Custom Candy Box Inserts
Custom candy box inserts from 100 — paperboard and formed cavity trays that hold 6, 9, 12, 16 or 24 pieces apart inside a candy box, cut to the shape of the candy and the inside of the box it ships in.
Every piece in its own pocket, from the kitchen to the person who opens the lid
- Board
- Food-contact coated white, foiled gold or silver, or black paperboard; formed trays for round pieces
- Counts
- 6, 9, 12, 16 and 24 pieces; mixed pocket sizes; two-layer sets
- Cavities
- Square, rectangular or shaped to the piece, with lift-out clearance
Order online
Order candy box inserts
Starting from $1.10 per unit
Printed to your artwork or plain, sold in runs of 100 up to 5,000 units per product online. Freight to the US, UK, Canada and Australia is inside the price.
How an online order runs
- Add the units you needThen check out with your delivery address. Add other products to the same order on the way.
- A digital proof comes backLaid on the dieline, before anything prints. Change it as often as you need.
- Pay once you approve itPay by PayPal invoice or bank transfer after you approve your digital proof, or cash on delivery in the US and Canada.
- We make it and ship it deliveredYour delivery date is confirmed with the proof, against the spec and your fill date. Freight and customs are handled on the way to you.
Another size, board or finish, or more than 5,000 units? Send the spec for a price instead. Freight by market and our terms cover delivery and remakes.
Get a price for Candy Box Inserts
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.
Counts and layouts that fit standard boxes
| 6 pieces | 2 × 3 grid; small favor and sample boxes |
|---|---|
| 9 pieces | 3 × 3 grid; square gift boxes |
| 12 pieces | 3 × 4 grid; the common assortment box |
| 16 pieces | 4 × 4 grid; square presentation boxes |
| 24 pieces | 4 × 6 grid or two layers of 12 |
| Mixed | Large and small pockets in one tray for a varied assortment |
Paperboard pockets or a formed tray
A paperboard insert is die cut and folded so each cavity is a square or rectangular pocket. It is printable, recyclable with the box, and suits wrapped candy, fudge squares, caramels and anything with flat sides. A formed tray is pressed into rounded cavities shaped to the candy, which holds round bonbons, truffles and domed pieces still in a way a square pocket cannot.
Truffles and filled chocolates usually go in a formed tray; boxed fudge, toffee and wrapped sweets usually go in paperboard. For molded chocolates specifically, our inserts made for chocolate assortments go into finer detail.
Measuring the candy, then the box
- Measure the largest piece of each kind in the assortment, not the average.
- Add a small clearance so pieces lift out without being squeezed.
- Measure the inside of the box, wall to wall, and its inside depth with the lid on.
- Allow for paper cups if the pieces sit in them; a cup adds width and height.
- If the candy is wrapped, measure it wrapped, twist ends included.
Send one of each piece and an empty box if you can. A sample in hand beats a measurement over email.
Two layers and the sheet between them
A deep box can take two trays stacked, with a separator card between them so the top layer does not press into the bottom one. The separator can be printed as a flavor guide, which is where most boxes put the key to the assortment. A pull tab on the top tray lets the customer lift it out without tipping the candy.
Surfaces that touch the candy
| Coated white paperboard | Clean, bright, food-contact grade for wrapped and unwrapped pieces |
|---|---|
| Gold or silver foiled board | For gift assortments; shows off a dark candy |
| Black board | Contrast for pale fudge, nougat and pastel candy |
| Formed tray | Clear, gold or black; shaped cavities for round pieces |
Inserts for a box you already have
Many candy makers already stock boxes and only need the inside to change: a new count, a new shape, or a tray that stops the current one rattling. We cut the insert to your existing box size, so the outside stays as it is. If you need the box too, the full candy box range covers the outer packaging.
Candy Box Inserts — 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
- Board
- Food-contact coated white, foiled gold or silver, or black paperboard; formed trays for round pieces
- Counts
- 6, 9, 12, 16 and 24 pieces; mixed pocket sizes; two-layer sets
- Cavities
- Square, rectangular or shaped to the piece, with lift-out clearance
- Extras
- Printed separator card, flavor guide, pull tab on the top tray
- Fit
- Cut to the inside of your existing box or a new one
- Minimum
- 100 inserts per layout
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 candy box inserts 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: candy box inserts
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 Candy Box Inserts 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 candy box inserts? 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 is a candy box insert?
A tray that sits inside a candy box with a pocket for each piece, so the candy stays apart and in place during handling and shipping.
How many pieces can a candy box insert hold?
Common layouts hold 6, 9, 12, 16 or 24 pieces, and a tray can mix large and small pockets for an assortment.
Should I use a paperboard or a formed candy box insert?
Paperboard suits wrapped candy, fudge and flat-sided pieces. A formed tray suits round truffles and bonbons that would roll in a square pocket.
Can candy box inserts fit a box I already have?
Yes. We cut the insert to the inside measurements of your current box so only the inside changes.
Is the candy box insert safe for unwrapped candy?
Yes, the board used for unwrapped pieces is food-contact grade, and pieces can also sit in paper cups inside the pockets.
Can a candy box hold two layers of inserts?
Yes, in a deep box, with a separator card between the trays and a pull tab to lift the top one out.
Can the candy box insert be printed?
Paperboard inserts and the separator card can be printed, often with a flavor guide that names each piece.
What do you need to size a candy box insert?
The largest piece of each kind, whether it sits in a cup, and the inside length, width and depth of the box. A sample is best.
Do candy box inserts stop candy from rattling?
Yes. Each pocket is cut with only a small clearance, so the piece cannot slide or knock into its neighbor.
Can a candy box insert have pockets of different sizes?
Yes. A mixed tray holds large and small pieces in one layout, which suits assortments.
What colors do candy box inserts come in?
White, gold, silver and black board, and clear, gold or black formed trays.
Same range
