Custom Macaron Boxes
Custom macaron boxes with an insert cut to your shell diameter, from 100 units. Each macaron sits in its own cradle, the lid clears the domes, and the row of colors shows through the window — because a macaron box is sold on the row.
Twelve fragile domes that must not touch
- Insert
- Die-cut paperboard cradle, seats cut to your shell diameter, 1.25–2.25 in
- Counts
- 2, 3, 6, 12, 24; rows, grids or two tiers
- Styles
- Windowed sleeve, two-piece box, rigid gift box, drawer box
Get a price for Macaron 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.
The cradle is cut to your shell
Macarons vary from a 1.25 in petit to a 2.25 in standard, and a cradle cut for one lets the other rattle or jam. We cut a die-cut paperboard insert with a circular or oval seat per macaron, sized a fraction under the shell diameter so the foot rests on the board and the dome stands clear. Send us six of your macarons and we measure the run, not a single perfect one.
Seats in a single row, two rows, or a grid of four by three; the count sets the box and the insert sets the count.
| 2–3 | Slim sleeve with a cradle strip — the sample and favor size |
|---|---|
| 6 | Single row, 8.5 × 2.5 in, window along the top |
| 12 | Two rows or 4 × 3, the gift standard |
| 24 | Two-tier or a tray with a lid; usually rigid |
A lid that clears the dome
The most common macaron box failure is a lid that touches the domes and leaves a print on the top shell. We set the internal height at the shell height plus a quarter inch, and on a windowed lid we keep the window film inset from the cradle so nothing can press on it. A clear PET lid over a paperboard tray is the display answer, on the same basis as our clear lid boxes for products that sell themselves.
Macarons sweat. A sealed box fogs and softens the shells; two small vent slits in the tray wall keep them dry without letting them stale.
Slim sleeve or rigid gift box
- A paperboard sleeve with a cradle strip is the counter format: cheap, quick to fill, shows the row through a window.
- A two-piece paperboard box with a lift-off lid and a cradle tray for a 12 gift.
- A wrapped rigid box with a foil lid and a fitted tray for a boutique or a wedding favor — the same construction as our luxury cookie boxes with fitted trays.
- A drawer box, where the cradle tray slides out of a printed sleeve.
Color on the outside, and where it stops
Macaron packaging is pastel by convention, and it is worth resisting a little: the shells are the color, and a plainer box — kraft, white, a single foil — makes the row look brighter. Print inside the lid, where it frames the macarons when the box opens, rather than fighting them on the outside.
Macaron 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
- Insert
- Die-cut paperboard cradle, seats cut to your shell diameter, 1.25–2.25 in
- Counts
- 2, 3, 6, 12, 24; rows, grids or two tiers
- Styles
- Windowed sleeve, two-piece box, rigid gift box, drawer box
- Lid
- Clear PET, paperboard with window; internal height shell + 0.25 in
- Board
- Food-grade SBS or kraft; vent slits in the tray wall
- 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 macaron 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: macaron 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 Macaron 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 macaron 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.
Will the macarons move in the box?
Not in a cradle cut to your shell. Each seat is a fraction under the diameter so the foot rests on the board and the shell cannot slide.
What do you need to size the insert?
Six of your macarons, or the diameter and height you bake to. We measure the run because shells vary batch to batch.
Does the lid touch the tops?
No. The internal height is the shell height plus a quarter inch, and a window is inset so the film cannot press on a dome.
Do the shells sweat in the box?
In a sealed one, yes. We add two vent slits in the tray wall, which keeps them dry without letting them stale.
Can I have a box for a dozen?
Yes — two rows of six or a four-by-three grid. It is the gift standard and the size most customers order most of.
Do you make a small favor box?
A slim sleeve for two or three, with a cradle strip and a window. It is the wedding and event format.
Can the box be rigid?
Yes, a wrapped rigid box with a fitted cradle tray for a boutique or a gift. It costs more than a carton and is the right answer for a 24.
Is the board food safe?
Yes, food-grade SBS or kraft. Macarons are dry on the outside, so the tray does not need a grease barrier.
Can you print inside the lid?
Yes, and we recommend it. The inside lid frames the macarons when the box opens; the outside is better kept plain so the shells are the color.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes per count. The tray and cradle are die-cut and run many-up, so short runs are practical.
How long does production take?
It depends on the build and the quantity. We give a date with the quote rather than a number before we have seen the spec.
Will you send a sample?
An unprinted box and cradle in your size, so you can seat your macarons and check the lid clearance before print.
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