Why Chinese New Year disrupts packaging schedules
Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival, falls in late January or February each year. It is not a single public holiday. Factories in China typically close for one to three weeks, and many workers travel to their home provinces, returning gradually. Production does not restart at full capacity on day one. For packaging buyers, the practical effect is a shutdown window that can stretch to four or five weeks when you include travel and ramp-up.
The 2026 holiday begins on 17 February. If you order flexible packaging from a Chinese supplier, that date matters even if your own business is not in Asia. Print runs, lamination, pouch making and quality checks all pause. Shipping schedules change too, because ports and freight forwarders operate with reduced staff. Planning around the holiday is not optional. It is part of lead time.
Lead times before and after the holiday
Standard lead times assume normal factory operation. Digital print runs typically take 10 to 15 working days after artwork approval. Rotogravure print runs take 20 to 25 working days. These figures do not include the holiday shutdown. If your artwork is approved in early January, a digital order may still finish before factories close. A rotogravure order approved at the same time may not.
After the holiday, factories restart in phases. Some lines come back first, others later. Staffing may be incomplete for one or two weeks. A realistic approach is to add two to three weeks of buffer to any order that overlaps the Spring Festival period. For rotogravure work, add more. If you need packaging in March, place the order in December or early January.
Material and structure choices that affect timing
Not all packaging structures behave the same way during a holiday crunch. Simple stand up pouches in common laminates like PET/AL/PE or PET/NY/PE are easier to schedule because materials are often in stock. More complex builds, such as spout pouches with corner spouts or STANDCAP, may need additional components that come from specialist suppliers. Those suppliers also close for the holiday.
Flat bottom pouch: good shelf presence, more material, longer make-ready. - Stand up pouch: widely used, faster to produce. - Spout pouch: requires spout and cap components, plan earlier. - Rollstock film: efficient for high-volume filling lines, but needs rotogravure or digital print. - Compostable PLA/PBS or recyclable mono-material PE/PP: confirm material availability before the holiday.
If your product launch is fixed, choose a structure that uses readily available materials. Ask your supplier which components are stocked locally and which are imported. Imported valves, spouts or caps can add weeks if they arrive after the shutdown.
MOQ, print method and cost drivers
Minimum order quantities vary by print method. Digital printing starts from 100 pcs for pouches or 10 kg for film. Rotogravure starts from 10,000 pcs or 200 kg. The gap exists because rotogravure requires engraved cylinders, which are expensive and take time to produce. Digital printing has no cylinder cost, so short runs are practical. If you are planning a seasonal promotion around Chinese New Year, digital may be the better fit.
Cost per unit falls as volume rises, but only up to a point. Other drivers include material mix, pouch size, add-ons and print colours. A one-way degassing valve, zipper, tear notch, window, spout, carry handle or hang hole each adds material and machine time. Rotogravure supports up to 10 colours. Digital and flexographic printing have their own colour limits. Ask for a breakdown so you can see what each feature adds.
Sustainability rules and material availability
Sustainability requirements are tightening in many markets. Mono-material PE and PP structures are designed for recyclability. PLA/PBS compostable films meet industrial composting standards, but they need the right collection and processing infrastructure. Degradable options exist, though definitions vary by region. None of these materials perform identically to PET/AL/PE. Barrier, shelf life and machine performance all change.
Before the holiday, confirm that your chosen sustainable material is in stock. Some bio-based films are produced in smaller batches and may not be available on short notice. If your brand claims recyclability or compostability, check the exact certification held by the manufacturing partner. Certifications belong to the factory, not to the supplier. Ask for the certificate number and the scope of the certification.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
The most common mistake is approving artwork too late. Artwork approval is the trigger for production, not the order date. If you approve in February during the holiday, nothing moves until March. Another mistake is assuming that a supplier's quoted lead time already includes the holiday. It usually does not. Ask explicitly: does this lead time account for Spring Festival?
A third mistake is ordering only what you need for the next month. Shipping after the holiday can be congested, and delays compound. Order enough to cover two to three months of production if storage allows. Finally, do not leave sample approval until the last minute. Free stock pouch samples are available, but you pay courier costs. Request them early, test them on your filling line, and confirm the specification in writing before the factory closes.