How Much Packaging Does a Burger Shop Use? A Monthly Stock Guide

Before you order printed packaging in volume, you need one number: how much your shop actually uses. Get it wrong and you either run out in the middle of a busy week or sit on boxes you will not use for months. This guide shows how to work it out from your own sales.

Start with orders, not burgers

Count two things from your till or delivery apps: how many orders you take on an average day, and how many burgers go out per order. Most packaging follows from those two numbers.

One burger box and one sheet of greaseproof paper per burger
One delivery or takeaway bag per order
A fries box or bowl for each portion of fries
Napkins in every bag, usually more than one

A worked example: 100 orders a day

This is an illustration, not a forecast. Take a burger shop with 100 orders a day and an average of 1.5 burgers per order, so about 150 burgers a day. Over a 30 day month, the packaging looks like this.

Burger boxes: about 150 a day, 4,500 a month
Greaseproof sheets: about 150 a day, 4,500 a month
Delivery bags: about 100 a day, 3,000 a month
Napkins: 150 to 200 a day, 4,500 to 6,000 a month
Fries boxes or bowls: about 100 a day, 3,000 a month

That adds up to roughly 19,500 to 21,000 pieces of packaging a month. Over 45 days, the same shop would use about 6,750 burger boxes, 6,750 greaseproof sheets, 4,500 delivery bags, 6,750 to 9,000 napkins and 4,500 fries boxes.

Your numbers will differ. A few things change them:

Meal deals: a combo may use a meal deal box instead of separate boxes.
Loaded fries: if these are a best seller, you will use loaded fries bowls rather than plain fries boxes.
Eating in: dine-in orders use less delivery packaging.
Busy periods: weekends, events and promotions can push usage well above your average.

Pull a few typical weeks from your sales and use the busier ones, not the quietest, so you do not run short.

Add a buffer

Always plan for a little more than the average. A buffer covers a busy weekend, a promotion or a delivery that arrives later than expected. It is much cheaper to hold a small amount of extra stock than to run out of boxes on a Friday night.

What this means when you order

Printed packaging is made in volume, so your usage decides how often you order. Read our guide to ordering burger packaging in volume to see how to time your orders around production and delivery.

If you would like help working out quantities for your own shop, tell us about your burger shop and we will go through it with you.