Custom Burger Sleeves
Every other burger format is opened and put down. A sleeve stays in the hand for the whole meal — it holds the build together, catches what falls, and keeps your logo in view for as long as anyone is eating. It is also the cheapest thing in this range.
- Formats
- Flat blank wraps and pre-glued loops
- Board
- Grease-resistant food-grade kraft, 250–350gsm
- Width
- Set from your build height, typically the middle third
Get a price for Burger Sleeves
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.
It is a structural component, not a wrapper
A burger sleeve is doing a job while the customer eats: it compresses the stack slightly, stops the top bun sliding off the patty, and gives somewhere to hold that is not the food. That is why sleeve width matters more than any other dimension.
Too narrow and it holds nothing; too wide and the customer cannot get a mouthful without card in the way. Roughly the middle third of the burger height is the working target, sized from your actual build.
Above that, or where the burger is loaded, a small burger box does what a sleeve cannot.
Try a paper mock-up at three widths on a real burger before committing. It takes ten minutes and it is the only reliable way to choose.
Grease reaches the outside faster than you think
A sleeve is in direct contact with the bun, which is in contact with the patty. On uncoated board a grease mark appears on the printed face within minutes, and by the time the meal is finished the branding is sitting in a translucent patch.
Grease-resistant food-grade board fixes it without a plastic coating and keeps the sleeve repulpable. This is one place where the cheaper stock is a false economy, because the failure happens in the customer's hands.
Where it beats a box, and where it does not
| Eat-in | Sleeve wins — held while eating, less waste, faster service |
|---|---|
| Counter takeaway | Sleeve plus a bag; works well over a short journey |
| Delivery | Box wins — a sleeve gives no stacking and no protection |
| Loaded or stacked builds | Box wins; a sleeve cannot contain what falls out |
| Cost per unit | Sleeve, by a wide margin |
Printing on something held at eye level
It is also the cheapest thing to change seasonally. A new sleeve print costs a fraction of a new box tool, which makes it the sensible place to run limited editions.
- The sleeve is seen closer and for longer than any box in the same order.
- Uncoated kraft with one or two colors is the category look and hides marks best.
- No gloss varnish anywhere — this surface is touched by hands that then touch food.
- The inside face is visible on the last bite; a short message there is nearly free.
Glued or flat, and who assembles it
Sleeves can arrive as flat blanks to be wrapped and tucked, or pre-glued as a loop that slides over the finished burger. Pre-glued is faster at the pass and fixes the diameter; flat is more forgiving when build heights vary.
If your burgers vary a lot between menu items, flat blanks let one sleeve size cover the range. If they are consistent, pre-glued saves seconds on every order — the same assembly-versus-flexibility trade described across our burger packaging range.
Burger Sleeves — 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
- Formats
- Flat blank wraps and pre-glued loops
- Board
- Grease-resistant food-grade kraft, 250–350gsm
- Width
- Set from your build height, typically the middle third
- One or two colors on kraft as standard; inside print available
- Finish
- No varnish in the food zone
- Minimum
- 100 sleeves
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 sleeves 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 sleeves
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 Sleeves 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 sleeves? 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.
What width should a sleeve be?
About the middle third of the burger height. Mock it up in paper on a real burger at three widths — it is the only reliable way.
Will grease show through?
On plain board, within minutes. Grease-resistant food-grade board stops it and still recycles.
Sleeve or box for delivery?
Box. A sleeve gives no stacking and no protection, which are the two things a delivery order needs.
Flat or pre-glued?
Pre-glued if your builds are consistent and speed matters. Flat if heights vary across the menu.
What is the minimum order?
100 sleeves, flat blanks or pre-glued loops.
Can I print the inside face?
Yes — it is visible on the last bite, and a short message there is nearly free.
What width should a sleeve be?
About the middle third of the burger height. Mock it up in paper on a real burger at three widths — it is the only reliable way.
Will grease show through?
On plain board, within minutes. Grease-resistant food-grade board stops it and still recycles.
Sleeve or box for delivery?
Box. A sleeve gives no stacking and no protection, which are the two things a delivery order needs.
Flat or pre-glued?
Pre-glued if your builds are consistent and speed matters. Flat if heights vary across the menu.
Same range
