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Tray styles — 60

• Bagasse School Meal Tray School meal trays have a specification nobody else has to meet.
• Bakery Display Tray A bakery display tray has to do two jobs that pull in opposite directions.
• Burger Clamshell Tray A burger clamshell is a hinged box that closes around a burger, and its whole purpose is to stop the build collapsing between the…
• Catering Tray with Lid The lidded catering tray is the format that most drop-off caterers standardise on, because it is the only one that solves the who…
• Cheese and Cracker Tray The cheese and cracker tray has one specific enemy: moisture.
• Chip and Dip Tray The chip and dip tray is the simplest divided format there is: a main bay and one or two smaller wells.
• Compartment Tray with Lid The lidded compartment tray is the format that meal-prep businesses, bento services and premium takeaway have converged on.
• Compostable Food Tray Moulded fibre trays are formed by pressing wet pulp against a heated tool.
• Cookie Tray with Lid Cookies travel badly loose.
• Corn Dog Tray Corn dogs are eaten from a stick, which sounds like it removes the need for packaging entirely.
• Corrugated Appetizer Tray An appetiser tray is deliberately shallow.
• Corrugated Bread Tray Bread packaging splits into two quite different jobs, and buying the wrong one is a common and expensive mistake.
• Corrugated Catering Tray This is the working catering tray: fluted, deep, strong enough to hold several full foil pans, and usually built with a raised he…
• Corrugated Crawfish Tray A crawfish tray carries several pounds of hot, wet, seasoned shellfish, often with corn and potatoes, straight out of a boil.
• Corrugated Deli Tray A deli tray takes more punishment than most food packaging.
• Corrugated Dessert Platter Dessert is the one course where the packaging is photographed.
• Corrugated Drink Carrier A drink carrier is a mechanical problem before it is a packaging one.
• Corrugated Food Tray Corrugated trays exist for one reason: a loaded tray that has to be picked up from the middle without folding in half.
• Corrugated Lunch Tray The lunch tray sits between a takeaway container and a proper meal tray.
• Corrugated Pan Liner A pan liner is the least glamorous item on this site and one of the most immediately useful.
• Corrugated Party Tray with Lid A party tray is a divided platter under a clear lid.
• Corrugated Sandwich Platter The corporate sandwich platter is one of the highest-volume formats in catering, and the specification is almost entirely determi…
• Corrugated Sushi Platter A sushi platter is a flat presentation surface that has to stay flat.
• Corrugated Veggie Platter Vegetables need two things from a tray that most food packaging does not have to provide: airflow and stack strength.
• Crudite Tray with Dome A crudité platter has a problem that other platters do not: the food is meant to stand up.
• Custom Printed Catering Tray Catering is the one part of food service where packaging routinely converts new business.
• Custom Printed Food Tray This is the general-purpose printed tray: any of our shapes, in your board, carrying your artwork.
• Custom Printed Hot Dog Tray A hot dog tray is a small piece of packaging with an unusually large branding opportunity.
• Deviled Egg Tray Deviled eggs slide.
• Donut Display Tray Donuts are wide, glazed and easily damaged, which makes them one of the more demanding bakery products to package.
• Fish and Chips Tray Fish and chips is the hardest test a board tray faces.
• French Fry Scoop The fry scoop exists because of a specific piece of ergonomics: a member of staff should be able to fill it from a fryer basket w…
• Grazing Board with Dome A dome turns a grazing board into a product you can put on a shelf.
• Kraft Charcuterie Board Grazing is a business where the packaging is most of what gets photographed and much of what justifies the price.
• Kraft Dessert Tray with Dome A dome over a kraft tray is the standard presentation for a mixed patisserie selection sold from a counter.
• Kraft Egg Carton An egg carton is the retail end of the same technology as the wholesale flat, with two additions: a lid that closes properly and…
• Kraft Fruit Tray This is the pocketed fibre tray used to move and display fruit, made in a warm kraft tone rather than the grey of a standard pulp…
• Kraft Hot Dog Tray The hot dog tray is one of the oldest shapes in food packaging and it has barely changed, because it does not need to.
• Kraft Nacho Tray Nachos are a packaging problem disguised as a menu item.
• Kraft Paper Food Tray The kraft paper food tray is the one shape that every counter ends up buying.
• Kraft Snack Tray A snack tray is a small divided tray that turns loose items into a product.
• Kraft Sub Tray A sub tray is a long, shallow rectangle with low walls.
• Kraft Sushi Tray with Lid This is the retail sushi pack: a kraft base sized to a specific piece count, with a clear lid so the customer can see exactly wha…
• Kraft Taco Holder A taco holder does one thing: it stops tacos falling over.
• Mini Charcuterie Tray Individual grazing boxes have grown from a novelty into a substantial category, driven by corporate catering that needs single-se…
• Moulded Pulp Egg Flat The egg flat is the oldest moulded fibre product still in daily use, and it has barely changed because the design was right the f…
• Moulded Pulp Meat Tray The whole argument for a fibre meat tray is what happens to the liquid.
• Moulded Pulp Produce Tray Fruit bruises where it touches other fruit.
• Muffin Insert Tray An insert is the difference between a box of cupcakes and a box of icing.
• Oyster Serving Tray Oysters on the half shell have one packaging requirement above all others: they must stay level.
• Popcorn Scoop Tray Popcorn is sold by volume and eaten by the handful, which makes the pack unusually important: the customer’s sense of value…
• Rigid Cafeteria Tray A cafeteria tray carries an entire meal — main, sides, dessert, cutlery, sometimes a drink — from a servery to a table, held by o…
• Rigid Candy Tray Confectionery is sold by arrangement.
• Rigid Catering Platter Rigid platters are what you use when the packaging is part of the price.
• Round Cake Board A cake board is a structural component pretending to be a presentation item.
• Shrimp Cocktail Tray The shrimp platter is one of the most instantly recognisable formats in food retail: a ring of prawns arranged tail-inward around…
• Square Cake Board Square boards are not simply round boards with corners.
• Stadium Carrier Tray A stadium carrier has to be usable by somebody walking up concrete steps in a crowd, holding a phone, wearing a coat, in the dark.
• Tea Sandwich Tray Finger sandwiches are packed in rows, standing on their cut edge, and the whole point is that a customer can see the row through…
• White Paper Food Tray The white paper food tray is the same shape as the kraft version with a different surface underneath.

Categories — 11

• Kraft Food Trays Natural and bleached kraft board trays for counter service, snacks, subs and grab-and-go.
• Corrugated Food Trays Fluted board trays that carry weight — for deli counters, bakery racks, bulk service and transport.
• Catering Trays Lidded trays, party trays and carriers built to survive a van, a lift and a boardroom table.
• Serving Trays & Platters Flat presentation platters for buffets, retail chillers and front-of-house display.
• Bakery & Dessert Trays Display trays, inserts and boards for bakeries, patisseries, cafés and dessert brands.
• Fast Food & Concession Trays Grease-resistant trays, scoops and clamshells for high-volume counter service.
• Compartment & Meal Trays Divided trays that keep a full meal separated from kitchen to table.
• Compostable & Molded Fiber Trays Moulded pulp and bagasse trays formed into deep wells — for produce, protein, eggs and hot service.
• Charcuterie & Grazing Boards Boards and domed trays built for grazing businesses, where presentation is the product.
• Sushi & Seafood Trays Chilled-display packaging for sushi, shellfish and seafood counters.
• Custom Printed Food Trays Any tray in the range, printed with your artwork — plus the three formats built specifically for branding.

Industry guides — 15

• Catering companies Catering packaging has a harder job than restaurant packaging because of the journey.
• Restaurants Restaurants have quietly become packaging businesses.
• Bakeries Bakery packaging fails in exactly two ways, and both are predictable.
• Food trucks A food truck buys packaging under a constraint nothing else in food service has: storage.
• Stadium concessions Stadium concessions have a demand profile nothing else in food service matches: essentially nothing for an hour, then more transa…
• Delis & supermarkets Retail food packaging has a requirement that food service packaging does not: it has to work unattended.
• School meals School meal trays are specified against constraints that come from the building rather than the food.
• Takeout & delivery Delivery packaging has to solve a problem the kitchen cannot: twenty minutes between the pass and the table, during which the foo…
• Festivals & events Festival trading compresses a season of business into a handful of weekends, in a field, with no stockroom and often no reliable…
• Sushi restaurants Sushi packaging has two requirements that almost nothing else shares.
• Seafood markets Seafood packaging is fundamentally about liquid.
• Charcuterie & grazing businesses Grazing is one of the few food businesses where the packaging is genuinely part of the product.
• Dessert shops Dessert is the most photographed course, and dessert shops sell disproportionately through images.
• Hot dog stands A hot dog stand sells one thing extremely quickly, which makes its packaging decision unusually simple and unusually consequentia…
• Taco shops & taquerias Tacos fall over.

Reference guides — 10

• Food Tray Size Guide What tray sizes mean, and how to pick one from your own portions.
• How to Measure a Food Tray The measurements to send a supplier, and how to take them correctly.
• Food Tray Materials Explained Kraft, corrugated, moulded fibre and rigid board compared honestly.
• Kraft vs Corrugated Food Trays Solid board or fluted board — a direct comparison for buyers.
• Choosing Trays for Hot and Greasy Foods Grease, steam and heat — and the three fixes that handle them.
• Food Tray Printing Guide Colours, costs, substrates and proofs — what buyers need to know.
• Artwork Guide for Printed Food Trays File formats, bleed, safe areas and dieline setup for designers.
• Food Tray Coatings and Finishes Barriers, laminates and decorative finishes, and their trade-offs.
• Catering Tray Buying Guide Specifying catering packaging that survives the whole delivery journey.
• Compostable Food Tray Material Guide What fibre trays are made of, and what you may honestly claim.

Articles — 12

• The Real Cost of Under-Specified Packaging Packaging is one of the few costs where the invoice price and the total cost point in opposite directions. Here is how to find th…
• What Food Businesses Get Wrong About Eco-Friendly Packaging The risk of an unsupported environmental claim sits with whoever prints it on the pack. Here is how to say something true instead.
• How Much Do Custom Food Trays Cost? Six variables set the unit price of a custom tray, and only one of them is the tray itself. Here is how each works, and where a b…
• Food Tray Lead Times The longest stage in most packaging orders is artwork approval, and it happens on the buyer’s side. Here is where the rest…
• Why Delivery Food Arrives Soggy It is almost never the courier. Soggy delivery food is a condensation problem with a packaging answer, and the fix costs almost n…
• Stock Trays vs Custom Trays Custom packaging is not automatically better. Here is the arithmetic that decides it, and the three situations where stock is gen…
• Switching Packaging Suppliers A packaging change touches racks, carriers, portioning and staff habits. Here is how to move suppliers without any of those break…
• Minimum Order Quantities Explained MOQs are not arbitrary, but they are more negotiable than most buyers assume. Here is what drives them and how to work with them.
• A Packaging Checklist for Opening a Food Truck Storage, not cost, is the binding constraint on a truck. That single fact should decide almost every packaging choice you make.
• Packaging Size and Perceived Value The same weight of food can look generous or mean depending entirely on the container. Four rules for getting it right.
• Designing Food Packaging That Photographs Well Your customers photograph your food more than you do. Four packaging decisions determine whether those photographs help you.
• How to Brief a Packaging Supplier Most quoting delays are caused by an incomplete brief. Here is exactly what to send, and a template that removes three rounds of…

Where we ship — 64

• Custom Food Trays in the United States The United States is the largest single market we supply, and it is also the one with the most format variety.
• Custom Food Trays in the United Kingdom The UK food-service market has a distinct packaging character: smaller portions than the US, a very large food-to-go and meal-dea…
• Custom Food Trays in Canada Canadian food packaging sits between American and British conventions, which sounds convenient and is actually the source of most…
• Custom Food Trays in Australia Australia has a food-service culture that shapes packaging in specific ways: an unusually strong café and brunch trade, a long ou…
• Custom Food Trays in California California is the most varied food-service market in the country, and packaging enquiries from it reflect that.
• Custom Food Trays in Texas Texas packaging enquiries have a consistent character: the portions are large, a great deal of the food is smoked, fried or sauce…
• Custom Food Trays in Florida Two things shape Florida packaging enquiries more than the menu does: humidity and seasonality.
• Custom Food Trays in New York New York packaging problems are usually space problems.
• Custom Food Trays in Illinois Illinois enquiries are shaped by an unusually large events and convention trade.
• Custom Food Trays in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania has one of the strongest sandwich traditions in the country, and it shows in what we are asked to quote.
• Custom Food Trays in Ohio Ohio sits at the centre of a large regional distribution network and has a substantial multi-site restaurant sector, which change…
• Custom Food Trays in Georgia Georgia enquiries divide cleanly into two groups, and they have almost nothing in common.
• Custom Food Trays in North Carolina North Carolina spans three quite different packaging markets in one state.
• Custom Food Trays in Michigan Michigan has an unusually large contract and institutional catering sector — feeding workforces, campuses and institutions at sca…
• Custom Food Trays in New Jersey New Jersey has an unusually dense concentration of independent diners, delis and pizzerias — businesses that are individually sma…
• Custom Food Trays in Virginia Virginia enquiries cluster around two very different requirements: a large corporate and institutional catering market in the nor…
• Custom Food Trays in Washington Washington produces a distinctive mix of enquiries: drink carriers for an exceptionally strong coffee culture, absorbent fibre tr…
• Custom Food Trays in Arizona Arizona is the market where storage temperature comes up most often, and for good reason.
• Custom Food Trays in Massachusetts Massachusetts enquiries have two consistent themes: a seafood trade that has its own packaging conventions, and a very large camp…
• Custom Food Trays in Tennessee Tennessee has two food traditions that are hard on packaging — hot chicken and barbecue — and a live music and events sector that…
• Custom Food Trays in Indiana Indiana sits on one of the country’s main distribution corridors, and a significant share of enquiries from the state invol…
• Custom Food Trays in Missouri Missouri has two major metropolitan food markets with strong barbecue traditions and significant professional sports concessions,…
• Custom Food Trays in Maryland Maryland’s crab trade produces one of the most demanding packaging requirements we deal with.
• Custom Food Trays in Colorado Colorado enquiries are dominated by two settings that barely exist as categories elsewhere: taproom and brewery food service, and…
• Custom Food Trays in Los Angeles Los Angeles is geographically enormous, and that single fact shapes packaging more than the menu does.
• Custom Food Trays in San Diego San Diego packaging enquiries sit at the intersection of three things: a coastal seafood trade, one of the country’s denses…
• Custom Food Trays in San Francisco Two things dominate San Francisco packaging enquiries: a very large corporate catering market with high presentation expectations…
• Custom Food Trays in Houston Houston has an unusually broad food-service market, but the packaging enquiries cluster around one specification more than any ot…
• Custom Food Trays in Dallas Dallas generates a higher proportion of multi-site and corporate enquiries than most markets.
• Custom Food Trays in Austin Austin has one of the most developed mobile food scenes in the country, and it is genuinely different from a food truck market el…
• Custom Food Trays in San Antonio San Antonio’s food service is shaped by two things: a deep Tex-Mex tradition and a large visitor economy concentrated in a…
• Custom Food Trays in Miami Miami has an exceptionally strong café and bakery culture, and a great deal of it involves pastry — which is one of the more dema…
• Custom Food Trays in Orlando Orlando runs at a scale and a peak intensity that few other food-service markets match.
• Custom Food Trays in Tampa Tampa combines a strong pressed-sandwich tradition, a Gulf seafood trade and a substantial professional sports venue market.
• Custom Food Trays in New York City New York City runs one of the highest concentrations of platform delivery orders anywhere, in kitchens that are among the smalles…
• Custom Food Trays in Chicago Chicago has two food formats with strong local identities and specific packaging requirements — deep-dish and stuffed pizza, and…
• Custom Food Trays in Atlanta Atlanta’s packaging enquiries have two consistent drivers: a fried-food-heavy restaurant sector, and a large production and…
• Custom Food Trays in Philadelphia Philadelphia’s signature sandwiches are among the most demanding things you can put in a long board tray: hot, heavy, dense…
• Custom Food Trays in Phoenix Phoenix is the market where we most often end up talking about storage before we talk about the tray.
• Custom Food Trays in Seattle Seattle produces more drink carrier enquiries than any other city we supply, and they are the most fit-sensitive product we make.
• Custom Food Trays in Boston Boston combines a seafood trade with strong local conventions, an unusually concentrated campus and institutional catering market…
• Custom Food Trays in Denver Denver’s taproom and brewery scene shapes packaging enquiries here more than any single cuisine does.
• Custom Food Trays in Nashville Nashville has one dish that is genuinely harder on packaging than almost anything else: hot chicken.
• Custom Food Trays in Charlotte Charlotte’s food-service packaging demand is driven by two markets that have grown together: a large corporate catering sec…
• Custom Food Trays in London London kitchens are small, rents are high and a large share of orders leave the building.
• Custom Food Trays in Manchester Manchester’s food-service market has been reshaped by food halls and a large arena and events sector, both of which need pa…
• Custom Food Trays in Birmingham Birmingham’s exhibition and conference trade generates a distinct kind of packaging enquiry: very large quantities consumed…
• Custom Food Trays in Glasgow Glasgow has a substantial takeaway trade with a fried-food emphasis, and a live music and venue sector that is disproportionately…
• Custom Food Trays in Leeds Leeds has a large student population and a growing food hall and street food scene, which together produce a market where packagi…
• Custom Food Trays in Bristol Bristol has an unusually strong independent and street food sector, and buyers here ask more questions about materials than in mo…
• Custom Food Trays in Edinburgh Edinburgh has one of the sharpest seasonal peaks in food service anywhere.
• Custom Food Trays in Toronto Toronto has one of the most varied restaurant markets anywhere, which shows up in packaging enquiries as an unusual demand for co…
• Custom Food Trays in Vancouver Vancouver produces more sushi and seafood packaging enquiries than any other Canadian city we supply, and both categories share a…
• Custom Food Trays in Montreal Montreal has an exceptionally strong bakery and patisserie tradition, and butter-rich products are among the more demanding thing…
• Custom Food Trays in Calgary Calgary’s food-service calendar has a pronounced seasonal peak built around large-scale events, and that shapes packaging p…
• Custom Food Trays in Ottawa Ottawa has a high proportion of institutional and corporate catering relative to its size, and that sector buys packaging differe…
• Custom Food Trays in Edmonton Edmonton has a dense summer festival calendar and a substantial institutional catering sector, which produces two quite different…
• Custom Food Trays in Sydney Sydney has an exceptionally strong café and takeaway culture, high commercial rents that make storage expensive, and a long outdo…
• Custom Food Trays in Melbourne Melbourne produces more drink carrier enquiries than anywhere else in Australia, and carriers are the single most fit-sensitive p…
• Custom Food Trays in Brisbane Brisbane combines a year-round outdoor eating culture with sustained humidity, and the two together make storage the thing most w…
• Custom Food Trays in Perth Perth is the most freight-sensitive market we supply.
• Custom Food Trays in Adelaide Adelaide’s food and wine event calendar generates a distinct kind of packaging enquiry: grazing boards, sharing platters an…
• Custom Food Trays on the Gold Coast Gold Coast food service is dominated by outdoor and beachside trading and a strongly seasonal tourism pattern.
• Custom Food Trays in Canberra Canberra runs on functions.

Other pages — 13

• Design your food tray Build a specification step by step and send it for a quote.
• Get a quote The full quote form: tray, size, board, print, finish, quantity and delivery.
• All food tray categories Every tray category, grouped by what the tray has to do.
• All products Every tray style we make, in one list.
• All industry guides What each kind of food business actually has to specify.
• All resources Sizing, materials, printing, artwork and finishing guides.
• Blog Costs, minimum orders, delivery performance and environmental claims.
• About The Food Trays Who we are and how we work.
• Contact us Email, WhatsApp and how to send a physical sample.
• Artwork guidelines File formats, bleed, resolution and colour for printed trays.
• Shipping information How freight is quoted to the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
• Privacy policy What we do with the details you send us.
• Terms and conditions The terms these quotes and orders are made under.