8011 food grade aluminum foil is the most common aluminum foil used to wrap, cook, freeze and serve food around the world.
It is the thin, māngohe, shiny metal on the household kitchen roll, the material of disposable airline meal trays and takeaway containers, and the barrier web laminated into yogurt lids, butter wraps, coffee bags and ready-meal pouches.
Because it combines a complete barrier to light, makuku, oxygen and odors with high heat conductivity and a clean, non-toxic surface, it is the default flexible packaging metal for direct food contact.
8011 is an iron-and-silicon aluminum alloy rather than a pure metal, which gives the foil more strength and fewer pinholes than the high-purity grades at the same gauge.
That combination—strength, pinhole resistance, easy tear and formability, at low cost—is why it dominates household foil and semi-rigid food containers.
For a brand, converter or distributor, the critical points are that the foil is genuinely food grade, produced to the right gauge and temper, free of pinholes and oil, and backed by the correct food-contact certificates.
This guide covers the alloy, rahi, hangahanga, the main food applications (with household and container foil in the most detail), Te Haumaru Kai, āhua, pricing and ordering, and a core specification table.
Aluminum foil is rolled aluminum thinner than about 0.2 mm. Ko te 8011 grade is an 8xxx-series alloy in which iron and silicon are the main additions: iron strengthens the foil and refines the grain to reduce cracking and pinholes, while silicon improves hardness and rolling uniformity across wide rolls. The typical chemistry is shown below.
“Food grade” is not a separate alloy; it is a compliance and cleanliness claim.
It means the foil is produced from controlled aluminum stock, rolled and annealed without harmful lubricants or residues, and is proven to meet the food-contact regulations of the destination market—FDA rules in the United States,
Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 a 10/2011 in the European Union, and GB 4806 in China. A food grade foil must be non-toxic, tasteless and odorless, with a clean surface that does not transfer substances to the food.
Food grade 8011 is almost always supplied in the soft O temper, which tears and folds easily for kitchen use and forms cleanly into containers, while firmer H22/H24 tempers are used for some lidding and industrial jobs.
The same base foil is sold as jumbo rolls to converters, as printed or coated household rolls, and as pre-formed containers.
This article focuses on 8011 pepa konumohe; a detailed technical note on how the packaging alloys differ is in our 8011, 1235 a 3003 foil comparison.
Several foil alloys appear in food packaging, and the grade should follow the job rather than the price. 8011 is the workhorse for household and container foil; the others are chosen for purity, flexibility or strength.
In short, 8011 gives the best balance of strength, pinhole resistance and cost for foil that is used directly or formed into shallow parts.
For ultra-thin, highly flexible laminated webs a soft 1235 pepa konumohe is often preferred, while heavier, more rigid trays can use 3003 pepa konumohe ranei 8021. A food-grade supplier will confirm the alloy from the gauge and forming process rather than recommending one grade for everything.
Foil is described in micrometers (µm, 1 µm = 0.001 mm). Standard kitchen foil is about 10–18 µm, “heavy duty” around 20–25 µm or more, and catering and container foil is much thicker.
Gauges below 0.01 mm are called “double-zero” foil (for example 0.006–0.009 mm), while 0.01–0.10 mm is “single-zero” foil.
The thinner the foil, the harder it is to keep it pinhole-free, which is exactly where the grain-refining iron and silicon in 8011 help.
Household foil is often double-rolled: two webs are passed together through the mill, so the faces touching the polished rolls are bright while the faces touching each other remain matte.
This gives a bright side and a matte side; both are food-safe and perform almost identically, although a non-stick coating can be added for sticky foods.
An order is fully defined by alloy, riri, mātotoru, whānui, surface, core, length, color box and the certificates required.
Most packaging foil begins with twin-roll continuous casting, in which molten aluminum solidifies directly between chilled rolls into a thin strip, which is then cold rolled in multiple passes to the final gauge.
The final passes are extremely light reductions, and the thinnest gauges are produced by double rolling two foils together.
Cleanliness is controlled from the start: food grade foil uses food-safe rolling oil and clean furnaces so that no residue or off-odor remains.
At the thinnest gauges pinholes become the controlling quality risk: they are tiny voids that would break the barrier and let light and oxygen through.
8011 is preferred for food foil precisely because iron and silicon refine the grain and cast structure so the metal rolls to very thin gauges with fewer pinholes than pure aluminum.
Clean melt, filtered rolling oil, polished rolls and stable temperature all keep pinhole counts down, and the foil is tested online before it can proceed.
The bright, degreased surface produced at this stage is also what makes later food-grade coating and printing adhere.
The coil is then annealed in a controlled-atmosphere furnace to reach the soft O temper and to remove rolling oil (degreasing), which is essential for food contact and for later printing or coating.
After annealing the jumbo roll is inspected and slit to the customer’s width on a precision slitting and rewinding line;
household rolls are rewound onto cardboard cores, cut to length and packed into color boxes with a cutting edge, while container makers take wider jumbo rolls.
Edge trim quality, tension control and a wrinkle-free web determine whether the foil runs cleanly on high-speed packaging and forming machines.
The household kitchen roll is the single largest use of 8011. It is sold in supermarkets and by distributors in standard widths (commonly 300 mm me 450 mm) and lengths from a few meters to 300 m, in a color dispenser box with a cutting edge.
It is used for wrapping, lining trays and grill plates, covering dishes, tenting roasts, baking and roasting in the oven, BBQ grilling, and freezing and storing food. The soft O temper lets it tear by hand, fold tightly and hold its shape.
Kitchen foil must be strong enough to lift and wrap a roast without tearing, yet thin and soft enough to tear and fold, and it must stay pinhole-free so that it does not leak or let air through.
The iron and silicon in 8011 give it that tensile and puncture strength at light gauges, so a 12–18 µm 8011 roll performs as well as a thicker pure-aluminum roll while using less metal and costing less.
Typical supermarket foil is 10–15 µm, professional and heavy-duty foil 18–25 µm, and catering foil sometimes thicker.
Aluminum foil conducts heat quickly and tolerates oven and freezer temperatures, so it lines trays for even heat and easy cleanup, wraps food for moist roasting, and covers dishes to prevent over-browning.
It is also completely impermeable, so wrapped food does not dry out, oxidize or pick up freezer odors.
The bright and matte sides of double-rolled foil are both safe; the common advice to face the bright side inward reflects a small radiant-heat difference, but the practical effect in a normal oven is minor.
For sticky or acidic foods, a non-stick coated foil or a lining sheet is used, since bare foil should not be in prolonged contact with strongly acidic or salty foods.
Retail and distributor programs usually choose a standard width (300 mm for everyday wrapping, 450 mm for trays and large cuts) and a length that fits the box.
Light 10–14 µm foil suits everyday wrapping, covering and lining; 18–25 µm heavy-duty foil handles roasts, BBQ, frozen storage and repeated handling.
The roll weight and length are set by the gauge and width, so a box of the same length in a thicker gauge contains more metal and a shorter run.
Professional kitchens buy wider, longer catering rolls, while supermarkets focus on a few SKUs.
Confirming gauge, whānui, length, core and box art at the start avoids private-label mismatches between a light retail product and a heavy-duty claim.
Food grade foil is safe for ovens, grills and freezers, but it is not used in a microwave unless the appliance has a foil-safe setting and the foil is kept away from the walls, because metal reflects microwave energy.
Bare foil is also not left in prolonged contact with strongly acidic, salty or spicy foods (tōmato, waenganui, vinegar or cured meats), which can mark or pit the surface; for those foods a non-stick coated foil, a parchment lining or a coated container is used.
Rolls should be stored dry, and used foil with heavy residue is best scraped clean before recycling. These rules are the same points that help brands write accurate packaging and labeling.
The second major food application is semi-rigid foil containers: rectangular takeaway meal trays, round and oval baking pans, taimoe, airline meal boxes, pie and tart molds, BBQ trays and deep gastronorm-size containers.
These are stamped or pressed from thicker O-temper foil, commonly 40–200 µm (0.04–0.20 mm), with the wall and rib structure adding stiffness to a very thin wall.
8011-O is the standard container alloy because it is soft enough to flow into the die without cracking yet strong enough to hold hot, wet food, and it can be coated, printed or heat-sealed to a foil or paper lid.
The containers are freezable, ovenable, fully recyclable and lighter than plastic or coated board, which is why catering, takeaway and airline catering use them at very high volumes.
For unusually heavy or rigid trays, 8021 or 3003-O may be specified; the container maker sets the gauge from the tray depth and the weight of the food.
Foil containers are produced on high-speed pneumatic or servo presses: a lubricated foil web or pre-cut blank is fed into a die, where a punch draws the cavity in one stroke and a matched die forms the rim, corners and stiffening ribs.
The ribs and bead are what make a thin 0.05–0.10 mm wall rigid enough to hold a full meal without buckling. A compatible lid is made from foil, paperboard or plastic, and the rim profile is engineered for heat-sealing or crimping.
Cavity depth, corner radius and food weight set the gauge; deep multi-compartment and large catering trays need more foil and softer O stock.
A die is opened for each tray shape, so first orders involve tooling and a forming sample that the customer approves.
Compared with plastic and coated-paper containers, foil trays tolerate oven and combination heating, freezing and reheating without warping, give a complete barrier that keeps food hot and fresh, and conduct heat for fast cooking and crisping.
They are lighter than rigid trays and are made from a single, fully recyclable metal without laminated layers that are hard to separate.
They dent more easily than heavy plastic, which is why gauge and rib design matter; for takeaway, airline and ready-meal programs the barrier, heat tolerance and recyclability usually make foil the preferred premium option.
A large share of 8011 foil is used as a lidding and wrapping web, often laminated or coated rather than plain.
Heat-seal foil lids close yogurt, milk, dessert, sauce and ready-meal cups of PP, PS, Pe, Haumiri, glass or aluminum, typically at 30–45 µm of foil with a heat-seal lacquer.
The foil is also printed, embossed and lacquered for bottle caps, butter and margarine wraps, chocolate and confectionery foil, and laminated into pouches for coffee, paramanawa, powdered food and pet food, where it forms the barrier layer of the film.
In these laminations the foil layer is almost always the only component that is truly impermeable: even a thin 6–12 µm foil blocks light, hāora, moisture and aroma, giving a shelf life of months without refrigeration.
The converter prints and coats the foil, so the requirements are a clean, maroke, oil-free surface with good wettability, a flat web and consistent gauge.
Tōkau 8011 handles most jobs; ultra-thin or highly corrosive packs may use 1235 or a coated or lacquered 8011.
A typical heat-seal lid is a laminate built around the 8011 foil layer: a heat-seal lacquer or extrusion-coated PE face bonds to the cup rim under heat and pressure, while a printed or lacquered outer layer carries branding and protection, with the foil in the middle providing the barrier and a peelable or weldable seal.
Bottle-cap and capsule foils use a different coating stack for pressure or roll-on sealing, and butter wraps bond a thin foil to paper.
Because each structure is designed for a specific cup and seal temperature, the converter should specify the substrate (Pp, PS, Haumiri, Pe, glass or aluminum), the seal type and whether the lid must be peelable.
Beyond the home and the container plant, Papa Kai 8011 foil is used by restaurants, caterers, hotels and cloud kitchens for wrapping and delivering hot food, by takeaway and delivery platforms for leak-proof trays, by airlines and railways for meals, and at events and markets for BBQ and roasting.
Heavy-duty foil wraps large cuts and keeps food hot in insulated bags, while foil trays double as oven-to-table serving ware and can be frozen and reheated.
The combination of heat tolerance, leak resistance, opacity and recyclability makes it a mainstay of the whole prepared-food and delivery sector.
The properties of aluminum foil explain its dominance in food packaging.
Foil is also hygienic: the rolling process makes it effectively sterile, and it needs no chemical treatment before contacting food.
As a barrier it outperforms plastic and paper films, which are permeable to varying degrees, and it is the reason composite cartons and pouches include a thin foil layer.
Aluminum is among the most recycled packaging materials, and clean used foil and trays can be re-melted with a small fraction of the energy used for primary metal, supporting brand sustainability and recycled-content targets.
This is also why foil is specified as the thin barrier core inside composite cartons, stand-up pouches and lid films, not only as a plain wrap: polymers and paper provide sealability and print, while the foil layer alone delivers the near-total barrier that gives ambient shelf life.
The layer can be very thin (often 6–12 µm) because 8011 gives the strength to avoid pinholes, so the material cost per pack is low relative to the shelf life it enables.
Brand owners choosing between pure-film and foil-containing laminations should favor foil when the product is sensitive to light, oxygen or moisture, or needs a long shelf life without refrigeration.
Direct food contact requires the right documentation, matched to the destination market. The foil itself and any coating, lacquer, ink or adhesive must be suitable for the intended food and use temperature.
Migration testing is the core food-safety check: it verifies that harmful substances do not pass into the food under defined conditions.
Buyers should request a lot-specific mill certificate and a food-contact declaration, a, for coated or printed foil, food-grade coating and ink certificates.
Because aluminum is not recommended for prolonged contact with strongly acidic or salty foods, such products use coated or lacquered foil or another liner.
Foil quality is measured in pinholes, gauge, surface, mechanical properties and cleanliness.
Online beta or X-ray thickness gauges hold the gauge across the wide web; pinhole counts are checked optically or by a light/pinhole test and fall sharply with thickness and with clean 8011 stock; Te kaha kaha, elongation and tear strength are tested by sampling; and surface inspection screens for roll marks, wrinkles, hinu, bright spots, edge damage and contamination.
For food use, the surface is also tested for wettability and residual oil so that printing, coating or heat-sealing will bond.
Controlled annealing gives the right O-temper softness and fully removes rolling oil, while tension control and precision slitting deliver a flat, wrinkle-free web with clean edges.
Each jumbo roll is identified by lot, and the mill test certificate, packing marks and goods carry the same lot reference so any issue can be traced to the coil.
First-piece and periodic checks on the slitting and rewinding line prevent a single defective coil from producing a large volume of off-spec rolls.
For finished household rolls, converters additionally check roll width and length, the cutting edge in the box, core fit, winding tension, label and color-box print, and confirm that rolls unwind without tearing or telescoping.
For containers, a forming trial checks the wall, rim and seal and the tray under a filled, stacked and reheated load.
A food-grade mill keeps these routine checks and the records for each lot so retail and food-brand customers receive consistent, shelf-ready goods.
Suppliers deliver 8011 food grade foil in several forms: jumbo rolls for converters and container makers; small household rolls rewound on cardboard cores with custom length, whānui, thickness and printed color boxes; kua whakairohia, printed or non-stick coated foil; and ready-made containers and lids.
Private-label and OEM packaging is standard, including box design, language, barcodes and assortments. Jumbo rolls are wrapped in moisture-proof film and palletized, while household rolls are packed in cartons; both are protected against moisture and crushing for sea freight.
Trade is typically FOB, CFR or CIF with a 30% T/T deposit and balance against the bill of lading (L/C at sight for large orders).
The document set includes the bill of lading, commercial invoice, packing list, mill test certificate, certificate of origin and food-contact declaration, with third-party inspection reports as required.
Full container volumes are the most economical for repeat supermarket and distributor orders.
Aluminum foil is priced as the aluminum ingot price plus a processing fee, quoted per tonne for jumbo rolls or per roll/carton for finished household products.
The metal base follows the daily LME and the Shanghai futures and spot quotations, so fixed online prices are indicative only; a valid quotation is re-confirmed against the day’s ingot price and the exact specification, and carries a validity window of a few days.
Converters buy jumbo rolls and add the conversion themselves, while brands and distributors buy finished rolls or containers.
Cost is reduced by standardizing common gauges and widths, ordering full containers, and avoiding over-specification (a 14 µm foil should not be replaced by a 25 µm one unless the use demands it).
Quotes far below market usually reflect a thinner actual gauge, weak pinhole control or missing food-contact documentation.
The key distinction is a rolling mill that produces and slits its own foil versus a trader that resells jumbo rolls.
A mill controls casting, huri, whakapouri, degreasing and pinhole quality and can trace every lot, while a trader is convenient for small, mixed orders.
China’s foil industry is concentrated in Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas, close to the packaging and container clusters.
Verify food-grade production, the correct alloy and temper, lot-specific certificates and migration reports, and test production samples on your own packaging or forming line before signing.
Repeat orders are fast once the gauge, printed box and signed sample are approved. Complete information and prompt sample approval are what most shorten a first order.
To start, request a quote with the gauge, whānui, form, quantity and target market for a factory-direct, specification-based quotation and samples.
Henan Huawei Aluminium Co., Ltd (HWALU mo te poto) is a privately owned aluminum manufacturer established in 2001, based in Huiguo Town, Gongyi, Henan—known as China’s Aluminum Capital, in the heart of the country’s aluminum rolling industry.
The company employs around 1,200 people, including a specialist R&D team, and operates a site of about 250,000 mita tapawha, with an annual aluminum output above 200,000 tonnes.
As an integrated mill rather than a trader, HWALU rolls, anneals, slits and finishes its own material and exports to customers in more than 70 countries.
HWALU manufactures aluminum sheets, coils, konumohe, strips and circles (discs) across the 1000 ki 8000 raupapa, widely used in construction, komive, Aerospace, pharmaceutical and food packaging.
For food grade 8011 we supply jumbo rolls for converters, household kitchen rolls, heat-seal lidding and wrapping foil and container stock in the soft O temper with a clean, oil-free surface, a low pinhole count and controlled gauge, backed by mill test certificates and FDA, EU and GB food-contact declarations.
Private label, non-stick coating, awhi, printing and moisture-proof export packing are available, and we help you choose between 8011, 1235 a 3003 for the exact gauge and forming process.
Contact us at [email protected] or +86 19924932491 for a specification-based quotation.
A: 8011 is food grade when produced and certified to the food-contact rules of the destination market (FDA in the US, EC 1935/2004 in the EU, Firoo 4806 in China) with a clean, non-toxic surface; always request the certificates.
A: Household rolls are commonly 9–25 µm, lidding and wrap foil 6–45 µm, and foil for containers 40–200 µm, mostly in the soft O temper.
A: Its iron and silicon add tensile and puncture strength and reduce pinholes, so a thin 8011 roll performs like a thicker pure-aluminum roll at lower cost and weight.
A: Both the bright and matte sides of double-rolled foil are food-safe and nearly identical; the bright-side-inward advice reflects only a small radiant-heat difference.
A: Yes—it handles baking, tuhu tunu, grilling and freezing temperatures. For sticky or acidic foods, use non-stick coated foil or a liner.
A: Whakamahi 8011 for household rolls, containers, lids and bottle caps where strength and pinhole resistance matter; use 1235 for ultra-thin, soft laminated films and pouches.
A: Rāua tahi: jumbo rolls for converters and container makers, and finished private-label rolls with custom length, width and color boxes.
A: Ingot price plus a processing fee, driven by gauge, riri, conversion and quantity, following the daily LME/Shanghai spot and re-confirmed at order time.
8011 food grade aluminum foil is the versatile, low-cost workhorse of direct food contact: the kitchen roll, the pressed container, the heat-seal lid and the barrier layer of flexible packs.
Its iron-and-silicon chemistry gives it the strength and pinhole resistance that let thin foil wrap, form and protect reliably.
The specification follows the use—a soft O 10–18 µm web for kitchen foil, a thicker 40–200 µm web for containers, a coated and laminated web for lidding—backed by the correct food-contact certificates.
Sourcing from a mill that controls rolling, annealing and pinholes and supplies lot-specific documentation delivers safe, consistent foil at the lowest landed cost.
Henan Huawei Aluminium Co., Ltd. ko te rangatira o te maha o nga konumohe hanga me nga kaiwhakarato i Haina. Ka tino whakahaerehia e matou te kounga me te aro ki nga kaihoko. Te ti'aturi nei matou kia hohonu te mahi tahi ki a koe me te whakarato ki a koe nga hua rauemi konumohe kounga teitei nga ratonga OEM. Mena kei te pirangi koe ki te tiki i nga utu hou me te utu pai mo ia kg, mo ia tana taumaha paerewa, tēnā whakapā mai.
