Custom Burger Parcel Boxes
A parcel box arrives as a flat blank and folds up at the pass into a closed carton with a locking top. It stores in a fraction of the space a clamshell does, which for a kitchen with one shelf behind the counter is the whole argument.
- Build
- Flat-packed fold-up parcel carton with a locking top
- Board
- Grease-resistant food-grade kraft; E or B flute where more rigidity is needed
- Closure
- Slit lock as standard; double lock on wide builds
Get a price for Burger Parcel Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Storage is the constraint, not the box
A pre-formed clamshell is faster at the pass and takes several times the shelf space. A flat parcel blank takes seconds to fold and stores almost nothing. Which one is right depends entirely on whether your bottleneck is space or speed.
Most independents are short of space and not short of a few seconds. Most high-volume chains are the reverse. It is worth answering honestly rather than copying whoever you saw last.
Time one being folded by someone who has not done it before. If it takes more than about four seconds, the design is wrong rather than the person.
The lock has to survive a delivery bag
A burger box that opens inside a delivery bag empties itself over everything else in the order. The slit lock is free on the same cutting die and it is the difference.
| Plain tuck top | Cheapest; springs open when the box is squeezed in a bag |
|---|---|
| Slit lock | A cut in the flap catches the wall; holds under pressure, costs nothing |
| Double lock | Two catches across a wide top; for larger builds |
| Adhesive seal | Tamper evidence for delivery; makes the box single-use |
Height still comes from your tallest burger
Folding flat changes how the box is stored, not how big it needs to be. Build your biggest burger — double patty, brioche, slaw, skewer — measure it standing, and size the box to that.
A box sized to the average build crushes the one on your menu photograph, which is the one people order. The sizing and venting reasoning is set out across our burger packaging range.
Vents have to survive the fold
- Vents cut into a panel that folds can end up hidden behind another panel once assembled.
- Check the vent position on a folded sample, not on the flat dieline.
- High side-wall vents are what let steam out before it condenses on the lid.
- A parcel box with blocked vents produces exactly the soggy bun it was meant to prevent.
Printing a blank that gets folded by hand
Whoever folds these handles the printed face hundreds of times a shift with hands that have been near food. Gloss varnish marks immediately and looks worse than plain board would have.
Uncoated kraft with one or two colors is the category standard here for good reason: it hides handling, hides grease, costs less, and looks right for the product.
Burger Parcel Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Build
- Flat-packed fold-up parcel carton with a locking top
- Board
- Grease-resistant food-grade kraft; E or B flute where more rigidity is needed
- Closure
- Slit lock as standard; double lock on wide builds
- Venting
- High side-wall vents, position checked on a folded sample
- One or two colors on kraft; no varnish in the food zone
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to six colors, printed on the outer face only and before any lining goes on.
- Color
- Food-safe inks throughout. Kraft mutes color; a white board or liner is needed for anything photographic.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, and fit confirmed by filling a plain sample from your own kitchen or line.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, kept. Molded pulp needs a tool per shape, which is a longer lead and a larger one-off.
- Food contact
- Every board food-contact grade, with grease resistance built into the sheet and never a PFAS treatment.
- Sustainability
- Aqueous linings and unlined boards repulp with ordinary paper. PE-lined cups need cup collection, and we say which you have.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build burger parcel boxes on
Food packaging is chosen for what the food does to it: grease, steam, heat and time. Every board here is food-contact grade, and none of them uses a PFAS treatment for grease resistance.
Food-grade virgin board
Bleached board made for direct food contact. Clean, bright, no recycled fiber and no mineral-oil risk from recovered paper.
14–24ptGrease-resistant board
Resistance built into the sheet rather than sprayed on. Holds fries, pastry and butter without darkening. PFAS-free.
16–24ptPE-lined cupstock
Board with a polyethylene film for hot and cold liquid. Microwave-safe for reheating; recycled only where cup collection exists.
260–350gsmAqueous-lined cupstock
A water-based lining instead of PE. Repulpable in ordinary paper recycling in more places, and compostable; a slightly shorter hold time.
260–320gsmGreaseproof and glassine
Dense, calendered paper that resists fat through the fiber. Wraps, liners and interleaves; breathable, so pastry stays crisp.
30–55gsmFood-grade corrugated
E and B flute with a food-contact liner, vented where steam has to leave. Pizza, catering and anything hot and heavy.
E and B fluteMolded pulp and bagasse
Fiber pressed into a shape. Holds heat, resists grease with no lining, composts, and takes only an embossed or one-color mark.
Molded to shapeRecycled board
Post-consumer fiber. Used for outers, sleeves and anything that does not touch food directly — not for direct contact.
Non-contact onlyNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Food finishes are limited by what may touch food, and that is the point.
Food-safe inks
Printed on the outer face only. Every food pack we make uses them, laminated or not.
Uncoated kraft
No coating at all. Breathable, so pastry stays crisp, and it takes one or two colors.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance without a plastic film, so the pack still repulps.
Molded emboss
A logo pressed into pulp or bagasse. No ink, nothing to rub off, and it survives grease.
Grease-resistant face
Not a finish you can see. It is in the sheet, it is PFAS-free, and it is why the print stays clean.
Matte lamination
Available on outers and sleeves that never touch food — a cake box lid, a carrier, a gift sleeve.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing food packaging around a portion, hot: burger parcel boxes
Food is sized by serving, not by dimensions, and it is served hot, heaped and in a hurry. Send us the portion — or better, the box you use now with the food in it — and we size to how it is actually filled.
- Portion, heaped
- Fries, popcorn and salad are served above the rim. A box sized to a level fill looks mean and spills in a bag.
- Lid clearance
- Enough that a loaded burger or a topped cake does not touch the lid. This is the single most common complaint about a food box.
- Venting
- Hot food steams. Vents in the lid keep pastry and fries crisp; a sealed box is right only for cold food.
- Grease path
- Where the fat sits decides the board. Say if the food is fried, buttered or sauced, and whether it is held for minutes or an hour.
- Stacking in a bag
- Delivery boxes are stacked five high on a bike. The lid has to hold the box above it off the food below.
- Sample fill
- A plain box filled from your kitchen settles the size in one try, and we send one before the run.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Burger Parcel Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about burger parcel boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
Parcel box or clamshell?
Parcel if storage space is your constraint, clamshell if speed at the pass is.
Why does my box open in the delivery bag?
A plain tuck top springs under pressure. A slit lock catches the wall and costs nothing on the same die.
My vents seem to do nothing — why?
They are probably hidden behind another panel once folded. Check vent position on a folded sample, not the flat dieline.
How long should one take to fold?
About four seconds for someone who has not done it before. Longer than that is a design problem.
Can the box hold a skewer?
Yes, if you tell us — measure the build with the skewer in, since it is the most common reason a lid will not close.
Should the base be heavier than the walls?
Yes on anything double-patty or loaded — the base carries the weight through the whole delivery journey.
Parcel box or clamshell?
Parcel if storage space is your constraint, clamshell if speed at the pass is. Most independents are short of space, not seconds.
Why does my box open in the delivery bag?
A plain tuck top springs under pressure. A slit lock catches the wall and costs nothing on the same die.
My vents seem to do nothing — why?
They are probably hidden behind another panel once folded. Check vent position on a folded sample, not the flat dieline.
How long should one take to fold?
About four seconds for someone who has not done it before. Longer than that is a design problem.
Same range
