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.
View tray & get pricing →City · United States
Custom Food Trays in Chicago
Chicago has two food formats with strong local identities and specific packaging requirements — deep-dish and stuffed pizza, and the fully dressed hot dog — plus a winter that affects both packaging performance and how stock should be stored.
Both formats are more demanding than their equivalents elsewhere, and for the same underlying reason: they carry more, wetter topping than a standard version.
- 6
- trays shortlisted for this market
- 1 day
- typical quote turnaround
- Freight
- quoted to your address, not ex-works
- Made to order
- no stock sizes to work around
Quotes delivered to Chicago
Tell us the tray, the quantity and where it is going. Freight is quoted to your address rather than added later.
Deep-dish is a different packaging problem
A deep-dish or stuffed pizza is heavier, wetter and hotter than a thin-crust one, and it stays hot for much longer. That means more steam over a longer period, and considerably more weight in the base of the container.
Two consequences follow. The board has to be graded for the weight, not for a thin-crust equivalent. And venting matters more, not less — a sealed box around something that continues to release steam for twenty minutes produces a base that has effectively been steamed rather than baked.
The fully dressed hot dog
Depth, not just length
A fully dressed dog carries far more topping than a plain one. A tray sized for a plain dog overflows the moment it is properly built.
Grease resistance
Toppings sit against the board for the whole time the customer holds it. A treated face is baseline for a dressed build.
Length from the bun
Measured from your bun rather than the sausage, taking the longest of a dozen measured over several days.
The print strip
The long side wall faces outward at chest height while the customer eats. It is one of the best branding surfaces in food packaging.
Winter considerations
- Packaging moving between a cold vehicle and a warm kitchen collects condensation; moisture-resistant faces are worth specifying.
- Board stored in an unheated space through a Chicago winter takes on moisture and loses stiffness.
- Delivery access and windows are harder in winter — tell us the constraints at quote stage.
- Outdoor and event trading is compressed into a short season, which should shape ordering patterns.
Trays we supply to Chicago
Chosen against the requirements described above, not as a general catalogue listing.
Custom Printed Hot Dog Tray
A hot dog tray is a small piece of packaging with an unusually large branding opportunity.
View tray & get pricing →
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 header board that turns t…
View tray & get pricing →
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 with one hand, in one mo…
View tray & get pricing →
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.
View tray & get pricing →
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.
View tray & get pricing →Supplying Chicago: common questions
What does deep-dish pizza packaging need?
Board graded for the real weight rather than a thin-crust equivalent, and venting — because a deep-dish releases steam for far longer, and a sealed box effectively steams the base.
How deep should a Chicago-style hot dog tray be?
Deeper than a plain dog tray. A fully dressed build carries far more topping, and a tray sized for a plain dog overflows the moment it is properly made.
How do I size a hot dog tray?
From your bun rather than your sausage. Measure a dozen buns across several days, take the longest, and add clearance — bun length varies between batches more than most operators expect.
Does winter affect packaging?
Movement between cold and warm produces condensation, and board stored in an unheated space takes on moisture and loses stiffness. Both are worth planning for.
Can you supply event and convention catering?
Yes. For large events, consolidate formats, specify stack strength against the real loaded height, and choose something a temporary crew can assemble reliably.
How much can I print on a hot dog tray?
A full-length strip along both long walls. It faces outward at chest height while the customer eats, which is an unusually good position — set a wordmark large rather than a small centred logo.
Other countries we supply
Get a quote delivered to Chicago
Send the specification, the quantity and the delivery address. We come back with unit price, tooling if any, freight and a real production date.