear unvarnished panel of roughly 20 x 40mm. |
| Finishing | Hot foil, spot UV or emboss on the logo. On a narrow pharmacy shelf this is what carries the brand at distance. |
| Range colour coding | A shared dieline with a different colour field per SKU, which lets a whole range share one structure and one setup. |
A shared dieline across a range is the single biggest cost saving available on an OTC line. Same carton size, different colour field per SKU, one structural sample instead of six.
Printing and Finishing
- Offset CMYK - photographic artwork, gradients and product imagery.
- Pantone spot colour - exact brand colour matching, up to 6 colours plus varnish.
- Digital printing - the reason we can hold MOQ at 100; no plate cost on short runs.
- Hot foil stamping - gold, silver, rose gold, holographic. The most requested logo finish.
- Emboss / deboss - raised or recessed logo, with or without foil.
- Spot UV - gloss varnish over a matte laminate to pick out a logo or pattern.
- Finishes - matte, gloss, soft-touch, anti-scratch lamination or aqueous varnish.
Ordering: MOQ, Dieline and Lead Time
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| MOQ | 100 pcs per size and per design |
| Dieline | Free. We send a print-ready structural dieline to your designer before you commit to anything. |
| Pre-production sample | Plain structural sample in 3-5 days, printed sample in 5-7 days. Sample cost is credited against the bulk order. |
| Production lead time | 10-15 working days after artwork and sample sign-off |
| Artwork format | AI or PDF, CMYK, 300dpi, 3mm bleed, fonts outlined, placed on our dieline |
| Shipping | Ships flat-packed and glued, which keeps freight volume and duty low. |
Send the blister, bottle or sachet plus the folded leaflet. We size the carton around the physical dose form and the leaflet together, and mark the Braille and variable-data panels on the free dieline.
Related Packaging
Other medicine and supplement packaging
Pharmaceutical Folding Carton | Vitamin Display Box with Window
Carton structures we cut this in
Reverse Tuck End | Straight Tuck End | Counter Display Carton | Sleeve Carton
Surface Choice
Packing Method For Corrugated Packaging:
Generally no need to put the PE bags inside of the cartons. Since the boxes are glued a layer of cardboard, generally production time is not long enough to dry the paper box. If you tie the PE bags, the steamed water pearl will be produced inside of the bags.
Product Details
- Custom sizes & shape – made to your exact dimensions, flute and box style.
- Eco-friendly board – recyclable corrugated / kraft material with low-migration inks on request.
- Secure closure – self-locking or magnetic options keep contents safe in transit.
- Full-surface printing – CMYK, Pantone, foil, emboss and spot UV available.
- Low MOQ & fast turnaround – start from 100–500 pcs with 7–15 day lead time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much regulatory text has to fit on a medicine box?
More than most designers expect. Product name, active ingredients and strength, dosage instructions, warnings, storage conditions, expiry and batch fields, marketing authorisation number, a barcode and often Braille. On a carton narrower than 60mm this routinely takes over half the total surface area, so the front panel has to be planned around what is left, not the other way round.
Can I put a window in a supplement box?
Yes, and for gummies, tablets and effervescent tubes it lifts conversion noticeably because the buyer can see the format and the count. The exception is anything light-sensitive - many vitamins degrade under UV exposure, so for those the answer is a printed product photo rather than a real window.
Do OTC medicine boxes need Braille too?
In the EU, yes. The Braille requirement applies to human medicines generally, not only prescription products. Food supplements are regulated as food rather than medicine, so they are exempt, but several supplement brands add it voluntarily. Outside the EU it is not mandatory.
What finish works best on a pharmacy shelf?
Hot foil on the logo, over a matte laminate or a matte aqueous varnish. The contrast between a matte field and a reflective foil block is what reads at two metres, and pharmacy shelving is usually dense and evenly lit, so a busy full-colour panel disappears into its neighbours. Spot UV is the cheaper alternative and works on the same principle.
Can I use one dieline for my whole product range?
If the dose forms are the same size, yes, and you should. One dieline, one structural sample, one setup, and each SKU differentiated by a colour field and product name. It is the largest single cost saving available on an OTC range and it also makes the range read as a family on shelf.
What is the minimum order?
One hundred pieces per size and per design. Printed digitally at that level, so there is no plate cost. It suits launch quantities, pharmacy trials and market-specific language variants. Above roughly 3,000 pieces offset becomes cheaper per unit.
How long does the whole process take?
A free dieline within one to two working days, a plain structural sample in three to five days, a printed sample in five to seven, then 10-15 working days production after sign-off. Adding Braille does not extend the schedule, but it does have to be on the dieline from the start.
