Custom Printed Takeaway Packaging for Restaurants: How to Start

Start with the items customers actually carry

Branding every line at once is the most common and most expensive mistake. Look at a week of orders and find the two or three items that appear in nearly every bag. For most restaurants that is the main container, the carrier bag, and for cafés and dessert-led menus the cup.

Those items give the widest reach for each pound spent, because they are seen at handover, at the table or desk, and in customer photos. Napkins, cutlery sleeves and stickers can come later once the core range is settled.

Lock the product before you lock the artwork

Print is applied to a specific product and size, so any change to the container means new artwork and often new tooling of the print layout. Settle the format first: fill it with the real portion, close the exact matching lid at service temperature, stack it, and leave it for your typical delivery time.

If a size is borderline, order samples across two options and run them through a normal service. It is far cheaper to choose between samples now than to discover a lid fit problem after several thousand printed units arrive.

What a restaurant quote needs from you

Quotes get faster and more accurate when the brief is complete. Send the products and sizes, expected quantity per item, the number of print colours, delivery address or addresses, and the date you need stock on site.

Vector artwork (AI, EPS, PDF or SVG) prints best. If you only have a logo from a website or social media, say so in the enquiry: the print team can advise whether it can be rebuilt for print.

• Product, size and lid reference for each item.
• Quantity per item and how quickly you use it.
• Number of print colours and any brand colour references.
• Vector logo, or the best version you have.
• Delivery locations and the date stock is needed.

Quantity, storage and cash flow

Custom print gets cheaper per unit as volume rises, but a low unit price is not a saving if the cartons fill your storeroom or the design changes with the menu. Base the order on real weekly usage and the space you genuinely have.

If you want volume pricing without taking everything at once, ask about call-off stock: DORU can hold agreed stock and release deliveries in practical quantities, which suits restaurants with limited back-of-house space and multi-site groups.

Keep compliance and claims accurate

Printed packaging still has to meet food-contact requirements, and the disposal message on the pack has to be truthful for the material and the collections available where it is used. Ask for documentation for the exact product rather than relying on a generic logo.

PPWR brings design-for-recycling, PFAS limits and harmonised labelling into scope over the coming years, so it is worth agreeing wording with your supplier before you commit artwork to a long print run.

A realistic first order

A straightforward first project looks like this: choose two or three items, sample them, supply artwork, approve a proof at actual size, then place one order sized to a few months of usage. Review after the first run and add items once you know the design performs in service.

See how other London food businesses approached their first branded range, then send your brief and the team will reply within one working day.

Author

Lan Olitoquit

Creative and Marketing Professional

Lan is a creative and marketing professional with over seven years of experience. He transforms brand messaging into compelling digital experiences, using data to craft high-converting campaigns. He is currently pursuing an MBA at San Beda College Alabang, bridging what business knows with what business does.

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