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Folding Cartons · Food & Bakery

Custom Folding Cartons for Food & Bakery

  • From 100 boxes
  • $1.05 a box at volume
  • Free design

Food packaging has to look good enough to eat and tough enough to handle grease, cold and a bumpy delivery.

We use food safe materials and finishes, with kraft and full color options that make your product look homemade or high end, whichever you're going for.

Build your box

An estimate, not a quote

$1.25to$1.67a box

About $313 to $417 for 250 boxes, before shipping.

Size
Exact size, if you have measured
in
Board
How many
Or just ask for a quoteDesign it in 3D with your logo
  • From 100 boxes, free design, and a proof you sign off before anything prints.
  • 3 to 5 days on press once you approve the proof, then 1 to 7 days in transit.
  • No card needed to build a list. We price it properly and send it back, usually the same working day.

Why this box

When folding cartons are the right call

Buy a carton when the product sits on a shelf and travels inside something else. It is the cheapest way to look like a retail product and it is the construction a store buyer expects to see. It is not a shipper: put one in the post on its own and it arrives dented.

How it is made

What happens on press

A single sheet of paperboard, printed, coated, die cut, creased and glued along one seam. It ships flat and folds up in seconds at your end, which keeps the freight down and means a thousand of them take up a corner rather than a room.

Sizes

Will your product fit?

Three sizes that cover most orders. They are a starting point rather than a menu, because every box is cut to your own measurements, so if your product lands between two rows we make the one in between.

Common sizes for folding cartons, with the dimensions and what each one typically holds
SizeDimensions
Small2 x 2 x 4 inA supplement bottle, a serum, a lip product
Medium3 x 3 x 6 inA skincare tube or a candle jar
Large6 x 4 x 8 inA boxed set or a larger retail unit

All dimensions are the inside of the box, in length by width by depth order. How to measure a box properly.

Custom Folding Cartons, the three common sizes drawn to one scale. Small: 2 x 2 x 4 in; Medium: 3 x 3 x 6 in; Large: 6 x 4 x 8 in.
  • Small 2 x 2 x 4 in
  • Medium 3 x 3 x 6 in
  • Large 6 x 4 x 8 in
Drawn to scale, inside dimensions. Every box is cut to your own measurements, so these are a starting point.

Specification

What you can choose

Minimum order
100 boxes, on every size
Production
3 to 5 days from proof approval, plus transit
From
$1.05 a box at volume
Print
One colour, Full colour, Outside and in
Finish
Matte laminate, Gloss laminate, Soft touch, Foil stamp
Board color
White (coated), Kraft (natural), Black (dyed through)
Not on this format
Nothing. Every size, print, finish and board we sell is available
Design
Free artwork and a digital proof, on every order including reorders

What we'd suggest

What food & bakery brands usually order

Window cartons and kraft, in bigger counts than most categories, because the box goes out with every unit rather than with every order. Bakery brands tend to start at 500 rather than 100. The window is the thing worth paying for at 95 cents a box, because people buy food they can see, and a photograph on a closed carton is never as convincing as the actual thing behind a cutout.

Worth knowing

A mistake worth avoiding

Picking a coating that cannot take grease. A gloss laminate looks right on a proof and then goes cloudy where butter sits against it. Tell us what the food is and not just what size the box is, and we'll put it on a stock that survives it.

What you get

Why food & bakery brands choose these

  • Smooth paperboard that shows off fine detail
  • Ships flat so it barely takes up space
  • Tuck end, auto lock or seal end styles
  • Add windows, foil or a coating if you like

Worth comparing before you order

Folding Cartons are not the only format that suits food and bakery brands. These are the others we would put in front of you, and we will tell you if one of them is cheaper for what you actually ship.

Straight answers

Questions

If yours is not here, just ask. A real person reads every message and you will not get signed up to a mailing list for it.

Ask us anything

Why custom folding cartons for food and bakery brands?

Food packaging has to look good enough to eat and tough enough to handle grease, cold and a bumpy delivery. We use food safe materials and finishes, with kraft and full color options that make your product look homemade or high end, whichever you're going for.

What is the smallest order?

100 boxes, which is a realistic first run for a growing food & bakery brand. You get a proper printed box without committing to thousands of them.

What does a run actually cost?

Folding Cartons start at $1.05 a box at volume. A first run of 100 to 250 lands higher per box, because the setup costs the same whatever the quantity. Use the estimator on this page for a range, then ask for a real number.

Can you match our brand colors and finish?

Yes. We print in full color to match your brand, and offer finishes like matte, gloss, soft touch and foil. The design help is free. Colour on press is close to a screen rather than identical, so send a Pantone reference if you have one and we will hold to it as tightly as the process allows.

What artwork do you need?

A vector logo, so an AI, EPS or PDF file. If you only have a PNG, send it and we will tell you honestly whether it prints cleanly at that size. Redrawing a simple logo is part of the free design work, not an extra charge.

How long until they arrive?

Production on folding cartons runs 3 to 5 days once you approve the digital proof, then a few days in transit anywhere in the lower 48. If you have a launch date, tell us the date and we will say honestly whether it is possible.

Will I get exactly the quantity I ordered?

Usually, and plan for up to 10 percent either way. Over and under runs are standard across printed packaging, because sheets get used up getting the press dialled in. Tell us the number you cannot go below and we will run to that instead.

Can we start small and reorder later?

That is the sensible way to do it. Order 100 to prove the size and the artwork, then order properly once you know the box is right. We keep your artwork and your dieline on file, so a reorder is one message and the same box turns up again at the same specification.

What goes wrong most often on a first order?

Ordering before measuring. A box a few millimetres too big lets the product rattle around, and a box a few millimetres too small is scrap. Print our free dieline at full size, fold it around the actual product, then order. It costs an afternoon and it can save the whole run.

Do folding cartons ship flat or assembled?

Flat in almost every case, which is good news for your freight bill, because flat board packs tight and you are not paying to ship air. Rigid boxes are the exception: they cannot be knocked down, which is part of why they cost more to send.

Can we see one before we commit?

Yes, and you should. The sample pack is free, shipping is $9.95 flat and comes off your first order, and board thickness and finish are the two things a screen genuinely cannot show you. For a food & bakery product the thing worth checking is how the board behaves at the size you actually need.

Other formats

Other boxes for food & bakery

Other industries

Custom Folding Cartons for other industries

Before you order

Worth reading first

Let’s price your folding cartons.

Tell us what you sell and roughly how many boxes you go through. We will come back with a price and a free design mockup, usually the same working day.
Get a free quoteGet a free sample pack

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