Bulkglasspack
Clear straight-sided wide-mouth jar with a white ribbed closure
Shown configuration · bottle with closure / capsules, liner, desiccant and label not shown

Solid dose packaging

Capsule Bottle

A bottle for hard capsules, where the humidity target is a window rather than a floor, because gelatin shells fail both when they take up water and when they dry out.

Humidity window, not a floorGelatin and HPMC differStatic makes capsules cling
Stock status
In stock
Lead time
2–3 weeks
FOB price / pc
$0.25 - $0.60
MOQ
3,000 pcs
Request a project quote View product profile

Final availability, dimensions, materials, assembled components and commercial terms are confirmed against the selected drawing and approved sample.

Over-drying cracks shells

Desiccant can be the wrong answer

HPMC tolerates dryness

Shell polymer changes the whole brief

Capsules move differently

Light, smooth and prone to static

Capsule Bottle profile

The one solid-dose pack where too little moisture is as damaging as too much.

Shell chemistry, humidity windows & handling

Five ways capsules behave unlike tablets in the same container.

Tablets are protected by keeping water out. A gelatin capsule shell holds water as part of its structure: too humid and it softens and sticks, too dry and it becomes brittle and splits. The packaging target is therefore a window, and a desiccant sized as if for a hygroscopic tablet can be the cause of the failure rather than the cure.

01

Gelatin needs its water and can lose too much

Hard gelatin shells contain water as a plasticizer. Held too dry, they embrittle and crack, sometimes shedding fragments visible in the bottle; held too humid, they soften, deform and stick together. Packaging aims at the middle of that band, which means desiccant is specified against a target range rather than added as a general precaution.

02

HPMC shells change the answer

Hypromellose shells hold far less water and stay serviceable at low humidity, so a formulation in HPMC tolerates aggressive desiccation that would ruin gelatin. Switching shell polymer therefore changes the packaging specification even when the fill, the count and the bottle are identical. It is worth confirming the shell before the desiccant is calculated.

03

The fill can attack the shell from inside

Hygroscopic powders draw moisture out of a gelatin shell, and liquid or semi-solid fills can migrate into it. Both produce brittleness or softening independently of the storage humidity, so the interaction is assessed on the filled capsule in the intended pack rather than on empty shells stored in the same conditions.

04

Capsules are light and static-prone

Compared with tablets, capsules are light, smooth and cling to surfaces, which affects filling accuracy on a counting line and how they behave when a patient tips a bottle. It also means they do not settle into a stable bed, so a part-filled bottle rattles more and a filler is often about presentation as much as protection.

05

Cross-linking is a stability trap with a packaging component

Gelatin can cross-link with aldehydes and some excipients over time, slowing dissolution without any visible change to the capsule. Trace aldehyde sources include some packaging materials and adhesives. Where a program sees dissolution slowing on stability, the packaging is one of the places to look rather than an unlikely suspect.

06

Fill weight and bottle volume are matched to keep capsules still

A bottle only part full lets capsules tumble against each other through the whole distribution chain, polishing the shells and eventually splitting them. Filling material or a fill height matched to the count is what stops that, and it is cheaper than the returns it prevents.

Application guide

Clear glass puts the capsules themselves on display.

Choosing a transparent bottle for solid dose is a decision to let the customer see color, count and condition, which builds confidence and exposes every flaw. These are development directions confirmed with the actual product.

Capsule Bottle used for capsules judged through the glass in a visible quality setting

Visible quality

Capsules judged through the glass

For products where seeing the capsules reassures a customer that the bottle is full and the contents are intact, which matters for premium supplements and repeat purchase. It also means broken capsules, powder dust and settling are visible, so filling quality is on permanent display.

  • Review the fill appearance through glass
  • Check for dust and broken capsules
  • Confirm the bottle looks full when filled
Capsule Bottle used for a bottle that looks short of capsules in a first opening setting

First opening

A bottle that looks short of capsules

For the customer who breaks the seal, sees an inch of air above the capsules and assumes they have been sold less than they paid for. Contents settle in transit and no one counts them, so cotton or a filler is doing perception work as much as it is stopping the capsules from rattling.

  • Manage headspace after settling
  • Decide on cotton or filler
  • Test appearance after transit
Capsule Bottle used for capsules chosen because they are visible in a shoppers who want to see setting

Shoppers who want to see

Capsules chosen because they are visible

For buyers who pick up a supplement, look at the capsules through the glass and put back the one they cannot see into. Clear glass earns that trust and offers no light protection at all, so an ingredient that moves under light forces a decision between visibility and amber, settled on stability data.

  • Check light sensitivity before choosing clear
  • Run stability in the actual pack
  • Decide visibility against protection

Applications describe packaging-development directions. Capsule protection, storage, child resistance, tamper evidence and regulatory outcomes are confirmed for the selected program.

Common questions

Capsule Bottle questions

Capsules are not small tablets. These questions cover the differences that cost money.

Should we add desiccant to a capsule pack?

Only after checking the shell. Hard gelatin holds water as a plasticizer, so over-drying makes shells brittle and prone to splitting, while too much humidity softens them. The target is a window rather than the lowest achievable humidity, and a desiccant sized as though for a hygroscopic tablet can cause the failure it was meant to prevent.

Does it matter whether shells are gelatin or HPMC?

It changes the packaging specification. Hypromellose shells hold far less water and stay serviceable at low humidity, so a formulation in HPMC tolerates desiccation that would ruin gelatin. Switching shell polymer alters the pack even when fill, count and bottle are unchanged, so confirm the shell before any desiccant calculation is done.

Our dissolution is slowing on stability. Could it be the packaging?

It is worth checking. Gelatin cross-links with aldehydes and certain excipients over time, slowing dissolution with no visible change to the capsule, and trace aldehyde can come from packaging materials and adhesives. When dissolution drifts without any formulation change, the pack belongs on the investigation list rather than at the bottom of it.

How is the fill matched to the bottle?

So the capsules stay still. Too much headspace lets light capsules move and chip; too little makes counting and dispensing awkward. The fill weight and the bottle volume are chosen together rather than the bottle being picked to a round number.

Next step

Send us the Capsule Bottle brief.

Tell us the product, fill volume, closure preference and destination market. We will come back with the matching drawings, available configurations and a sample plan before anything is quoted.

Request a project quote Talk to the team
  • 01Send the briefProduct, volume, closure and market
  • 02Get the optionsMatching drawings and configurations
  • 03Approve the sampleConfirm the pack before production