Custom Chocolate Box Inserts
Custom chocolate box inserts — a board tray with a cavity for every chocolate, cups, cushion pads and dividers — cut to your chocolates and your box, food-grade from 100. Dieline and price the same working day.
The insert is why the chocolates arrive where they were put
- Board
- Food-grade white or gold-foiled board; glassine cups
- Formats
- Cavity tray, cups in tray, cushion pad, divider grid, two-layer
- Sizing
- Cavities to the piece plus 1–2 mm; tray to the box less 1 mm
Get a price for Chocolate 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.
Insert types
| Cavity tray | A folded board tray with a die-cut cavity per chocolate; the standard |
|---|---|
| Paper cups in a tray | Fluted paper cups in cavities; the traditional look |
| Cushion pad | A padded sheet over the top layer; stops movement under the lid |
| Divider grid | A slotted board grid; cheaper, for square pieces |
| Two-layer | Two trays with a pad between; a second layer of chocolates |
Cut to the chocolate
Each cavity is cut to the piece plus 1–2 mm so the chocolate drops in and does not slide. Round, square, oval and shaped pieces each get their own cut-out, and a box of assorted pieces has an assorted tray. Send the chocolates — the real ones, not a drawing — and the tray is cut from them. Our chocolate boxes in every format are what the tray goes into.
Food-grade board and what touches the chocolate
- Food-grade white or gold board for the tray, with a plain or gold-foiled face.
- Glassine or grease-resistant paper cups where chocolates are unwrapped.
- No coated or printed surface in contact with an unwrapped piece.
- A tarnish-free gold foil where gold is the look.
Sizing the tray to the box
The tray is cut to the internal box size less 1 mm so it lifts out with a fingertip, and its depth is the tallest chocolate plus 2 mm. A thumb notch or a ribbon lifts the tray on a two-layer box. If the box does not exist yet, tray and box are sized together — the tray drives the box, not the other way round.
Where the box does not exist yet, the rigid boxes these trays sit in are drawn from the tray rather than the other way round.
Chocolates vary by a millimeter between batches. The cavity allows for it; a tray cut exactly to one batch grips the next.
Plain, gold or printed
Most trays are plain white or gold, because the chocolates are the print. A colored tray that matches the box liner is a small cost with a large effect. A printed tray — a name under each cavity, a map on the pad — is what premium assortments use, and it is one color on a food-grade face.
Chocolate 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-grade white or gold-foiled board; glassine cups
- Formats
- Cavity tray, cups in tray, cushion pad, divider grid, two-layer
- Sizing
- Cavities to the piece plus 1–2 mm; tray to the box less 1 mm
- Contact
- Plain food-grade surfaces only against unwrapped chocolate
- Plain, gold, colored, or 1-color printed names and map
- Lift
- Thumb notch or ribbon on multi-layer trays
- Minimum
- 100 inserts
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 chocolate 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: chocolate 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 Chocolate 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 chocolate 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.
Can the cavities be cut to my chocolates?
Yes, each to the piece plus 1–2 mm, from the real chocolates. An assorted box gets an assorted tray.
Is the tray food safe?
Yes, food-grade board with plain or gold-foiled faces, and glassine cups for unwrapped pieces.
Can I have two layers?
Yes, two trays with a cushion pad between and a ribbon or notch to lift the top one.
Will the tray fit my existing box?
Yes, cut to the internal size less 1 mm. Send the box or its internal dimensions.
Can the tray be printed with the chocolate names?
Yes, one color on a food-grade face, under each cavity, with a map on the pad if wanted.
What is the minimum order?
100 inserts.
Gold or white?
Either. Gold is the traditional look; white reads modern; a colored tray matching the liner is a small cost with a large effect.
Do you supply paper cups?
Yes, fluted glassine or grease-resistant cups that sit in the cavities.
What if my chocolates vary slightly?
The 1–2 mm allowance covers batch variation. A tray cut exactly to one batch grips the next.
Does the tray ship flat?
Yes, and folds at the packing bench.
Can the tray and the box be designed together?
Yes, and it is the better way — the tray drives the box size.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
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