It’s Just Another Takeout Box Until it’s Custom

Globally, the fast food industry generates over $500 billion in revenue each year. This number doesn’t even account for dine-in restaurants that offer takeout as an option, so you can imagine what the true number would be. When you consider how much money this industry brings in, and how many businesses are not focused on customising their packaging, the results can get grim.

For an industry that generates this kind of revenue, it’s very easy to get caught up in profits without focusing on differentiating from your competitors. Furthermore, generic packaging is often bad for the environment – $500 billion worth of food in packaging that can’t be recycled or composted? It adds up.

Due to the development of COVID and various restrictions placed on restaurants, takeout orders have increased dramatically compared to the year before. Places that were once dine-in only, started scrambling for packaging so that their customers could get their meals delivered, and places that were already doing takeout were overwhelmed with additional orders.

Packaging stocks depleted rather quickly, and a lot of business owners were left without desirable packaging materials and had to resort to generic products. Worst nightmare, am I right?

Current Takeout Container Solutions

Global pandemic aside, the current situation regarding takeout packaging is rather bleak. Styrofoam and plastic are very popular materials since they are so cheap and readily available. You already know about single-use plastics and why you should avoid them whenever possible. But we haven’t really discussed styrofoam products and how they are harmful.

Styrofoam Packaging

Styrofoam is actually a trademark for a chemical compound – Polystyrene.

Polystyrene is a petroleum-based plastic made from styrene monomers. It’s lightweight, has very good insulation properties, can maintain it’s form, and is virtually unsinkable. Sounds great, right? Not necessarily…

While it is possible for styrofoam to leave little carbon footprint, that’s rarely the reality. When burned in a regular fire (often the case), styrofoam releases pollutants such as carbon black and carbon monoxide. Worse yet, no-one really knows how long it takes styrofoam to decompose naturally. Some estimations suggest 500 years with limited recycling options available.

As styrofoam directly contacts food items, it’s important to also note human health. When heated, styrofoam releases toxic chemicals into the food which causes harm to one’s health.

Lastly, this material creates harmful pollutants when exposed to direct sunlight, further damaging our environment. These pollutants contaminate our landfills, which only contributes to rapid climate change. Overall, there needs to be a change within the packaging industry when it comes to these businesses. That’s actually what inspired our latest catalogue!

Material Options

In order to reduce the use of single-use plastics and styrofoam packaging products, it’s important to know which materials are suitable alternatives. Kraft paper, corrugated paper, greyboard and PP non-woven materials are all good options.

For food purposes, Kraft paper is quite obviously the best option, and here’s a breakdown of it in case you’re not familiar:

A paper material made of wood pulp produced during the Kraft process. Brown Kraft paper is not bleached, which means it is a triple threat – biodegradable, compostable and recyclable! This process converts wood into wood pulp by treating wood chips with a special mixture to break down bonds originally found in the wood.

Once the process has finished, the pulp is pressed into paper using a paper-making machine, which resembles a printer. Instead of printing with ink, it rolls out blank sheets of paper in long thin slices.

The term was named after the German word ‘Kraft’, meaning ‘strength’, which should give a great indication of the material’s durability and sturdiness. Pulp produced through this process is much stronger than those created through other pulping process, which is why it is the most dominant method used to produce paper today.

All of our products below come in brown or white Kraft paper, with different printing options.

Printing Options

There are 2 main printing options, but if you have something unique then please contact us to discuss special pricing!

Option #1: One Colour Logo Print (included in basic pricing) – choose one colour and add your logo onto your packaging. This option gives off a minimalistic air and is quite attractive. It helps create a uniform approach for your packaging and company.

Option #2: Multicolour Logo Print (additional $0.05) –add your logo in full colour, along with patterns over the packaging product. This option is perfect for showing your brand’s character and will elevate your customer’s takeout experience!

No matter which printing option you choose, you can sleep well knowing that your packaging is making a positive impact on your surroundings while still making your customers happy.

New Takeout Container Options

How to Order

At LeKAC, we pride ourselves on making your experience as simple and stress-free as possible! We’ve determined the most common takeout packaging sizes in the industry and added them to our catalogue. However, we know that custom is always best and are happy to adjust dimensions to suit your specific needs. After looking at our full takeout container catalogue, give us a call to discuss your options.

It’s as simple as that! We walk you through our entire process from start to finish:

• dimensions
• printing options
• material choices
• designing
• payment
• production
• shipment
• delivery of goods

Whether it’s a simple takeout box you need, or an entire line of cohesive packaging, we can create the packaging of your dreams. Contact us today for your free quotation!