A Guide to the Different Types of Food Packaging
Posted:
By:
Joe Sizeland
Posted:
If you run a food business, the packaging you choose isn’t just about holding your product - it affects everything from speed of service to how customers experience your food. When it comes to handing over hot food at a festival, packing cakes for collection or running a high-turnover café, your packaging needs to match the pace and demands of your service - not to mention the expectations of your customers.
This guide explains the different types of food packaging in use today - and how to decide what’s right for your products, your operation and your customers.
No two food businesses run the same way - and your packaging should reflect that. The right packaging material depends on what you’re serving, how it’s handled by you and your team, and the experience you want your customers to have.
Think about how your food is prepared, presented and passed over the counter:
In the sections that follow, we’ll break down the main types of food packaging used across the industry and explain which formats work best for different food items, service types and delivery conditions.
Plastic packaging is a common choice in high-turnover food service - and for good reason. It’s strong, adaptable and easy to work with, making it a reliable choice for cafés, delis, takeaway counters and production kitchens alike.
Plastic containers suit chilled, ambient and ready-to-eat food products. Deli pots, snack boxes and hinged trays made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or HDPE (high-density polyethylene) offer a reliable balance of durability, barrier properties and food safety. PET is typically used for clear containers like salad bowls, fruit pots and sandwich wedges, where product visibility matters to the customer. HDPE is more rigid and moisture-resistant, making it a good fit for items like sauce pots or lidded tubs that need to hold their shape during storage and transport. Both materials are widely used across the food manufacturing industry and help keep food fresh without affecting presentation.
Plastic trays and flexible packaging formats are also great for portion control and spill protection - two things that matter during peak service times. For businesses looking to reduce waste, recyclable plastics offer a practical middle ground, combining hygiene, transport efficiency and disposal flexibility without overcomplicating the process.
Card-based packaging suits a wide range of applications - from on-the-go foods to sit-down meals and mass catering. Folding cartons, corrugated cardboard boxes and clamshell containers are widely used throughout the food service industry thanks to their strength, versatility and lightweight design.
Corrugated cardboard is often used for full meal trays or combination boxes, while lighter paperboard formats can carry pastries, wraps and sides. Many boxes and trays come with grease-resistant coatings or linings that provide added barrier protection.
These packaging types are also easy to store and quick to assemble, making them a good match for takeaway operations, delivery counters and festival vendors. For food businesses looking to add a branded finish, cardboard is also easily printed or stickered without specialist handling.
Compostable trays, wraps and cutlery are widely used by many food and catering businesses these days - particularly those looking to simplify disposal or meet customer expectations around sustainable food packaging.
Materials like bagasse (a fibrous by-product of sugarcane) or PLA (a bioplastic made from plant starch) offer a strong alternative to conventional plastics. Bagasse performs well with both hot and cold foods, resisting grease and moisture, while PLA is typically used for cold food applications.
It’s worth noting that many of these materials are compostable under industrial conditions - not in standard household waste - so proper labelling is recommended if you serve customers in public spaces or event settings.
At iKrafts, you’ll find a variety of compostable packaging such as trays, wraps, containers and cutlery - all built to perform during busy service and suited to setups where environmentally friendly disposal matters.
Some food items need more from their packaging - especially when dealing with moisture, sauces or acidic ingredients. Multilayer or hybrid packaging solutions combine materials like paper, plastic or foil to offer improved protection.
Examples include laminated wraps, foil-lined boxes and coated cardboard trays. These packaging formats help reduce leaks, maintain heat and preserve texture when your produce may need to be transported or stored for periods of time.
While recycling multilayer materials can be more complex, their performance benefits make them a reliable choice for high-pressure kitchens and takeaway counters where spoilage or mess can impact service times and margins.
The type of food you serve and the way you run your service will shape which food packaging materials are going to work best. It’s about finding a good fit - something that handles the demands of your food, keeps up with the pace, and works for how you store, transport and present what you make.
For operations that prep at scale, such as an event catering company or production kitchen, the right food packaging makes all the difference. It protects your product, supports food safety, and helps maintain consistency across different holding times, delivery runs and customer requirements. If you’re working with hot meals, packaging fresh produce or even sending out frozen foods, it’s about using materials that do the job without getting in the way.
Packaging issues shouldn’t hold you up. At iKrafts, we work with food businesses of all sizes - from bakeries and cafés to mobile vendors and food manufacturing companies supplying packaging that performs reliably under pressure. We offer:
We’ve worked alongside the food industry for over a century. Whether you need something simple or a full packaging solution across multiple service types, we’re here to help.
Explore our wide selection off food packaging options designed for fast-paced counters, outdoor service, commercial kitchens and everything in between. If you're unsure what to choose, get in touch . Our team of food packaging industry experts are ready to help you find the right food packaging for your business.
