Catering Lunch Box Selection Guide: How To Match The Best Packaging For Different Foods

In today's increasingly competitive catering industry, choosing the right plastic lunch box can not only improve food quality but also enhance brand image and customer experience. This article will provide professional lunch box selection solutions for three major categories of food: soup, fried food, and cold food, helping you balance functionality, cost, and environmental protection needs.

Core requirements: leakproof, anti-smell, and high temperature resistance

One of Yangrui's main products is disposable soup bowls. On the premise of ordinary soup bowls, an inner layer is added to choose from. At the same time, there are multiple capacities from 650ml to 1250ml to choose from. Juicy foods can choose compartment lunch boxes, mainly 1-compartment to 5-compartment lunch boxes. Our round bowls are mainly sold to South America, while compartment lunch boxes are mainly sold to Southeast Asian countries. They are deeply loved by consumers in these two local markets. This also shows that different lunch boxes have different influences.
PP material is recommended because it is 100% new material, PP5 plastic, high temperature resistance of 120℃, is microwaveable, and economical. Under the global environmental protection trend, PP lunch boxes are gradually replacing PS (polystyrene) lunch boxes, which can avoid the risk of high temperature deformation or release of styrene. The microwave function greatly saves consumers' time and can heat heated in the box. Compared with traditional ceramic or glass lunch boxes, it is lighter and more drop-proof, and more suitable for commuters.

Why Choose the New PP5 (Non-recycled Material)?

• Safety: The new PP5 material does not have impurities of recycled materials and is FDA/LFGB certified.
• Stability: It will not turn yellow or brittle after long-term use, while recycled PP is prone to aging.
• Price: Although it is 10-15% more expensive than recycled PP, it has a higher yield rate and lower long-term use costs. Yangrui's PP lunch boxes are all made of new materials, not recycled materials.

Most of our PP lunch boxes adopt a sealed design, while the round bowl and compartment lunch boxes also adopt a leak-proof design. In particular, each compartment of the best food boxes are designed to be leak-proof, which can well isolate the odor between foods and maintain the original flavor of the food. The PP material is used because it is acid-alkali resistant and corrosion-resistant. It will not precipitate harmful substances when holding acidic foods, such as sweet and sour sauce or high-salt foods.

 

Structural Design Points

Yangrui soup bowl adopts an inner support design, which is one of the innovative points. It can be divided into upper and lower layers for use. It is very suitable for take-out soup noodles and other soup-containing foods. The bottom of the soup bowl can be filled with soup, and the upper inner support can be filled with noodles. It can effectively avoid the situation where the noodles fall off when the soup and noodles are packed together, thereby affecting the taste of the food. The new design allows customers to enjoy delicious and fresh food when they receive the food. The partition lunch box can separate rice, vegetables, and meat, which not only makes the food look beautiful, but also prevents the food from odor.
The lid of the soup bowl has a vent design to prevent the lid from cracking due to expansion when heated at high temperatures or when holding hot food, which can effectively improve safety. At the same time, it can also reduce the accumulation of condensation water on the inside of the lid to prevent water droplets from falling back and contaminating the food, such as soaked rice becoming soft and fried food losing its crispness. The completely sealed design will prevent the condensation water from being discharged, making the surface of the food wet. Most of the complaints about takeout packaging are due to the fact that the food has deteriorated due to the lack of vents on the lid.
There are two types of lids available for the separated lunch box, namely a flat lid and a convex lid. If you need to pack large amounts of food, then the convex lid is a good choice, because the convex lid makes the lunch box larger and can hold more food. For daily use, you can choose a flat lid, which is just the right capacity. Yangrui's separated lunch box design can separate staple food, side dishes, and sauces to avoid mixing the flavors between foods. It is very suitable for lunch boxes, sushi platters, and other foods, and is also very suitable for campuses and supermarkets.

Key Challenges: Oil-Proof, Breathable, High-Temperature Resistant, and Non-deformable

Yangrui's PP lunch boxes are made of new PP raw materials and are made using German KIEFEL machines, which can effectively ensure the high quality of the lunch boxes, which also greatly reduces the rate of complaints from consumers when they receive food.

As we all know, PP materials have good heat resistance, and they are food-grade materials, which means that they will not emit harmful gases when heated in a microwave oven. It can withstand high temperatures of 120-140°C for a short period of time, and can directly hold fried foods that have just come out of the pan without softening and deforming, such as fried chicken, spring rolls, etc. Yangrui PP adopts a thickened design or a reinforced rib structure to disperse thermal stress and reduce the risk of local deformation during heating.

In addition to PP lunch boxes, there are also MFPP one-piece lunch boxes with a variety of sizes to choose from, and the lids can also be selected from ordinary and breathable models. MFPP lunch boxes are very popular products in the United States, Canada, and South American countries. MFPP uses 50% PP + 50% natural food-grade mineral filling materials. By adding nucleating agents such as calcium carbonate, the PP crystallization process can be accelerated to form a denser crystal structure, thereby improving heat resistance and rigidity. It is semi-degradable, can greatly reduce the use of plastics, and has certain environmental benefits. Our MFPP lunch boxes have passed international certifications such as FDA and GB 4806.7, and are free of plasticizers, bisphenol A (BPA-Free), and other harmful substances. The material cost is lower than that of traditional pure PP materials, and is deeply loved by local distributors and wholesalers.

Practical Tips

Yangrui's lunch boxes are light but very durable. The density of PP material is lighter than that of glass and metal packaging at the same capacity, which can effectively reduce transportation costs and logistics costs. At the same time, it can effectively reduce consumer complaints and return rates, which is suitable for e-commerce and bulk delivery scenarios.
The PP two-color lunch box uses a transparent lid and a black bottom. The lid is made of high-transparency anti-fog PP material, which can enhance the display of food. The natural light transmittance of PP allows consumers to intuitively see the state of food, such as salads, sushi, etc., which can enhance consumers' desire to buy.
Yangrui take away food boxes suppliers can provide custom food take out boxes services, including color, printed logo, and digital printing etc. It is very suitable for companies that require a printed brand logo or food information.

Core Indicators: Cold-Keeping, Anti-Fog, And Aesthetics

Because PET boxes have excellent low-temperature resistance, they will not crack even at -40℃, which is very suitable for packaging cold chain foods such as ice cream and frozen dumplings. They are not easy to break due to freezing or falling, and are not easy to become brittle at low temperatures as PP.
It is the material with the highest transparency among all plastics, close to the texture of glass, and can clearly display the color of food (such as fruit cut boxes, salads, sushi), which can attract consumers' attention and increase their desire to buy.
Not only can PP be made anti-fog, but Yangrui's PET box can also be made anti-fog, which allows consumers to intuitively see the state of food in a frozen environment. When low-temperature foods, such as ice cream and frozen dumplings, are taken out of the freezer, water vapor in the air will condense into fog on the packaging surface, blocking the food and affecting consumers' purchasing decisions and usage experience. We use special anti-fog treatment to ensure that it is still clear and transparent in a frozen environment, so that the food can be seen at a glance.

Environmentally Friendly and Recyclable, High Barrier Properties, Impact Resistance

PET is the plastic with the highest recycling rate in the world (recycling code No. 1). It can be directly recycled into fiber or new packaging through mechanical recycling. It has strong environmental properties and meets the requirements of environmental regulations such as EU SUP. In addition, PET material has high barrier properties, which can extend the shelf life of food. It can also be matched with a sealing lid to effectively lock in freshness, which is very suitable for foods that need to be stored in oxygen isolation, such as cold fresh meat and ready meals. Because of its excellent oxygen/water vapor permeability, it is very suitable for foods that need to be stored in oxygen isolation, such as cold fresh meat and ready meals. At the same time, because its material is much better than PP/PS in terms of drop resistance and crack resistance, it is also very suitable for pre-prepared dishes and frozen food packaging that require long-distance transportation or cold chain distribution.

Looking for custom food take-out boxes, reliable take-away food boxes suppliers, or simply the best food boxes for your catering business? Look no further than Huizhou Yangrui Printing and Packaging Co., Ltd.
With over 10 years of export experience and a strong presence in more than 50 countries, Yangrui offers:

• Microwave-safe PP containers for soups and fried foods
• Eco-friendly MFPP lunch boxes with mineral filling
• Clear anti-fog PET boxes for cold food like salads and sashimi
• Custom branding services, including color printing and logo embossing
• Flexible MOQ and fast delivery for wholesale clients

Contact Us:

• Website: https://www.packagingbag5.com/
• Email: sales@packagingbag5.com
• Tel: +86 180 8644 3226

1. FDA Food Contact Substances (FCS) Database – U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
2. GB 4806.7-2016 National Food Safety Standard – Plastic Materials and Articles for Food Contact, China Food and Drug Administration.
3. European Commission – Directive on Single-Use Plastics (EU SUP Directive).
4. PlasticsEurope. (2022). Plastics – the Facts 2022: An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste data.
5. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K. L. (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Science Advances, 3(7).