Min. 100 units · 3–5 days
Coffee Boxes
Custom Food Packaging
Specify thisCustom Food Packaging
Tea Boxes
Bespoke tea Boxes manufactured to order, with material and finish chosen around how the product ships.
- Minimum order
- 100 units
- Production
- 3–5 business days
- Construction
- folding carton
- 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.
What tea boxes have to cope with
Tea Boxes hold sachets or loose leaf, where aroma retention is the product and the carton is the shelf presence. That is the starting point for the specification, because either the individual sachets carry the barrier or the carton needs a liner. An unlined carton around loose leaf will not hold aroma.
In service they are used for specialty retail shelves where stock can sit for months before selling.
Where tea boxes are actually used
Tea Boxes are specified for specialty retail shelves where stock can sit for months before selling. Either the individual sachets carry the barrier or the carton needs a liner. An unlined carton around loose leaf will not hold aroma.
- Specialty retail shelves where stock can sit for months before selling
- Shelf display in specialty retail
- Subscription and gift sets
- E-commerce inner packaging
The substrate for tea boxes
A lined carton if the tea is loose, an unlined one if the sachets carry their own barrier.
The options we would consider for this format are below; either the individual sachets carry the barrier or the carton needs a liner. An unlined carton around loose leaf will not hold aroma.
- 12pt SBS paperboard
- 14pt SBS paperboard
- 16pt SBS paperboard
- 18pt kraft board
- recycled CCNB board
Printing tea boxes
Tea cartons sit on shelf for months. Specify light-stable inks or the panel fades unevenly where it faces out.
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 tea boxes
Tea cartons sit on shelf for months. Specify light-stable inks or the panel fades unevenly where it faces out.
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 tea boxes
Small and square-ish — around 4 × 3 × 4 in for 20 sachets, larger for loose leaf caddies.
Send the contents rather than a box size. Buyers assume the carton holds the aroma. Unless it is lined, it does not — the inner sachet or a foil liner does.
Holding tea boxes before service
Aroma escapes through an unlined carton over weeks on a shelf, and the tea is flat before it is opened.
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.
What we need from your files
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.
From enquiry to delivery
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 tea boxes
Buyers assume the carton holds the aroma. Unless it is lined, it does not — the inner sachet or a foil liner does.
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
We can produce a plain unprinted sample so you can check the fit and structure of tea boxes before committing.
Sample costs are normally credited against the production order.
Reference
Tea Boxes at a specification level
| Product | Tea 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 Tea 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
Tea Boxes
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In practice
Where this holds up on a line
Fitted to what goes in it
Small and square-ish — around 4 × 3 × 4 in for 20 sachets, larger for loose leaf caddies.
The failure worth avoiding
Aroma escapes through an unlined carton over weeks on a shelf, and the tea is flat before it is opened.
Where it has to work
Specified for specialty retail shelves where stock can sit for months before selling.
The detail that decides it
Either the individual sachets carry the barrier or the carton needs a liner. An unlined carton around loose leaf will not hold aroma.
This format sits in our custom food packaging range, alongside 33 other made-to-order formats.
Answers
Tea Boxes: questions buyers ask
Specification, minimums and lead times for tea boxes.
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 tea 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 tea 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.
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 tea 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.
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 folding cartons 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.
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. 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 tea 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 tea 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 tea 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.
Next step
Start on Tea 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.