One of the first questions potential customers want to know when they call our company is: How much does your protein glue cost?
When box makers consider switching glue vendors, cost is a top concern. Although this is a very difficult question to answer, I will try
my best to explain some protein glue (hide glue, animal glue) cost drivers.
Simply put, you are shopping for a protein glue that will work properly without significantly driving up your costs. This sounds very straightforward but, believe it or not, there are many details we review in order to recommend the right protein glue. Each of these details may adjust the formula, and drive the protein glue cost (up or down).
What are the details of your application?
One factor that goes into recommending the right protein glue is your application. What substrates are you working with? Does your glue need to be freezer grade? Does it need to be FDA approved for direct or indirect food contact? Does it need to be tinted a certain color?
Each of these details may influence the protein glue cost because the recommendation is based on your specific application. There are hundreds of formulations of protein glues. Our technical team reviews each inquiry to recommend the best glue for your specific application. Sometimes this includes having our technical team test your substrates in our lab.
How are you applying the protein glue?
Another detail to consider is what equipment, if any, you are using to apply the protein glue.
Some customers apply glue by hand or brush which requires a glue with a longer open-time. Others use equipment to apply their glue.
There are a number of machines used in the box making industry. For this reason the protein glues that we recommend for one machine may vary from another. Each glue is formulated for the application and the equipment that the glue will run on.
How much protein glue will you order?
The final cost driver is order volume. Like many industries, we are able to lower our manufacturing costs when we are making larger batches of glue. For this reason, we can provide more competitive pricing for orders that are a truckload or more.
How much does protein glue cost for box makers?
As you can see, the question “how much does protein glue cost?” is not very easy to answer. While there is not a simple answer, I hope this has helped you understand the different factors that influence protein glue cost.
While we cannot give an exact cost per pound for every glue formation (there are hundreds), here is where pricing will usually start for our line of protein glues:
Protein glue pricing starts at about $.68 per pound
