Min. 100 units · 3–5 days
Burger Boxes
Custom Food Packaging
Specify thisCustom Sleeves
Burger Sleeves
Made-to-order burger Sleeves in uncoated kraft board, printed to your artwork and cut to your dimensions.
- Minimum order
- 100 units
- Production
- 3–5 business days
- Construction
- sleeve
- Delivery
- US, UK, Canada, Australia
No obligation
Ask for a quote
Name, email, phone and what you are packing and the volumes you run. Attach artwork if you have it. We reply with a specification and a written price, usually within one business day.
What burger sleeves have to cope with
Burger Sleeves hold a burger held directly in the hand, where the sleeve replaces a box entirely. That is the starting point for the specification, because a sleeve has far less material between grease and hand than a box does, so grease resistance matters more, not less.
In service they are used for street food and fast casual service where the burger is eaten immediately and standing up.
Where burger sleeves are actually used
Burger Sleeves are specified for street food and fast casual service where the burger is eaten immediately and standing up. A sleeve has far less material between grease and hand than a box does, so grease resistance matters more, not less.
- Street food and fast casual service where the burger is eaten immediately and standing up
- Food service branding
- Retail product banding
- Gift presentation
The substrate for burger sleeves
Greaseproof-lined board. The saving over a box is in material and freight, not in the coating.
The options we would consider for this format are below; a sleeve has far less material between grease and hand than a box does, so grease resistance matters more, not less.
- Uncoated kraft board
- C1S paperboard
- Corrugated E-flute
- Greaseproof paper
- Recycled board
Printing burger sleeves
The overlap area is hidden once wrapped. Design for the visible band, which is about two-thirds of the printed area.
Offset lithography, Flexography, Digital press are all available for this format. Run length usually decides which is cheapest: digital removes the plate cost on short quantities, offset and flexo overtake it at volume.
Finishing burger sleeves
The overlap area is hidden once wrapped. Design for the visible band, which is about two-thirds of the printed area.
Finishes are costed one at a time because each is a separate operation — that way you can see which one is carrying the price.
- Matte lamination
- Uncoated natural
- Spot UV
- Foil stamping
- Emboss
Sizing burger sleeves
Sized to the burger diameter with enough wrap to overlap and stay closed.
Send the contents rather than a box size. A sleeve is chosen over a box to save cost, then specified on plain board, so it fails at its only job.
What moves the price
Four things drive a quote more than anything else: the quantity, the print route, the board grade and the number of finishing passes. Dimensions matter too, but usually through how efficiently the shape nests on the press sheet.
Prices start from $0.30 per piece for large-volume orders. If a cheaper route exists we say so at quoting rather than after the invoice.
Holding burger sleeves before service
Grease soaks through and reaches the customer's hand, which is the one thing the sleeve exists to prevent.
Paperboard also absorbs moisture from the air until it equalises with its surroundings. If stock sits more than about six weeks in unconditioned space, a moisture-resistant coating is worth its small premium.
Preparing artwork
Measure the circumference of the filled product, not the empty one, and add 10 mm for the glue lap.
Supply a print-ready PDF or vector file with fonts outlined and images at 300 dpi. Our prepress team checks every file before a proof is issued. The check that catches most files is type sitting too close to a crease, which is easier to move at layout than at proof.
How an order runs
The useful starting point is the product, not the pack. Give us its measurements and the quantity, and we work the sleeve outward from there.
You approve the quote, we send the dieline, prepress proofs it, and production follows. The proof stage is where changes are still free.
Testing the fit first
A plain structural sample is the cheapest way to find a fit problem — far cheaper than finding it across a full run.
Sample costs are normally credited against the production order.
Reference
Burger Sleeves at a specification level
| Product | Burger Sleeves |
|---|---|
| Category | Custom Sleeves |
| Construction | Wrapped band, glued or flat-supplied |
| Fit | Sized to filled product circumference |
| Ships as | Flat, banded bundles |
| Materials | Uncoated kraft board, C1S paperboard, Corrugated E-flute, Greaseproof paper |
| Printing | Offset lithography, Flexography, Digital press |
| Finishes | Matte lamination, Uncoated natural, Spot UV, Foil stamping, Emboss |
| Minimum order | Minimum order is 100 units on any format, and unit cost falls sharply as the quantity rises. |
| Lead time | 3 to 5 business days after artwork approval |
| Shipping | Across the US, UK, Canada and Australia |
Specification builder
Specify Burger Sleeves in under a minute
Set what you know, leave the rest. Everything here travels with your request, so nothing gets retyped.
- 100-unit minimum
- 3–5 day production
- Free dieline
- No obligation
Burger Sleeves
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In practice
What you get with this format
Sized to the contents
Sized to the burger diameter with enough wrap to overlap and stay closed.
The failure we design out
Grease soaks through and reaches the customer's hand, which is the one thing the sleeve exists to prevent.
What it is specified for
Specified for street food and fast casual service where the burger is eaten immediately and standing up.
The detail that matters
A sleeve has far less material between grease and hand than a box does, so grease resistance matters more, not less.
This format sits in our custom sleeves range, alongside 23 other made-to-order formats.
Answers
Running burger sleeves: common questions
Specification, minimums and lead times for burger sleeves.
Do burger sleeves need grease resistance?
More than a box does. There is far less material between the grease and the customer's hand, so an uncoated sleeve fails at exactly the job it exists for.
How exactly can you match our brand colour?
On offset and flexo we hold the ink formulation, which gives a tight match run to run. Digital has a wider tolerance. If exact consistency across repeat runs matters more than short-run economics, we will quote the litho route.
Are these food-contact compliant?
We specify food-contact compliant boards and inks where the pack touches food directly. Tell us whether contact is direct or through a liner for burger sleeves, because it changes which stocks are available to you.
How do you stop grease showing through?
A grease-resistant coating or a greaseproof liner. Untreated board will always strike through eventually with hot, oily food — that is a property of the material rather than a quality fault, and it is inexpensive to design out.
Can I order burger sleeves in a custom size?
Every run is cut to your dimensions — there are no stock sizes here. Send the product measurements rather than a box size and we will build the sleeve around them, then send a dieline template you can design onto.
What happens after I approve the quote?
We issue a dieline template sized to your product, prepress checks your artwork against it, and a proof comes back for sign-off. Nothing runs until you approve that proof, and sleeves then take 3 to 5 business days.
Can you hold the specification for repeat orders?
Yes. Once a first run is approved we hold the board, structure, dimensions, print method and finishes against your account, so a reorder references the same specification exactly rather than being re-derived. That includes the ink formulation, which is what keeps a brand colour consistent between runs rather than drifting a shade each time.
Do you offer recycled or recyclable options?
Recycled grades are available across most of the substrates we run for sleeves. Recycled content, kerbside recyclability and certified compostability are three different claims though, so tell us which one you intend to print.
What file format should I send artwork in?
A print-ready PDF or a vector file, with fonts outlined and any raster images at 300 dpi at final size. We supply the dieline to design onto, and prepress checks bleed, safe area and crease clearance before issuing a proof. The dieline we supply carries the crease positions, so keeping type clear of a crease is easier to solve at layout than at proof.
What is the minimum order for burger sleeves?
A flat 100 units on any format. Most sleeves in this range are quoted from 100 units upward because unit cost falls sharply above that, but the minimum exists so you can validate a structure first.
How long do burger sleeves take to produce?
3 to 5 business days after artwork approval, plus freight. Sleeve runs with applied finishes can take longer because each finish is a separate pass, and we confirm a firm date in writing with the quote.
What do burger sleeves cost?
Prices start from $0.30 per piece for large-volume orders. For this format the biggest levers are quantity, print route, board grade and how many finishing passes are involved. We quote each element separately so you can see where the money is going. Finishing passes are the lever buyers most often underestimate: each one is a separate run through the line.
Next step
Price Burger Sleeves by the case
Send the fill size and the volumes you run. We reply with a full specification and a written price, usually within one business day.