Custom Food Packaging

Kraft Meal Boxes

Made-to-order kraft Meal Boxes in 12pt sbs paperboard, printed to your artwork and cut to your dimensions.

Minimum order: 100 units
Production: 3–5 business days
Construction: folding carton
Delivery: US, UK, Canada, Australia

Kraft Meal Boxes shown as a finished custom-printed pack

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 kraft meal boxes have to cope with

Kraft Meal Boxes hold a hot main meal, often with separate wet and dry elements in one box. That is the starting point for the specification, because a divider only works if it reaches the lid. A half-height divider looks organised and stops nothing.

In service they are used for meal-prep services and delivery kitchens where the box holds a full plated meal.

Where kraft meal boxes are actually used

Kraft Meal Boxes are specified for meal-prep services and delivery kitchens where the box holds a full plated meal. A divider only works if it reaches the lid. A half-height divider looks organised and stops nothing.

Meal-prep services and delivery kitchens where the box holds a full plated meal
Shelf display in specialty retail
Subscription and gift sets
E-commerce inner packaging

The substrate for kraft meal boxes

Coated kraft with a full-height divider where the meal has separate wet and dry elements.

The options we would consider for this format are below; a divider only works if it reaches the lid. A half-height divider looks organised and stops nothing.

12pt SBS paperboard
14pt SBS paperboard
16pt SBS paperboard
18pt kraft board
recycled CCNB board

The environmental claim you can defend

Recycled content, kerbside recyclability and certified compostability are three different claims requiring three different kinds of evidence. Brands get into trouble by treating them as one.

Tell us which claim you intend to print on the pack and we will specify a material that supports it, or say plainly that it does not exist at your price point.

Printing kraft meal boxes

Keep print off the divider — it gets wet first and ink transfer onto food is the complaint that follows.

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 kraft meal boxes

Keep print off the divider — it gets wet first and ink transfer onto food is the complaint that follows.

Each finish below is a separate pass on the press or the finishing line, which is why they are quoted individually rather than bundled.

Gloss lamination
Matte lamination
Soft-touch lamination
Spot UV
Foil stamping
Embossing
Debossing
Aqueous coating

Sizing kraft meal boxes

Commonly 9 × 6 × 3 in single-compartment, larger where a divider is added.

Send the contents rather than a box size. Operators add a divider that stops at the food line rather than the lid, and sauce simply goes over the top of it.

Holding kraft meal boxes before service

A wet element migrates into the dry one, so the whole meal arrives at one texture.

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.

Getting artwork press-ready

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.

What we need from you

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.

A dieline template follows, sized to your product. Prepress checks your artwork against it and issues a proof; nothing runs until you sign that off.

What buyers get wrong with kraft meal boxes

Operators add a divider that stops at the food line rather than the lid, and sauce simply goes over the top of it.

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

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

Kraft Meal Boxes at a specification level

Product	Kraft Meal 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

Materials

Where the environmental gain is real

Fitted to what goes in it

Commonly 9 × 6 × 3 in single-compartment, larger where a divider is added.

The failure worth avoiding

A wet element migrates into the dry one, so the whole meal arrives at one texture.

Where it has to work

Specified for meal-prep services and delivery kitchens where the box holds a full plated meal.

The detail that decides it

A divider only works if it reaches the lid. A half-height divider looks organised and stops nothing.

This format sits in our custom food packaging range, alongside 33 other made-to-order formats.

Answers

Running kraft meal boxes: common questions

Specification, minimums and lead times for kraft meal boxes.

Is recycled board weaker than virgin board?

Slightly, at the same caliper — recycled fibres are shorter, so the board is a little less stiff and takes on moisture a little faster. Stepping up one caliper generally restores the performance while keeping the recycled claim intact.

Can you certify the recycled content?

We can state the recycled content of the board and supply the mill documentation behind it. We do not issue certifications ourselves, and we would rather give you the underlying evidence than a claim you cannot substantiate.

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 kraft meal 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 kraft meal 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.

Do you offer recycled or recyclable options?

Recycled grades are available across most of the substrates we run for folding cartons. 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. If you are printing on an uncoated or kraft stock, approve a printed sample rather than a digital proof — the substrate pulls colour down noticeably.

What is the minimum order for kraft meal 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 kraft meal 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 kraft meal 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.

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