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Mailer boxes for shipping and folding cartons for the shelf.
View category9 Packaging has experience supplying packaging for fast-food and chain-style foodservice operations.
All industries →Print, colours, finishes and materials are specified per order. These pages explain the options.
An Istanbul-based manufacturer and exporter of custom printed packaging for business customers.
Most operators looking for custom food packaging boxes are really choosing between four families: a burger box, a pizza box, an open paper tray, or a box for everything else on the menu, from fries and nuggets to noodles and meal deals.
Each family uses different board, structures and print routes, so this page sorts them by menu item and sends you to the page that covers the full specification. Typical buyers are burger and pizza chains, delivery brands and dark kitchens, street-food operators and the distributors that supply them.
9 Packaging is a B2B printed packaging manufacturer and exporter based in Istanbul, Türkiye, with experience supplying fast-food and chain-style foodservice operations.
Custom food packaging boxes by menu item: burger boxes, pizza boxes and printed boxes for fries, noodles, chicken and meals. Find the right box type and guide.
Clamshell, tuck and auto-lock boxes for single, double, smash and gourmet burgers. Most are folding boxboard of roughly 250-400 gsm, with micro-flute corrugated used for delivery-heavy menus and large burgers. The key decision is substrate and grease barrier together, followed by internal size and venting for delivery.
Corrugated boxes for round pizzas, pinsa, slices, calzone and party sizes, usually single-wall E-flute or B-flute. The board choice follows pizza diameter and delivery time, and the food-side liner and venting decide how the crust arrives. Print ranges from one- to three-colour flexo to litho-laminated full colour.
The wider-menu range: fries scoops and cartons, meal boxes, noodle boxes and fold-top pails, chicken and nugget boxes and gable boxes. These are mostly die-cut board, so the decisions are board type (white, coated kraft back or kraft), the inside barrier for hot, wet or saucy food, and how to cover a whole menu with as few printed formats as possible.
Open trays without a lid or hinge: snack trays, food boats, hot dog trays and pizza slice trays, served and eaten within minutes. Most are folded or glued board with a food-side coating, so the decisions are the board and coating together, the tray format and depth for the portion, and whether it is supplied flat-packed or glued. The print is seen from above for as long as the customer eats, so the interior matters as much as the outside.
Match the box to the menu item and to how it travels. A box that only crosses the counter can be lighter and simpler than one that spends half an hour in a rider bag.
| Menu item or situation | Box family | Go to |
|---|---|---|
| Burgers, eat-in or short carry-out | Folding board clamshell | burger boxes |
| Large or stacked burgers on long delivery runs | Micro-flute burger box | burger boxes |
| Round pizza, pinsa, calzone or slices | Corrugated pizza box | pizza boxes |
| Fries, wedges, loaded fries | Fries scoop or lidded carton | takeaway food boxes |
| Noodles, rice, curries, stir-fry | Noodle box or fold-top pail | takeaway food boxes |
| Snacks, chips, nuggets or hot dogs served open and eaten at once | Paper food tray or food boat | paper food trays |
| Pizza by the slice | Slice tray or slice box | paper food trays |
| Wings, nuggets, tenders | Vented chicken box | takeaway food boxes |
| Kids' meals, combos, catering | Gable or handle box | takeaway food boxes |
| Soup, salad, poke or ice cream | Round paper bowl or cup | custom printed paper food containers |
| Burgers or sandwiches without a box | Printed wrap | custom printed greaseproof paper |
The test between a tray and a box is the closure. If the food is carried away or travels on a rider's bike, it needs a lid or a closing flap and belongs with the boxes above. If it is served at a counter or kiosk and eaten within minutes, an open tray costs less and shows the food, and the paper food tray sizes guide covers the formats.
Boxes and bags are best specified together: the base of your custom printed takeaway bags should match the footprint of your most common box combinations.
Choose the box family, then use its hub to build the specification. For a like-for-like comparison of quotations, follow the packaging RFQ guide and send your menu list, box sizes and artwork; grouping the whole menu in one request usually reveals where formats can be shared.
For patisserie and cake slices, see the guide to dessert and cake slice boxes.
It often helps. Burger clamshells and fries cartons are both die-cut board, so one supplier can run them on matched board and print standards, which keeps brand colours consistent on the counter. Pizza boxes are corrugated and sometimes come from a different production route, but the artwork standard can still be shared.
A corrugated pizza-style box is usually better for pinsa, flatbreads and long slices that travel hot, because it stacks and vents like a pizza box. Folded board meal boxes suit smaller, lighter portions and short carry-out. The pizza box hub covers oblong and pinsa formats.
Folded and die-cut board formats, including open trays, noodle boxes, pails and clamshells, are in this category: open trays under paper food trays, closed formats under takeaway food boxes. Round, tapered containers made from cupstock, such as salad bowls and soup cups, are in the cups and food containers category.
Usually fewer than the menu currently uses, because formats pile up as items are added. Group dishes by footprint, temperature and sauce level, and one box often serves several items. The SKU reduction guide shows how to run that review before ordering.
Fill in what you know, mark the rest “not sure”, and attach samples, photos or artwork if you have them.
