Jute shopping bags for grocery stores and retailers: sizes and styles

If you run a grocery store, a farm shop or a supermarket chain, you've probably noticed that customers keep jute bags for years. They come back on Saturday mornings, a bit faded, a bit stretched, and still carrying your logo. That's the case for jute in one sentence.

Now the practical part.

In this guide: Start with the gusset · Handles that don't cut into hands · Laminated or natural? · Putting your brand on it · What to check before you place the order · Questions buyers ask us

Start with the gusset

For shopping, a gusset isn't optional. It's the depth at the base that lets the bag stand at the till and swallow a carton of milk. A flat tote, however pretty, keeps tipping over.

These are the shopper sizes we make most often. All are examples, width × height × gusset, outer, in centimetres:

Drawings for each, with inches, are on the shopper sizes page. You can of course order any other size.

Handles that don't cut into hands

Shopping is heavy. Thin handles hurt. The usual choices for jute shoppers:

• Padded cotton handles: comfortable for heavy loads. The most popular for grocery.
• Jute webbing: flat and natural looking.
• PP webbing: very strong and colourfast, good for heavy grocery bags.
• Jute or cotton rope: lovely look, better for lighter loads and gift bags.

And where the handle meets the bag, ask for reinforced stitching such as box-and-cross. That joint is where a shopping bag fails, if it ever does.

Laminated or natural?

For groceries, many stores choose an inside lamination. It keeps damp and spills off the jute and makes the bag wipe-clean. If your store promotes plastic-free shopping, choose natural instead. There's a full comparison in laminated vs non-laminated jute.

Putting your brand on it

Screen print is the classic choice on jute. Bold, one or two colours, big enough to read across a car park. Keep fine text off jute; it breaks up in the weave. For a more refined look, juco (jute and cotton blend) takes finer print.

What to check before you place the order

1. Size, including the gusset, written as W × H × G.
2. Handle type and length. Hand-carry or over the shoulder?
3. Natural or bleached jute, or dyed to a colour (approved on a lab dip).
4. Laminated inside, or not.
5. Print: colours, size, one side or both.
6. How they'll be packed: how many per carton, folded flat.

Then a sample. Fill it with your heaviest typical shop and carry it around the store. If it survives that, it'll survive your customers.

A small gripe we have with a lot of grocery bag orders: buyers often cut the handle budget to save a few rupees per bag, then wonder why returns come back torn. The handle and its stitching is the one place on a shopping bag we'd never suggest cutting cost.

Minimum order is flexible and depends on size, fabric and colour. Bulk production typically takes 25 to 30 days after sample approval. Our production facility is Jute Mark India certified, which identifies genuine Indian jute products.

Questions buyers ask us