Are you looking for ways to make your food business stand out in the market? One of the best ways that you can do this is by using custom food packaging boxes. A food box is a container in which foods are packaged to be sold. Food boxes can be made of cardboard, plastic, or other materials. The food packaging boxes you make for your business must reflect your company’s image and quality standards.
Customizing your packaging not only makes it unique but also helps with marketing and branding purposes as well. If you want to know how to construct premium quality food boxes using custom boxes, follow some easy steps, this blog post is for you. To help you get started on how to make premium quality food boxes, we have put together an easy step-by-step guide for you.
Understand Your Packaging Requirements
To make perfect food boxes, you need to understand the packaging requirements as per your products. Once you have understood your requirements, it is time to check out the food packaging that fulfills your needs. For example, if you are a bakery owner and need custom-made boxes, then you should go for a customized cardboard box that can be printed with images of cake or biscuits on them as well. And, if you are selling biscuits, then your packaging should be strong and tough. On the other hand, a cake needs flexible food boxes to help it maintain its shape.
Similarly, if you are selling fast food, then your packaging needs to be strong enough to protect the product as it is handled by restaurants and distributors. These packages need a good sealant that will keep food fresh for long periods of time, have low permeability and high oxygen barrier properties in addition to being grease resistant. The material used should also be easy to clean so it can withstand repeated use from restaurant workers who prepare meals on-site daily without getting dirty or smudged with oil spills.
In contrast, the requirements for packaging beverages are different than what you might expect. Beverage containers must be in a sanitary condition and have the means to prevent contamination by contact with the exterior of the container or any other outside source. They also need to be able to withstand normal handling and conditions, such as temperature changes. There’s much more that goes into packaging drinks than just having liquid inside.
So, before moving on to the next step, make sure that you are well aware of all the requirements for your food products. If yes, then move forward to the next step, and if not, then thoroughly check out these requirements and then follow the next steps.
Select Most Suitable Material for Your Food Packaging
If you’re looking for a type of material that best suits your needs, then plastic is the way to go. It’s very flexible and durable, making it perfect for any food packaging box, especially if they need to be transported in excess heat or cold climates. You will also find that this type of plastic has good transparency levels making them more visually appealing than dull paper boxes with no graphics. The only downside is their cost; as compared to plain cardboard, these are much pricier but well worth it when you consider how long they’ll last. This makes them ideal for those who sell premium quality food items on a larger scale, such as vegetables, meat products, or packaged foods like cereal or cookies, so customers can reuse them to pack these items.
Paper and Cardboard Boxes for Food Packaging
Do you ever buy cereal, crackers, or chips in paper or cardboard boxes? Well, there are a lot of reasons why this is better than buying food packaged in plastic.
First off, paper packaging is cheaper for the company to produce and ship. This means that it costs less money for consumers like us to purchase these items at the store.
Secondly, when we throw away our paper or cardboard box after opening it up and consuming everything inside of it, the box will biodegrade much faster than something made out of plastic. Plastic takes anywhere from 450-1 million years to decompose – which obviously isn’t good for our environment.
Now it is your call that which material you choose for your food products. It is highly recommended to use Paper, Kraft, or Cardboard material for this purpose because these materials are the best fit for food packaging and are very trendy these days.
Select Size and Shape for Food Boxes
The different sizes of boxes available are suitable for a range of food. For example, the small-sized box is perfect for cookies or candies, while medium-size would be best suited to hold bagels or muffins and large-sized boxes work well with pizzas. You should also consider if you need your boxed food items to fit in the fridge when stored.
It would be best if you also looked that how many products need to be packed in the packaging. For example, some companies pack food in a number of servings per box, and some use a quantitative method for this, like six cupcakes in a box, etc.
If this is important, it’s worth considering making them rectangular-shaped with straight sides instead of curved ones.
Make Unique Food Box Designs
There are several designs available for food packaging boxes. You can choose one of them according to your need. You can also get your desired designed option of customization option, which is very trendy in the market. Some of the most common shapes are:
- Tuck End
- Tuck In
- Slider Boxes
- Gable
- Sleeve
- 2 Piece
- 1 Piece
- Display
- Window
- Transparent
Other than these designs, you are free to choose the shape of these boxes, which are available in a huge variety. Some of these shapes are:
- Square
- Rectangular
- Round
- Cubical
- Triangular
- Hexagon
Every shape has certain advantages; check out which shape fulfills your business needs and then select it according to your product type.
Add On
Add-on is very important to increase the usability of the packaging boxes. It also helps you increase the durability of the box and increases its efficiency. There is a wide variety of options available for your food boxes.
Select an add-on according to the box shape and design and ask your packaging supplier to add them to your food boxes. Some of the famous add on are:
- Partitions
- Fillers
- Trays
- Cardboard Knifes
- Holding Strings and many more
Choose Suitable Printing Method
Packaging is one of the essential aspects when it comes to marketing food. Packaging can stimulate the customer’s senses, communicate information about a product or its ingredients, and provide protection for fragile products in transit.
It is essential to know the printing method for food packaging because it impacts your product’s looks and nutritional value. There are many different types of printing methods that you can choose from, and each one will have a different effect on the final product.
Lithography
So in lithography, the ink with your pattern is applied to an aluminum platform. This content will then be moved on top of our packaging and a rubber blanket. When dealing with different materials such as paper, cartons, or plastic, this process can deliver high-quality print for color gradients. All you need is a flat surface available.
Flexography
Flexography is a more modern process that uses quick-drying tints. The plates are lightweight photopolymers, as opposed to lithographs which use metal or stone. These spinning tubes do all the work and can print very easily with high volumes of production.
Digital Printing
From logos to full-color magazines, digital printing has become one of the most popular methods for mass production. The process is fairly simple and can be done from home with a laser or inkjet printer. Commercial printers often use this technique as it allows them to take on much larger projects because they don’t have such high set-up costs like more traditional techniques do. This technique is widely used for food packaging boxes.
Just select a technique that suits your business and budget and ask your packaging supplier to use it for packaging production.
Add Premium Finishing
With the rise of grocery stores and online shopping, food packaging has been a big topic in recent years. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see products with premium finishing on their packaging.
The most common form of premium finishing is gloss or matte lamination that provides a protective layer for the food product while also making it more attractive to consumers.
There are many advantages to adding this type of finish to your food packaging, including increased shelf life, reduced damages from handling and transportation, better clarity for viewing content inside the container, and protection against other factors.
Conclusion
You need to take care of every aspect of packaging for food. The packaging should be pleasing to the eye and protect the food. Food boxes are an easy way to package that protects your food from external sources.
Create some graphics for your box with a die-cut machine or embossing machine before gluing pieces together. Decorate with color printing or foil stamping if desired and create graphics for any exterior information as well, such as nutritional facts labels.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to customizing food boxes so think of something creative like having your logo printed on one side of the container next time instead of using adhesive tape all over the packaging. That’s why Stampa Prints is here for you. They have the best-in-class custom box packaging services that help your business achieve its marketing goals.
