Min. 100 units · 3–5 days
Wings Boxes
Custom Food Packaging
Specify thisCustom Food Packaging
Chicken Boxes
Custom chicken Boxes produced to your size and substrate, with printing and finishing handled in one run.
- Minimum order
- 100 units
- Production
- 3–5 business days
- Construction
- folding carton
- Delivery
- US, UK, Canada, Australia
No obligation
Price this format
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 chicken boxes have to cope with
Chicken Boxes hold fried chicken pieces that release both grease and steam at once. That is the starting point for the specification, because grease resistance and venting are both required, and they are separate decisions. One stops the stain, the other stops the sogginess.
In service they are used for takeaway counters and delivery, where the box is closed on food straight from the fryer.
Where chicken boxes are actually used
Chicken Boxes are specified for takeaway counters and delivery, where the box is closed on food straight from the fryer. Grease resistance and venting are both required, and they are separate decisions. One stops the stain, the other stops the sogginess.
- Takeaway counters and delivery, where the box is closed on food straight from the fryer
- Shelf display in specialty retail
- Subscription and gift sets
- E-commerce inner packaging
The substrate for chicken boxes
Grease-resistant coated board throughout, not just on the base — sauce reaches the walls in a way it does not with dry fried food.
The options we would consider for this format are below; grease resistance and venting are both required, and they are separate decisions. One stops the stain, the other stops the sogginess.
- 12pt SBS paperboard
- 14pt SBS paperboard
- 16pt SBS paperboard
- 18pt kraft board
- recycled CCNB board
Printing chicken boxes
Matte coatings mark less than gloss under greasy handling, which matters more here than print sharpness.
Offset lithography, Digital press, Flexography 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 chicken boxes
Matte coatings mark less than gloss under greasy handling, which matters more here than print sharpness.
Every finish listed here is its own pass through the line, so each one is priced on its own rather than folded into a single figure.
- Gloss lamination
- Matte lamination
- Soft-touch lamination
- Spot UV
- Foil stamping
- Embossing
- Debossing
- Aqueous coating
Sizing chicken boxes
Meal boxes run around 7 × 5 × 3 in; bucket-style and family sizes go considerably larger.
Send the contents rather than a box size. Operators try to solve grease with a heavier board, which does not help — grease resistance is a coating property, not a thickness one.
Holding chicken boxes before service
Grease wicks through an untreated board and shows as dark patches on the outside within minutes, before the customer even opens it.
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
Supply artwork on the dieline we send you, with 3 mm bleed past every trim edge and all text held 4 mm inside the fold lines.
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.
Ordering chicken boxes
The useful starting point is the product, not the pack. Give us its measurements and the quantity, and we work the folding carton 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.
What buyers get wrong with chicken boxes
Operators try to solve grease with a heavier board, which does not help — grease resistance is a coating property, not a thickness one.
The rest of these come up often enough across the format to be worth stating plainly.
- Specifying board weight without saying how hot or greasy the contents are.
- Forgetting that a pack carried at an angle in a courier bag behaves differently to one on a counter.
- Choosing a vented lid for a dish that needs to stay hot, or a sealed one for a dish that needs to stay crisp.
- Ordering a year of stock that then sits through a humid summer.
Testing the fit first
Ask for an unprinted sample if the question is fit, or a printed prototype if the question is colour. They answer different things.
Sample costs are normally credited against the production order.
Reference
Chicken Boxes at a specification level
| Product | Chicken Boxes |
|---|---|
| Category | Custom Food Packaging |
| Construction | Die-cut, creased and seam-glued |
| Board thickness | 12pt – 18pt depending on product weight |
| Ships as | Flat-packed, glued one seam |
| Materials | 12pt SBS paperboard, 14pt SBS paperboard, 16pt SBS paperboard, 18pt kraft board |
| Printing | Offset lithography, Digital press, Flexography |
| Finishes | Gloss lamination, Matte lamination, Soft-touch lamination, Spot UV, Foil stamping |
| 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 Chicken Boxes 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
Chicken Boxes
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In practice
Where this holds up on a line
Sized to the contents
Meal boxes run around 7 × 5 × 3 in; bucket-style and family sizes go considerably larger.
The failure we design out
Grease wicks through an untreated board and shows as dark patches on the outside within minutes, before the customer even opens it.
What it is specified for
Specified for takeaway counters and delivery, where the box is closed on food straight from the fryer.
The detail that matters
Grease resistance and venting are both required, and they are separate decisions. One stops the stain, the other stops the sogginess.
This format sits in our custom food packaging range, alongside 33 other made-to-order formats.
Answers
Ordering chicken boxes: the usual questions
Specification, minimums and lead times for chicken boxes.
Will a thicker board stop grease showing through?
No. Grease resistance comes from a coating or a greaseproof liner, not from caliper. A heavier untreated board takes slightly longer to stain and then stains anyway.
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 chicken boxes, 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.
Do chicken boxes arrive flat or assembled?
Flat and glued along one seam, so they pop open on your packing line. That keeps freight cost down considerably compared with a pre-assembled structure.
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 chicken boxes?
A flat 100 units on any format. Most folding cartons 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 chicken boxes take to produce?
3 to 5 business days after artwork approval, plus freight. Folding carton 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 chicken boxes 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.
Can I see a sample first?
Yes. We can send a plain unprinted sample so you can check the fit and structure, or a printed prototype for colour and finish. Sample costs are normally credited against the production order. Worth running a few through your actual line rather than checking them by hand: fill speed and hot contents find fit problems that a desk check does not.
Can you match packaging we already use?
Send the current specification or a physical sample and we will quote to match it rather than proposing an alternative you would then have to re-approve internally. Tell us the coating on the pack you are matching too. Grease and moisture resistance are not visible in a sample and they change which stocks we can quote.
Where do you deliver?
All 50 US states, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, on the same timeline everywhere: 3 to 5 business days of production after artwork approval, then 5 to 7 business days in transit. Every run is made to order and shipped directly to your address rather than pulled from stock, so you receive current production rather than whatever has been sitting in a warehouse. Freight is costed separately by weight, volume and destination. If stock is going into a kitchen or a service counter rather than a warehouse, tell us — case sizes that a single person can lift and store matter more there than pallet efficiency.
Can I order chicken boxes 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 folding carton around them, then send a dieline template you can design onto.
Next step
Start on Chicken Boxes
Send the fill size and the volumes you run. We reply with a full specification and a written price, usually within one business day.