Food Packaging Trays

Trays That Touch the Food, Not Just the Box

A food tray is closer to a plate than to an insert. Pastries sit on it in a display case, sushi pieces sit in its wells, cut fruit sits in its corners, and customers often eat straight from it. That changes what the tray is judged on. It has to hold its shape when the contents are moist, stay presentable after an afternoon under counter lights, and look clean when it's handed over the till. This version of the tray is for businesses where product and board meet directly: bakeries, delis, caterers, meal-prep kitchens and confectioners boxing unwrapped pieces. The rest of this page covers how that contact shapes the board, the print and the uses, and where the extra cost is worth paying.

Food Tray Specs: Contact Face, Coating and Depth

Food trays are cut from food-grade kraft board as standard, with a coated face on the side the food touches.

Tell us whether the tray goes under a lid, into a bag or straight into a case, since that decides how much rim it needs and how deep the wells should be.

Paying for Food-Grade Board Where the Food Sits

The extra spend on a food tray goes to one surface, and it's the one that matters. Standard board is fine for structure, but it wasn't specified to sit against butter, sauce or fruit juice, and an oil stain spreading across a tray in a display case sells the product badly before anyone tastes it. Food-safe board with a grease-resistant face keeps the tray looking as clean at closing as it did at opening. For pastry and bakery counters, that's most of the argument, since croissants and glazed goods mark plain board quickly. We'd save you money on everything the food doesn't touch. The outer box, the sleeve and any printed band can stay on standard stock, because nobody eats off those, and food-grade prices there buy nothing.

Keeping Ink Off the Food-Contact Face

On a food tray, where the print goes matters more than what it shows. We keep artwork to the underside, the outer rim and any face the food doesn't rest on, and use food-safe inks there. The contact face stays as the plain coated surface. Brands wanting their name visible usually print a logo on the rim or a line on the base. Lamination isn't something we'd recommend on the contact side; the grease-resistant coating already does that job without adding a film. For trays sold under a clear lid or in a window box, a one- or two-color rim print reads well through the film and keeps cost down. Full color is available on outside faces.

Food Trays for Deli Counters, Meal Prep and Pastry Cases

Delis use them for sliced meats and cheeses laid out in a case, then slid into a bag at the till. Caterers use divided versions for platters, with dips and sauces kept in their own wells. Meal-prep businesses portion a week of lunches onto trays of the same size, which keeps fridge shelves orderly. Chocolatiers who sell loose pieces set them into cavity trays before the lid goes on. And takeout and prepared-meal kitchens put them under sushi, dumplings and fried sides, where oil would otherwise reach the box. Sushi gains the most from individual wells, since pieces that slide together lose their shape. If you sell hot food, tell us the contents and how they're served, so the board and coating are matched to that job.

What a Food Tray Quote Already Includes

The price we send is the price you pay. Dies, plates and setup sit inside the quote rather than being added once the order is placed, and shipping to you is included as well. You can start at 100 trays. Before production, you get unlimited free design help and a proof to approve, which is where well spacing and rim print get settled. From approval, food trays run 8–12 business days. Rush production is available when an event or opening date won't move, at an extra cost we state upfront. Every run goes through a three-stage check, and if the bulk order doesn't match the proof you approved, we reprint at our cost. If you also need sleeves, bags or outer boxes, ask for them on the same quote.