Custom Food Packaging

The formats food packaging comes in

Custom food packaging is a family of formats, and each one is cut and creased from a flat sheet.

Folding cartons come from solid paperboard with one glued seam. Sleeves are an open band that slides over a tray or a wrapped item. Carry boxes add a handle, either cut into the top panel or formed from a folded strap, and corrugated versions give the walls more stiffness.

All of them ship flat and are formed at the point of use, so the contents decide the structure. A tray under a sleeve holds a soft item steady. A carton with an auto-lock base copes with a heavier filling than one closed with tuck ends.

• Carton: solid paperboard, one glued seam
• Sleeve: open band over a tray or wrapped item
• Carry box: handle built into the sheet

Paperboard, kraft or corrugated?

Choose the board by what the food does to it and what it has to carry, before looking at colour.

Paperboard is flat and smooth, so it prints sharply and suits light, dry items such as sweets, tea and biscuits. Kraft is brown and fibrous, looks natural and takes ink more dully. Corrugated adds a fluted layer that stiffens the wall, which suits heavier items, tall boxes and anything carried by a handle.

Corrugated is thicker, so it takes more storage room and holds less fine print detail. Where food sits directly against the board, tell us, and we use a food-safe stock or add a liner. The board that suits the job is not always the board that is suitable for food contact.

• Paperboard: sharp print, light dry foods
• Kraft: natural look, colours shift brown
• Corrugated: stiff walls, handles, taller packs

Measure the food, not the plate

Size the pack around the item as it will be when packed, including anything that rises, spreads or settles.

Baked goods, cheese and warm food can change shape between the kitchen and the box. Measure the largest real example, not the average, and allow room for a tray, liner or paper wrap. A tight pack crushes icing and tears wrap. A loose one lets the item slide and arrive broken.

Height catches people out most. When packs are stacked, the weight above sits on the walls, so internal height and board stiffness have to be chosen together. Send us the size of your largest piece and we build the layout around it, so you can check the fit on the dieline and digital proof.

Printed board or plastic container?

A board pack prints edge to edge and recycles differently from a clamshell, but it is weaker against moisture.

Plastic containers seal, resist liquid and show the food from every side. A board carton prints the whole surface and feels like part of the brand. Moisture and grease reach it faster unless a barrier is added.

Many foods suit a mix: a board outer with a window, plus a liner or wrap inside for the part that touches the food. If the pack has to carry storage, allergen or recycling information, we leave room for it and lay it out on the proof.

Coatings, grease and ink on food stock

On food packaging the coating matters as much as the artwork, because it decides what the board can survive.

A grease-resistant coating or liner stops oil spreading through the board and leaving dark patches on the outside. A varnish gives a wipeable surface. Plain uncoated board looks natural but marks easily.

Kraft pulls every colour toward brown, so pale tones disappear and a white underprint is the usual fix. Any ink or coating on a surface that touches food should be one made for that use, and named in the specification rather than assumed.

• Barrier coating or liner for oily contents
• Varnish for a wipeable outside
• White underprint when colour must hold on kraft

Printed food box or a plain box with a label?

A printed box is the pick for dry and baked food on a settled menu. A plain box with a printed label is the pick when the range keeps changing, and neither suits liquid food.

Soups, sauces and salads with dressing need a container that holds liquid. A carton with a barrier coating resists a spill for a short time, not a long one. Foods that need an airtight or tamper-evident seal also need packaging built for that job.

A fast-changing menu is where the label wins. A printed carton is made to one size and one design, so it only saves money while the contents stay close to the same. Where the range keeps moving, plain cartons with a printed label can be the safer choice.