How to Choose a Custom Food Packaging Supplier: A Checklist for UK Food Businesses

In short: the best custom packaging supplier for your food business is the one that lets you test a sample with your own food, tells you the minimum order and lead time up front, helps with design, and can keep supplying you once you are open. Price matters, but only once those basics are in place.

Use the checklist below when you compare suppliers. It works for a new shop choosing a first supplier and for an established business that is thinking of switching.

1. Do they make it for your food, or sell you what is in stock?

Start with how the supplier recommends packaging. A good supplier asks what you serve, how it is cooked, how long it travels and whether it goes out for delivery. The answers decide the board, the size and the lining.

If a supplier gives you a price before asking anything about your food, you are probably being sold something standard. That can be fine for a stall, but it is not custom packaging built around your menu.

2. Can you test a sample with your own food first?

A flat picture of a box tells you nothing about how it holds a hot, greasy burger after twenty minutes in a delivery bag. Ask whether you receive a real sample before production, and whether production only starts once you approve it.

At TradePack, the sample comes after the quote is agreed and production starts only after you approve it. Whichever supplier you choose, do not skip this step.

3. What is the minimum order, and is it clear?

Custom printing is made in runs, so every supplier has minimum quantities. What matters is that they tell you early, by product. Our minimums are on each product page: for example, cups start at 5,000, delivery bags and most food boxes at 10,000, and burger boxes and pizza boxes at 15,000.

Then ask yourself how long that quantity lasts. Our guide to ordering packaging in volume shows how to turn daily orders into months of stock. If the minimum is more than you want to hold, ask whether the supplier offers storage.

4. How long does it take, and when does the clock start?

Ask for the lead time in days, and ask what it counts from. A common mistake is to read a quoted lead time as running from the day you ask, when it actually starts after sample and artwork approval.

For us, production and delivery typically take 30 to 35 days after you approve your sample and artwork. If you are opening a new shop, work backwards from your opening day. Our guide to when to order packaging before opening shows how.

5. Is design help included?

Many food businesses do not have print ready artwork. Ask whether the supplier accepts a finished file, just a logo, or only an idea, and whether design help costs extra. We create the design with you and design support is free, so a logo alone is enough to start.

6. Can they cover everything you need, not just one item?

Switching between suppliers for boxes, cups and bags makes your brand look inconsistent and your ordering harder. A supplier that covers your whole menu, such as boxes, bowls, cups, bags, paper and napkins, lets you match your design and reorder in one place. Look at the full range: all packaging. If you run a particular type of shop, our packaging bundles group the items that shop usually needs.

7. What happens when you reorder?

The first order is the easy part. Ask how reorders work, whether your artwork and sizes are kept on file, and how you avoid running out. If you keep stock in the supplier's storage, reorders do not have to wait for a new production run. See how branded packaging storage works.

8. Can they supply more than one site?

If you plan more than one shop, check that the supplier can deliver to several addresses and keep your packaging consistent. See how we handle multi-site food packaging.

9. Is the packaging suitable for food, and can they show it?

Packaging that touches food has to be suitable for food contact. Ask the supplier about food contact compliance and whether they can supply the documentation for what they sell you. A supplier who cannot answer this simply is a risk for your business, not only for the supplier.

10. Is the price clear, and is it for the same thing?

Only compare prices when the quotes are for the same product, size, material, print and quantity. Check whether delivery, artwork and a sample are included. Our guide on what decides the price of custom packaging explains each factor, so you can compare like with like.

Quick checklist

• Do they ask about your food before recommending packaging?
• Do you get a sample to test before production?
• Is the minimum order stated for each product?
• Is the lead time in days, and is it clear when it starts?
• Is design help included?
• Can they cover your whole menu?
• Can you reorder easily, with storage if you need it?
• Can they supply several sites?
• Can they confirm the packaging is suitable for food?
• Are the quotes for the same specification?

Talk to us

Tell us what you serve and roughly how many orders you take, and we will recommend the packaging and the quantities that suit you, then send a sample to test before anything is printed. Get a quote.