Custom food packaging is a huge worldwide industry and it is growing year after year. It is now easier than ever to create your own food or beverage product and have it packaged in corporate-quality packing. The aesthetic appearance of a product’s packing definitely communicates a message to a prospective client regarding the product’s overall quality, so it is very important to have an outer packaging that matches the quality of the actual product itself. Many food packaging companies offer custom food packaging options as a way to bolster their bottom line. Industry experts believe that custom food packaging makes up roughly 40 percent of the overall food packing industry, illustrating just how big of a demand there is for made to order packaging products.

In the article below we’ll take you through a list of the most common types of custom food packaging products offered by standard food packaging companies. You’ll certainly be surprised that there are so many different options available. To learn more about these packaging products please continue reading through our article below.

The Top 20 Most Popular Types of Custom Food Packaging

1. Custom Takeout Boxes – Asian food restaurants and food producers are not the only businesses interested in purchasing custom take-out boxes from food packaging companies. The traditional style take-out box popularized by Chinese takeaway restaurants is used today by almost every type of restaurant than you can imagine. Whether its an Italian restaurant, BBQ stand, Mexican themed take-away truck, the custom takeout box is one of the most ordered custom food packaging items out there.

2. Custom Coffee Cups – With so many Mom and Pop type coffee stands and shops scattered around the world, the demand for custom coffee cups is higher than ever. These products aren’t simple, rather they need to be designed and created to house an extremely hot beverage comprised of liquid coffee concentrate and scolding hot water or steamed milk. Custom options for these packaging products usually include logo printing, cup holster or sleeve options, different lid designs, and more. Contract filling companies can produce thousands or even hundreds of thousands of these cups for you in a single order.

3. Vacuum Sealed Glass Bottles – Another staple product within the custom food packaging industry are vacuum sealed bottles. These bottles can be used to store just about any food or beverage product, such as liquid coffee concentrate, organic bees honey, liquid vanilla extract, and more. The options typically available for these custom food packaging products include made to order labeling, lid design, and different glass color choices. Contract filling companies will usually offer to create these packaging products for you and package your product into the bottles as well.

4. Plastic Pump Bottles – Many people associate plastic pump bottles with non-food related items, however, food safe liquid pump bottles are one of the most frequently ordered custom food packaging items out there. Food packaging companies that make these devices are able to create pump bottles in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The pumps are typically spring loaded and are not particularly complex in their design. These packaging bottles typically house sauces, liquid coffee concentrate, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and other condiments and beverage mixing agents.

5. Tear-open Squeezable Plastic Liquid Pouches – Everybody wants their condiments, liquid coffee concentrate, soy sauce, or other food items to be contained in a custom tear-open squeezable plastic liquid pouch. These custom food packaging products, like you see in every fast food chain, usually need to be labeled with custom logos and other company information, almost serving as a condiment container and a business card. Food packaging companies or contract filling companies need to package your product for you in these containers due to the fact that they are fully sealed.

6. Custom Plastic Cups With Logos – Another extremely popular custom packaging product ordered through food packaging companies are custom plastic cups with logos. These are the type of cups that you would usually find at coffee stands, smoothie shops, and juice bars. They can feature a lid or come without lids. Contract filling companies responsible for creating these cups need to be able to affix professional looking logos, all the while offering durable cups. The cups will typically house fresh juice, liquid coffee concentrate for iced mochas, green smoothies, iced teas, and other chilled or room temperature beverages.

7. Plastic Meal Boxes – These custom packaging containers are typically flat lying, feature a black plastic base, and are covered with a clear or transparent lid. They typically house premade meals such as sandwiches, pasta, salads, and other deli type foods. They are considered to be a low maintenance custom packing product, as they usually don’t feature affixed labels other than small or simplistic sticker labels.

8. Custom Paper Lunch Bags – Popular since at least the early 1950s, custom paper bags are one of the oldest customizable food packet often produced by contract filling companies in the industry. While these bags work great for lunches, they can also be used to house just about everything under the sun. Contract filling companies typically print custom logos on them and offer them in many different types of papers, such as wax paper, standard brown paper, grease-proof options, and many others. Companies that use them most often tend to be bagel shops, sandwich shops, coffee shops, gyro vendors, donut shops, and many others.

9. Refrigerator Safe Sealable Plastic Tubs – Whether your company produces butter, margarine, garlic spread, apple butter, or any other product that typically comes in a refrigerator tub, these plastic vessels are commonly ordered through food packaging companies. The food packaging companies responsible for making them need to make sure that the plastic they use is BPA free and refrigerator safe. The plastic needed to be able to withstand low or freezing temperatures is typically more pliable than standard plastic, otherwise, cold temperatures can easily crack the packaging.

10. Small BPA Free K-Cups – These days all of the leading coffee appliances are geared towards single serving coffee options. Long gone are the days when a single pot of coffee served everyone. These new devices typically take small BPA free k-cups that are filled with liquid coffee concentrate. Thousands of companies have sprung up to meet the market demand for single serving liquid coffee concentrate products, and with that has come an equally high demand for custom k-cup packaging products. Food packaging companies now offer k-cup packaging options by default due to their popularity.

11. Pressurized Aerosol Spray Cans – These products are one of the most complex when it comes to custom food packing containers. The contract filling companies responsible for manufacturing these pressurized cans need to be able to do so in a manner that conforms to different national and state-wide environmental and safety laws. These contract filling companies also have to be certain that these pressurized aerosol containers are safe for children to handle and do not pose any sort of fire risk. These food packaging products typically house baking sprays, liquid butter sprays, cooking oil sprays, and other grease and oil-based food products.

12. Large Sealable Plastic Pouches With Lids – These thick plastic vessels are another custom packing product that has become extremely popular over the last decade. These thick and pliable plastic containers are typically heat resistant and refrigerator or freezer safe. They are also frequently affixed with a lid that you can screw on and off. Some of these plastic containers are squeezable, while others are far more rigid. These vessels are typically used to house liquid coffee concentrate, syrup, soda mix, cooking oil, and other food mixing and preparation agents. With the explosion in small coffee startups, housing liquid coffee concentrate in them is at the top of the list of potential uses. Contract filling companies responsible for producing these packets generally offer to fill the containers with the food item, as many of them are vacuum sealed at the manufacturer level.

13. Custom Pizza Boxes – If you counted all of the independent pizzerias operating around the globe, you would for sure be counting into the millions. Almost every nation on earth is home to thousands upon thousands of pizzerias, so quite obviously custom pizza boxes are by far one of the most popular customizable food packing container as well. Like many other food containers, they are not only used to store pizza, but they also need to be elegantly designed so that the outside of the box can serve as an advertisement complete with the pizzeria’s name and contact information.

14. Beverage Cartons – Cardboard beverage cartons are an extremely popular custom packaging product sold by companies within the industry. They typically house juice, dairy products, soup broths, and other commonly sold beverages and liquids. They are made with refrigerator safe materials and often possess a waxy or sealed internal structure.

15. Foil Lined Bags – When it comes to greasy or salty foods such as chips, mixed nuts, pretzels, and other snack foods, traditional paper or plastic bags will not work when it comes to housing these foods. The best way to store them in order to preserve their freshness for as long as possible is to store them in foil-lined bags. Foil-lined bags will not allow grease, salt, sugar, candy coating, and other sticky substances to affix itself to the inside of the packaging, damaging the food product in the meantime. Foil-lined bags feature anti-stick materials that preserve the integrity of the foods that they house.

16. Cupcake Boxes – Every bakery on planet earth sells cupcakes. Think about that concept for a second and then just imagine how popular custom cupcake boxes are as a stand-alone packaging product. They are typically brightly colored and extravagantly decorated with logos, business information, and appealing aesthetic designs. Cupcake boxes are up at the top of the list of custom packaging product frequently ordered to house foods.

17. Gable Boxes – For those of you that are unfamiliar with a gable box, it is one of the most popular styles of take-away boxes that restaurants offer. They typically fold together and feature a long and comfortable handle. Despite being made with heavy paper or cardboard, they are usually very durable and will remain folded together even if they contain heavy food items such as steaks, hamburgers, pasta, or steamed vegetables. Most custom food packaging companies offer this vessel as one of their primary staple products.

18. Sealed Plastic Bottles – Whether it be to house cooking oils, flavored syrup, or liquid coffee concentrate, sealed plastic bottles are a high in demand custom packaging product and one of the top sellers at most food packaging companies. These plastic bottles come in all shapes and sizes, sometimes they are corrugated, other times they are smooth and rigid, and in most cases, they require custom labeling and lid coloring. While the contract filling companies that make these products need to be careful that the plastic is food and beverage safe, there are not many other rigid standards required to make them. They certainly do not need to be heat resistant, and with regards to durability, they don’t have to be overly thick to be able to easily withstand damage.

19. Clamshell or Burger Boxes – Whether it be to house hamburgers, french fries, onion rings, or leftover pasta, these packing products are a huge hit with packaging manufacturers. The structure of these boxes, whether they are made out of styrofoam or cardboard, needs to be heat and grease resistant, as well as refrigerator proof. In addition to being able to accommodate a custom logo and business information, it is also extremely advantageous if these containers are eco-friendly and quickly biodegrade.

20. Plastic Freezer Boxes – This popular food packaging product is often ordered with customizable features. Depending on how low the temperature will be that the vessel is exposed to, they often times need to be constructed out of highly durable and pliable materials, otherwise, they are at risk of cracking under the extremely cold temperatures. The packaging vessels need to contain special non-stick internal surfaces so that the frozen or extremely cold foods within them can be extracted without damaging the vessel or the integrity of the food that they contain. These containers are typically used to house vegetables, fruits, ice cream, frozen yogurt, premade meals, meats, and other common freezer stored foods.

Link References:

https://pacfood.com.au/products/commercial-products/custom-flexible-food-packaging/ 
https://www.standuppouches.net/food-packaging-bags 
https://pakfactory.com/custom-food-packaging-boxes.html 
https://www.mrtakeoutbags.com/store/custom-packaging.html