Butcher paper is a kraft paper

Kraft paper

Kraft paper or kraft is paper or paperboard produced from chemical pulp produced in the kraft process.Pulp produced by the kraft process is stronger than that made by other pulping processes; acidic sulfite processes degrade cellulose more, leading to weaker fibers, and mechanical pulping...

. Originally sold to butcher

Butcher

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...

s for the purpose of wrapping meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

 and fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

, butcher paper is now used for a wide variety of purposes, notably in primary education

Primary education

A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

 where it is used for arts and crafts

Arts and crafts

Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...

, such as hanging artwork. Many high schools use butcher paper for posters of clubs, and upcoming events. It is a cheap but sturdy paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

 that is sold in large rolls. Butcher paper is usually white or reddish in colour, made from kraft pulp and is generally considered to be between 30 lb/3000 sq ft (45 g/m²) and 50 lb/3000 sq ft (81 g/m²) basis weight of paper

Basis weight of paper

The paper density of a type of paper or cardboard is the mass of the product per unit of area. The term density here is not used in its traditional sense of mass per unit volume. "Paper density", rather, is a measure of the area density. Paper products that let little or no light pass through are...

.

Removal companies use butchers paper to pack china, glass and other fragile items for safe transport. The use of printed paper, such as newspaper, could transfer ink onto the packaged item causing damage.