Choosing the Right Packaging for Your Menu

The right packaging keeps food at the right temperature, arrives in one piece and makes your restaurant look good. Start by matching each product to the food you put in it, then think about delivery, and finally decide where your brand goes.

Match packaging to your food

Rectangular bowls with locking lids are the right choice for curries, saucy dishes and rice. The lock keeps lids on in a delivery bag. The flat bottom means they stack. The large print area — bowl and lid — makes them the best-value branding surface.

Fold-top boxes are the classic for noodles, fried rice and biryani. They fold open to become an easy-to-eat container, and they're cheap to produce.

Clamshells close securely for kebabs, burgers, samosas and starters. The large flat lid is a natural billboard.

Pizza boxes keep pizza and naan hot and flat, and the whole lid is available for printing.

Small tubs for sauces, dips, raita and kulfi. A small surface, but every little contact point with your brand adds up.

Think about delivery

For delivery orders, stackable and leak-resistant containers travel better. Rectangular bowls with locking lids and clamshells are the two most delivery-friendly formats. If you use delivery bags, a carrier bag with your logo gets seen on the doorstep, in the street and at the table.

Fold-top boxes can open in transit if the fold isn't tight. If that's a concern, switch to a clamshell for those dishes, or use a carrier bag that holds everything upright.

Decide where your brand goes

The carrier bag is the most visible item — it's carried in public, put on a table and seen by everyone at the meal. After that, the lid or front face of the main container is what customers see first. Start with those two surfaces.

You don't need to brand everything at once. Most customers start with their two or three most-used items — often a bowl or box plus a carrier bag — and add more as they see how it looks.

Where to start

If you're not sure what to order, book a free visit. Your local rep will help you match the right sizes to what you use now, and bring them printed with your logo so you can see exactly how it will look before committing to an order.