| Parameter | Tablets and capsules in blisters, with a printed carton | Tablets and capsules in bottles |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum order | From 2,000 cartons printed for your brand, at least 4,000 blisters | Ready-made formula from 100 units in stock packaging; your own formula from 500 bottles per product |
| Production time | 6 to 10 weeks | From 2 weeks on a ready-made formula, from 4 weeks on your own |
| Tooling | Set tablet and capsule sizes in place; another size from 25,000 cartons or 50,000 blisters | None to match; fills of 30, 60, 90 and 120 pcs |
| After the first opening | Unopened cavities stay sealed | Room air reaches every dose left |
| Moisture barrier | Depends on the film and the lidding foil | Depends on the bottle, the closure and any desiccant |
| Printed surfaces | Carton and lidding foil | Label |
| Child-resistant | Not by the format alone | Not by the format alone |
Shipping time is added to both. Effervescent tablets and sachets: production from 4 weeks. Syrups and oils: production time given in our reply. Powders, syrups and oils have minimums in kilograms or litres (see minimum order quantity).
Which is better for supplements, a blister or a bottle?
That depends on the product, the market and the size of your first order; the format alone does not decide it.
Where a blister holds up better
- After the first opening. Pressing a dose out breaks its own cavity only.
- A barrier you can read off the pack. The barrier depends on the film and the lidding foil, and WHO's stability guideline lists aluminium/aluminium blisters among impermeable containers.
- Two surfaces for your brand. Foil and carton are both printed for you.
- A visible record. An opened or missing dose shows on the card.
Where a bottle holds as well or better
- A moisture-sensitive product. In one published model a bottle with desiccant held a tablet longer than an aluminium blister.
- A smaller, earlier first order.
- A dose without blister tooling.
- Formats a blister does not take, such as powders, syrups and oils.
What happens to the doses left once the pack is open?
In a bottle every opening lets room air reach all the doses still inside; in a blister only the cavity pressed open is exposed.
WHO's guidance for medicines uses a large HDPE bottle as its example of a moisture-sensitive product in a multidose container, and treats 30 days in use as normally acceptable without further data. A 2022 study of one medicinal tablet, under simulated in-use conditions, found its moisture content, hardness and disintegration time relatively unchanged in cold-formed aluminium/aluminium blisters, while tablets in bottles and vials changed over time. It is one medicine under set conditions, not a supplement.
A bottle can answer with a tight closure and a small fill, which is emptied sooner.
When does a bottle with desiccant keep a product longer?
In at least one published case: a 2017 modelling study in the trade journal Pharmaceutical Technology of one moisture-sensitive multivitamin tablet, with 100 mg of thiamine.
| Pack in the model | Estimated shelf life at 30 °C/75 % RH |
|---|---|
| HDPE bottle with 2 g of silica gel | 2.6 years |
| Cold-formed aluminium/aluminium blister | 1.7 years |
| HDPE bottle without desiccant | 1.2 years |
| PVC blister | 0.5 years |
Bottles in the model: 30 tablets in a 60 cc HDPE bottle with induction seal.
It is a calculation for one product at one condition, not a test. It cuts both ways: a PVC blister came last, below a bottle without desiccant. Which pack holds a product longer depends on the formula, the film and the fill.
How do the two behave in a hot, humid market?
Either can suit one, and neither does automatically; the stability data for your product in your pack decide.
WHO sets the long-term condition by climatic zone: 30 °C/65 % RH for zone IVa, 30 °C/75 % RH for zone IVb. In its list by country (update of March 2021), Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Tanzania are given 30 °C/75 % RH; Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt 30 °C/65 % RH. The list was drawn up for medicines, so for a supplement it is a frame of reference, not law.
- WHO allows studies of products in impermeable containers at any humidity; the regulator for a supplement may still ask for data at its own condition.
- WHO states that a storage statement should not compensate for inferior packaging, whether bottle or blister.
- Ghana's Food and Drugs Authority, in its 2013 guideline for supplements, asks for studies in the container closure system in which the product will be marketed. Choose the pack before the study.
More: blister packaging for hot and humid climates.
How do the minimum and the lead time differ?
A bottle starts smaller and sooner; a blister asks for a bigger run and a longer wait, and gives you foil and carton in return.
For tablets and capsules in bottles, a ready-made formula in stock packaging starts from 100 units, with production from 2 weeks. Your own formula starts from 500 bottles per product, with production from 4 weeks. Effervescent tablets and sachets take production from 4 weeks; syrups and oils have their production time given in our reply; powders, syrups and oils have minimums in kilograms or litres (see minimum order quantity).
Tablets and capsules in blisters start from 2,000 cartons, at least 4,000 blisters, with production in 6 to 10 weeks, on a ready-made formula or your own. Each carton holds 1 to 4 blisters, and each blister one kind of tablet or capsule.
Tooling is in place for oval tablets of 22 × 10, 20 × 9.5 and 16 × 8 mm, round tablets of 13, 12 and 11 mm, and capsules of size 0 long, 0 and 00. Another size starts from 25,000 cartons or 50,000 blisters, on terms agreed per project.
You can start with a bottle and add a blister run later. Times: lead times.
What changes on the label?
A bottle carries your brand on its label; a blister product carries it on the carton and the lidding foil.
We lay out the label and carton, or print your finished artwork, to the rules of the country of sale, which your importer confirms. On a blister product the batch number and expiry date go on the carton, not on a sticker.
Check the rules early: in its registration guidance, Egypt's drug authority finds it sufficient, for an inner pack of aluminium, to show the product name, the form and the company name or logo. Your importer confirms how that applies.
How is each opened, and what about children and tampering?
A blister is opened by pressing a dose through the foil and a bottle by taking off its closure; neither is child-resistant by the format alone.
Foil broken over a cavity cannot be sealed again, so an opened or missing dose shows on the card. A bottle closes again after each opening.
Child-resistance belongs to a tested design: ISO 8317 for reclosable packages, EN ISO 14375:2023 for non-reclosable packaging for pharmaceutical products. We do not state a child-resistant pack here; if your market asks for one, say so in your enquiry.
What your product decides
Your formula, dose size and market settle most of the choice. Each option has a price in run, time or risk.
| Your product or plan | What changes | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| A first order of tablets or capsules to test the market | A bottle is the smallest start: ready-made formula from 100 units in stock packaging, your own formula from 500 bottles per product | Time: from 2 or 4 weeks. Risk: your brand sits on a label only, with no printed foil or carton |
| A brand that wants a printed carton and foil | Tablets and capsules are sealed on an Uhlmann B 1240 and cartoned on an IMA IC 150, 1 to 4 blisters per carton | Run: from 2,000 cartons, at least 4,000 blisters. Time: 6 to 10 weeks |
| A formula that readily takes up moisture | The film and foil set a blister's barrier; in one model a bottle with desiccant held a tablet longer, and a PVC blister the shortest | Risk: a barrier too low in either pack. Flat-film figures do not show how a product keeps in its pack |
| A tablet or capsule in a size without tooling | A blister needs tooling of its own; a bottle needs none | Run: from 25,000 cartons or 50,000 blisters, on terms agreed per project |
| A large tablet or capsule | Cavity depth up to 24 mm for PVC (thermoforming), according to the machine documentation; cold-formed aluminium is shallower | Risk: fewer doses per blister, or none fit an aluminium cavity |
| Several kinds of tablet in one product | Each blister holds one kind; mixed blisters are not made | Risk: each kind needs its own blister, up to 4 in a carton |
| A regulator that asks for stability data in the pack you sell, as Ghana's does | The study runs in the pack you will market | Time: the real-time part runs to the end of the shelf life; a change of pack may call for a new study, so ask your importer |
Questions buyers ask about blisters and bottles
Is a blister better than a bottle for supplements?
Not in every case. A blister keeps unopened doses sealed, and its barrier depends on the film and the lidding foil. Tablets and capsules in bottles start smaller and sooner, and in one 2017 model of a moisture-sensitive vitamin tablet a bottle with desiccant held it longer than an aluminium blister. The product decides.
What is the minimum order for each?
Tablets and capsules in blisters start from 2,000 cartons printed for your brand, at least 4,000 blisters. For tablets and capsules in bottles, a ready-made formula in stock packaging starts from 100 units and your own formula from 500 bottles per product. Powders, syrups and oils have minimums in kilograms or litres.
How long does each take to produce?
A blister run takes 6 to 10 weeks of production. Tablets and capsules in bottles take from 2 weeks on a ready-made formula and from 4 weeks on your own; effervescent tablets and sachets from 4 weeks. Shipping time is added to each.
What happens to the tablets left when a bottle is opened?
Room air reaches all of them each time the closure comes off. WHO's guidance for medicines treats 30 days in use of a large multidose bottle as normally acceptable without further data. A tight closure and a smaller fill reduce the effect.
In the published model, when did a bottle with desiccant keep a tablet longer?
In a 2017 modelling study of one moisture-sensitive vitamin tablet at 30 °C/75 % RH, a bottle with 2 g of silica gel was estimated at 2.6 years, against 1.7 years for an aluminium/aluminium blister and 1.2 years for a bottle without desiccant. It is a calculation for one product, not a test.
Which suits a hot and humid market?
Either can, depending on the product, the film or closure and what the regulator asks. WHO lists aluminium/aluminium blisters among impermeable containers, in a guideline written for medicines, and a storage statement cannot make up for an inferior pack.
Is a blister child-resistant?
Not by the format alone. Child-resistance is a property of a tested design, and it applies to a bottle closure in the same way. We do not state a child-resistant pack; tell us if your market asks for one.
Can I start with bottles and move to blisters later?
Yes; both are made at the plant. The later blister run needs 2,000 cartons, at least 4,000 blisters, a tablet or capsule that fits the tooling in place, and approved artwork for carton and foil. If your market ties stability data to the pack, ask your importer first.
Which is cheaper?
We do not publish prices and found no source that prices one format against the other. Quotes are made per enquiry from the film, carton, print and run. What you can compare now is run size, time and risk, in the table above.
Read more
Blister packing · Minimum order quantity · Lead times · Blister packaging for hot and humid climates · Equipment · White label supplements · Private label supplements · Quality and batch documents
Ask for a quote
Tell us the dose form, whether the formula is ready-made or your own, the quantity you plan (cartons for a blister, bottles for a bottle) and the country of sale. If your tablet or capsule exists, add its size. We reply within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.
Request a quote → Email sales@hyperpharm.eu