Min. 100 units · 3–5 days
Paper Food Trays
Custom Food Trays
Specify thisCustom Food Packaging
Food Trays
Bespoke food Trays manufactured to order, with material and finish chosen around how the product ships.
- Minimum order
- 100 units
- Production
- 3–5 business days
- Construction
- food tray
- Delivery
- US, UK, Canada, Australia
No obligation
Quote this by the case
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.
The build detail that decides food trays
Moisture from hot food softens board faster than grease does. Coating the base is more important than coating the walls.
Food Trays are die-cut and folded from grease-resistant board into an open-top tray, with locking corners that hold the shape under warm food.
What food trays have to cope with
Food Trays hold an open portion served hot and eaten quickly, with no lid between kitchen and customer. That is the starting point for the specification, because moisture from hot food softens board faster than grease does. Coating the base is more important than coating the walls.
In service they are used for counter service, food halls and events where the tray is handed straight over.
Where food trays are actually used
Food Trays are specified for counter service, food halls and events where the tray is handed straight over. Moisture from hot food softens board faster than grease does. Coating the base is more important than coating the walls.
- Counter service, food halls and events where the tray is handed straight over
- Quick-service food counters
- Bakery and deli
- Stadium and event catering
The substrate for food trays
A moisture-resistant coated board. Hot wet food softens an uncoated tray faster than grease does.
The options we would consider for this format are below; moisture from hot food softens board faster than grease does. Coating the base is more important than coating the walls.
- Grease-resistant SBS board
- Kraft board with grease barrier
- Corrugated E-flute
- Clay-coated news back
Sizing food trays
Commonly 5 × 3½ × 1½ in through 9 × 6 × 2 in depending on portion.
Send the contents rather than a box size. Trays are chosen by footprint alone, when the depth of the wall is what stops contents sliding off during a hand-off.
Holding food trays before service
The base softens under a hot, wet load and the tray bends in the middle when picked up.
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.
Finishing food trays
Ink on the base is wasted — it is covered from the moment the tray is filled. Print the walls.
Each finish below is a separate pass on the press or the finishing line, which is why they are quoted individually rather than bundled.
- Grease-resistant coating
- Matte finish
- Uncoated kraft
Checking it before you commit
We can produce a plain unprinted sample so you can check the fit and structure of food trays before committing.
Sample costs are normally credited against the production order.
What we need from you
Start with dimensions and quantity. If you already run something similar, a physical sample tells us more in a minute than a specification does in a page.
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 food trays
Trays are chosen by footprint alone, when the depth of the wall is what stops contents sliding off during a hand-off.
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.
Reference
Food Trays at a specification level
| Product | Food Trays |
|---|---|
| Category | Custom Food Packaging |
| Construction | Die-cut with locking corners |
| Barrier | Grease-resistant coating |
| Ships as | Flat or pre-formed and nested |
| Materials | Grease-resistant SBS board, Kraft board with grease barrier, Corrugated E-flute, Clay-coated news back |
| Printing | Offset lithography, Flexography, Digital press |
| Finishes | Grease-resistant coating, Matte finish, Uncoated kraft |
| 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 Food Trays 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
Food Trays
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What you get
Why buyers specify this format
Sized to the contents
Commonly 5 × 3½ × 1½ in through 9 × 6 × 2 in depending on portion.
What goes wrong in service
The base softens under a hot, wet load and the tray bends in the middle when picked up.
Where it is used
Specified for counter service, food halls and events where the tray is handed straight over.
The detail that decides it
Moisture from hot food softens board faster than grease does. Coating the base is more important than coating the walls.
This format sits in our custom food packaging range, alongside 33 other made-to-order formats.
Answers
Food Trays: questions buyers ask
Specification, minimums and lead times for food trays.
How high can these be stacked?
That depends on board grade, contents weight and how long the stack stands. Send us the stack height and the weight above the bottom unit and we will specify to it rather than guessing at a grade.
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 food trays, 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.
Will these hold up under a hot, wet load?
With the right board and coating. Moisture from hot food softens an under-specified tray faster than grease does, so we usually recommend both a heavier caliper and a grease-resistant coating for hot service.
How long do food trays take to produce?
3 to 5 business days after artwork approval, plus freight. Food tray 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 food trays 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 food trays 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 food tray 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 food trays 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. The board and coating are held together, so a reorder cannot quietly arrive on a stock with different grease resistance.
Next step
Quote Food Trays
Send the fill size and the volumes you run. We reply with a full specification and a written price, usually within one business day.