Why is food packaged in cardboard?

Are you aware that the packaging of your favorite fast food or takeout plays a critical role in preserving its freshness and quality? In recent years, cardboard food boxes have emerged as a popular choice for packaging edibles among the food industry due to their eco-friendliness, durability, and cost-effectiveness. But did you know that there is more to these humble cardboard boxes than meets the eye? Join us as we delve into the significance of cardboard food boxes in the Food Industry and why they are shaking up traditional packaging methods.

The Importance of Cardboard Food Boxes in the Food Industry

Cardboard food boxes are commonly used in the food industry as a packaging material for products such as cereal, bread, and pasta. They are also used to store food products at grocery stores and other retail establishments. Cardboard boxes are made from recycled materials, which reduces the amount of waste that is created in the production process.

Types of Custom Cardboard Food Boxes

Since the 1800s, cardboard food boxes have been used extensively in the food industry. They are versatile and cost-effective, making them an ideal packaging option for a wide range of products. Their flexibility makes them suitable for a variety of products, including sandwiches, salads, desserts, and meat dishes.

There are three main types of custom cardboard food boxes: standard boxes, foldover boxes, and overwrap boxes. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

• Standard cardboard food boxes are the most common type and are the simplest to produce. They are perfect for products that don't require a lot of customization or decoration. They are also affordable and easy to produce.
• Foldover boxes are similar to standard cardboard food boxes but have one fold that covers the product inside. This makes them more decorative and eyecatching. They're also more expensive to produce than standard cardboard food boxes, but they offer greater protection for your product.
• Overwrap boxes are the most complex type of custom cardboard food box and require the most customization and production time. They're perfect for high-end products that need extra protection or features like branding or logos. However, they're also the most expensive type of cardboard box to produce.

Benefits of printed cardboard food boxes

Printed cardboard boxes are widely used in the food industry to store and transport food. They provide several benefits, such as recyclability, low environmental impact, and resistance to pests and decay. They are also strong and lightweight, which makes them easy to handle and transport.

Advantages of using cardboard food boxes wholesale

According to the global market research company, IMS, the global cardboard food box market is expected to grow from USD 1.10 billion in 2020 to USD 2.50 billion by 2025. This growth can be attributed to a number of factors, including increasing awareness about the environmental benefits of using cardboard food boxes instead of plastic and metal packaging.

Here are some of the advantages of using cardboard food boxes wholesale:

1) They are environmentally friendly: According to IMS, custom cardboard food boxes are one of the most environmentally friendly packaging options available, as they produce less waste than other types of packaging. In fact, using cardboard food boxes can save up to 37% on waste generation compared to using plastic or metal food containers.

2) They are cost-effective: Another advantage of using custom boxes is that they are cost-effective. This is because cardboard is much cheaper than other types of packaging materials, such as plastic or metal. In addition, when recycled properly, cardboard can be reused multiple times without deteriorating in quality.

3) They are biodegradable: Finally, another advantage of using cardboard food boxes is that they are biodegradable. This means that once a box has been used and disposed of, it will eventually break down and decompose into natural elements like soil and air pollution. Accordingly, this helps reduce environmental pollution levels overall

Conclusion

As the world becomes increasingly preoccupied with clean eating and sustainable practices, cardboard food packaging are becoming an increasingly less commonly used packaging material in the food industry. Their environmental impact has been well documented, and their contribution to deforestation is significant. However, cardboard food boxes australia remain a popular choice for some products because of their recyclability and low cost.

Cardboard has been a popular packaging choice in the Food & Drink industry for many years, with experts estimating 60% of cardboard material produced is now dedicated to manufacturing packaging in this sector.

There’s a number of reasons why corrugated cardboard makes the ideal packaging for Food & Drink products, we’re going to go through 5 of them.

1. Versatile

One of the great advantages of cardboard packaging is that it can be completely versatile when it comes to function. It can perfectly showcase your product, protect it during transit and offer simple retail solutions that minimise waste in packaging and therefore expense.

Popular functions and uses:

• Sturdy to protect your product with transit packaging
• Showcase your retail products in display packaging
• Take your product straight from warehouse to shop floor in shelf-ready packaging
• Safely ship your product straight to your customers in eCommerce packaging

These are just some of the uses, but cardboard has also become a popular alternative for street food venders and takeaways over plastic and polystyrene options.

Plus when it comes to making cardboard packaging, it can be customised for specific functions and sizes to best suit your product’s needs.

2. Custom Printed

When it comes to cardboard, it’s not just the function that can be customised, it’s the aesthetic design too!

Instead of having a plain brown exterior or interior, there are many options of how to incorporate your branding and artwork onto Food & Drink packaging.

Allowing you to elevate your brand image, stand out in a retail environment or create an enhanced unboxing experience. Plus consumers eat with their eyes before their mouths, so you need to make your packaging look tempting too.

At Belmont we use flexographic printing as it is efficient and offers a high quality finish. And, our boxes can also be completed with a gloss finish which is great for display or eCommerce packaging if you want to add a little extra life into your packaging.

3. Keeps Products Safe

Corrugated cardboard has also been proven to keep Food & Drink products safe from a hygiene perspective as well as through a functional design aspect.

To produce cardboard, layers of paper are shaped and bonded at temperatures of up to 100°C, this is hotter than most pathogens can withstand. This means that even cardboard which is made from recycled materials will be sanitised throughout the manufacturing process.

Furthermore, cardboard packaging helps prevent moisture from infiltrating the product, therefore keeping your food products fresh for longer!

4. Cost Effective

One of the big bonuses is that cardboard packaging is cost-effective and a viable solution for any size of business, from small or start up food and drink product companies to large organisations in the industry.

Aside from the boxes themselves being cost effective, using corrugated cardboard is a lightweight solution reducing other costs such as shipping. Therefore, more money in the bank that can go back into your business.

5. Environmentally Conscious Choice

Lastly, corrugated cardboard is an environmentally conscious choice for packaging in the Food & Drink industry. With the need for single use plastics to be reduced in this sector and many others, cardboard is the perfect option.

We are very passionate about being environmentally conscious and looking after our planet for the future, so we make sure all of our packaging products are 100% recyclable.

You can read the full details regarding our commitment to the planet and sustainability here.

That was just 5 of the reasons why cardboard packaging is ideal for the Food & Drink industry.

If you would like more information regarding our Food & Drink packaging, get in touch with our team of friendly experts.

Read our Ultimate Guide to Food & Drink packaging to find out more