What packaging does a takeaway menu need?
Most menus need four kinds of packaging: a box for each main, holders for sides and desserts, cups with a carrier for drinks, and a bag for the whole order. We make all four, in one design.
Start with your mains, as they set the shape of the rest. Pizzas go in Custom Pizza Boxes, burgers in Custom Burger Boxes, noodles and rice in Custom Chinese Takeout Boxes, and sandwiches and wraps in Custom Sandwich Boxes. We also make Custom Hot Dog Boxes, Custom Fish and Chips Boxes and Custom Pizza Slice Boxes.
Fries then sit in Custom French Fry Boxes, churros in Custom Churro Boxes and scooped desserts in Custom Ice Cream Cups. Drinks go in Custom Drink Carriers, and Custom Paper Bags carry the rest. Send us your menu and we suggest the set that covers it with the fewest items to stock.
How do I choose the right size takeaway boxes for my menu?
Tell us what goes in each box, item by item, and we size every piece from your real portions rather than a standard chart.
Each item needs a different detail. For pizzas, we need every size you sell and your tallest pizza, to set the wall height. For burgers, the bun width and your biggest stack. For fries, the weight of each portion and the cut, as thin fries settle lower than chunky chips. For drinks, your cup sizes and lids, and for churros, their length and your dip pot.
Most menus settle on a few sizes per item, such as a standard burger box, a deeper one for stacked builds and a small one for sliders. A box that fits its portion holds the food in place and makes it look generous. We mark your measurements on the dieline, and you check the fit on the digital proof before we print.
Which takeaway boxes are quickest to fold during service?
The quickest are the ones we supply pre-glued, which pop open in one move: fry scoops, sandwich wedges and burger boxes with glued corners.
Our fry scoops arrive flat with the side seam glued, so your team opens them as orders come in, and sandwich wedges come with the window fitted, ready to fill through the end. Burger boxes come with glued corners or as flat blanks that lock by hand: glued corners are faster on a busy line, while blanks take less shelf space. Pizza boxes fold from one sheet with locking tabs at the front corners, and many kitchens fold a few stacks before the evening starts.
Takeout pails nest inside each other and cups come in sleeves, so both are ready to fill from the stack. Tell us how many orders you handle at peak and how much storage you have, and we recommend the build for each item.
Will takeaway boxes stack in a delivery bag?
Yes. We make our main takeaway boxes with flat, firm lids so they sit one on another, and we size drink carriers to the inside height of your delivery bags so cups travel upright with their lids on.
Our pizza boxes are corrugated board, which keeps its shape with more boxes on top. Burger boxes and fish and chips boxes have flat lids for the same reason, and on fish and chips boxes we place the vents where the box above will not cover them. Our burger boxes lock with a tab sized to the box, so the lid stays shut all the way to the door, and a paper seal sticker across the lid is there if you want one.
Packing order matters too: heavy, flat boxes at the bottom, a lidded fry scoop upright beside the stack and churro boxes flat on top. Send us the inside measurements of the bags your riders use, and we check that your largest box lies flat inside.
How do you keep fries and fried food crisp for takeaway?
We give fries a holder of their own that lets the steam out: an open scoop or cone at the counter, and a lidded scoop with vents for delivery.
Fries give off most of their steam in the first few minutes, and anything closed in with them takes it on. That is why we recommend the burger goes in its own clamshell and the fries in Custom French Fry Boxes, side by side in the bag.
Other fried food follows the same idea. Churros travel in a tuck box with vent cut-outs, fish and chips in a box with vents in the lid, and falafel in a platter box with a vented lid. Loaded fries with cheese or gravy are eaten with a fork, so we recommend Custom Food Trays or a lidded box with a coated inside.
- Counter: an open scoop
- Delivery: a lidded scoop with vents
- Drive-through: a fry cup that fits the cup holder
How do boxes, drinks and sides travel together in one order?
We build the order around a square-bottom paper bag that takes your boxes side by side, with a carrier for the drinks and a seal sticker across the top if you want one.
A square-bottom food bag stands open on the counter while it is filled, and a burger box and a fries box sit next to each other on its base, so nothing rests on the fries. We give food bags a grease-resistant inside and size them around your usual orders, often in two or three sizes. For family orders, we can add a card in the base to spread the weight.
Drinks travel best in a carrier rather than loose beside hot food. Our Custom Drink Carriers hold two or four cups upright, and we can add a centre pocket for a small bag of pastries or a sandwich. A printed sticker across the folded top of the bag shows your customer the order has not been opened since it left your kitchen.
Which packaging suits takeaway desserts like churros and ice cream?
We make Custom Churro Boxes with a holder for the dip and Custom Ice Cream Cups with matching lids, so your desserts go out in the same design as your mains.
Churros come in two builds. An open boat suits eating at the counter, and we can print its inside walls as well as the long sides. A closed tuck box with vent cut-outs suits delivery and keeps the cinnamon sugar in. Both can hold a dip pot at one end, with the holder sized to your pot.
Ice cream cups are sized by the number of scoops, with room above for sauce and toppings. A printed paper lid turns a serving cup into a takeaway tub, a clear lid shows off the toppings and a domed one leaves room for cream. One design covers every flavour, as we can print a tick-box flavour list on the lid for your team to mark. If you serve warm desserts too, we line the cups for heat as well as cold.
How do I keep my brand consistent across boxes, bags and cups?
We set up your artwork for each piece in turn and print every one to your brand colours, so a pizza box, a fry scoop, a bag and a cup all read as one brand.
Each material takes ink in its own way, and each cup size has its own fan-shaped template. A design that works in one or two colours carries across all of them, so we recommend settling that version first and adding fuller artwork where the board allows.
We put your artwork where each piece is seen most: the lid of a burger box, the tall back of a fry scoop, the long sides of a churro box, the front of a bag and the side of a cup that faces the drinker. You approve every item on its digital proof before anything is printed.
- Corrugated pizza boxes: one or two bold colours
- Coated burger boxes and fry scoops: sharp full colour
- Kraft bags: deeper colours, with white ink under light ones
