Food-Grade Packaging · MOQ 500 pcs
A rigid printed gift box with a food-safe tray inside, so the branding stays outside and the food stays inside. The rigid outer carries the hard-box indicative band, $1.50–2.30 per piece at 500 pcs; the tray, liner and any foil are quoted as their own lines.
Overview
The structure is deliberately two materials: a rigid greyboard gift box wrapped and printed, and a tray inside that actually holds the dates or chocolates. That separation is the whole reason the format works for food. The outer box can carry hot foil, emboss, soft-touch lamination and a full-colour wrap because nothing edible touches it. The tray is the food-contact component, and it is specified on its own: die-cut board with a food-safe surface, a moulded tray, or a board platform with a liner. The rigid outer is priced from the rigid gift box range rather than from the food-box ladder above, which is why the indicative figure for this product sits in a different bracket to the rest of this page — a folded board box cannot be made to feel like a gift box, and we would rather the number be honest than consistent-looking.
It is the right choice when the box is part of the gift: dates, pralines, Baklava-style assortments or a corporate set, often with a sleeve, a ribbon and a card included. The trade-offs are the other side of the same coin. Unit cost is the highest in this range, rigid boxes occupy far more freight volume than flat-packed board boxes, and the seasonality is unforgiving — artwork should be locked four to six months before Ramadan or Eid, and a foil, embossed or velvet-tray format needs a physical sample before that. If the food is sold from a shelf all year, a folding box or a window box will do the job at a fraction of the landed cost.
Specification
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Structure | Rigid printed gift box (magnetic, lid and base, or drawer) with a separate food-contact tray inside |
| Board | Rigid greyboard with a printed wrap outside; food-safe board, moulded or lined tray for the food-contact component |
| Tray | Die-cut board tray, board platform with a liner, or a moulded tray, cut to your product rather than to a stock grid — quoted as its own line |
| Size range | From a single-row date box to a large assortment format; the rigid range is quoted per size and per structure |
| Print / finish | Full-colour wrap plus gold or coloured foil, emboss, soft-touch lamination and spot UV on the outer box; Arabic-ready layouts |
| Barrier | The barrier sits with the tray and its liner, not with the outer box; a greaseproof liner board is the usual route for chocolate and oily sweets |
| Packing | Outer boxes supplied assembled or flat where the structure allows; trays nested. Freight volume is materially higher than a flat-packed board box |
| MOQ | 500 pcs per size and print; tray, liner, foil and any ribbon are quoted separately |
| Lead time | 12–18 days after sample approval, and 4–6 months of planning before a Ramadan or Eid season |
Variants
The outer box is chosen for the gift, the tray for the food. Price them separately and you can trade one against the other instead of arguing about a single blended number.
The premium gifting format and the one most date and chocolate brands order. Closing magnet, printed wrap, tray inside. Trade-off: the highest unit cost in this range.
A two-piece box roughly 25–30% below the magnetic structure, still rigid, still gift-grade. Trade-off: no magnet, so it is usually finished with a ribbon or a sleeve.
The drawer pulls out and presents the tray, which suits single-row date formats and chocolate bars. Trade-off: a more complex structure, and the drawer tolerances have to be right or it sticks.
The cheapest food-contact option: a board tray cut to your product with a liner board under it. Trade-off: a separate component to place at packing.
A rigid tray that holds each item in a fixed cavity, often with a velvet or flocked surface. Trade-off: tooling and unit cost are higher, so it suits a fixed assortment rather than a changing one.
A sleeve over the rigid box and a card inside do a lot of the gifting work for far less than another foil pass. Trade-off: another component to assemble, and it adds height.
Materials
On this structure the materials are doing two jobs, and it is worth keeping the budget split between them. The outer box buys the impression; the tray and liner buy the food-safety and the protection.
We will supply the destination market's required material declarations and migration test documents for the exact board, coating and ink in your specification — for this product that usually means the tray board and its liner first. Ask for the current certificate for the specification you are buying, and raise the market at brief stage, because Gulf, EU and US requirements differ.
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Rigid greyboard with a printed wrap | The structure that makes a box feel like a gift: stiff, square and heavy in the hand. Trade-off: the most expensive structure in this range and the most freight-hungry, because it ships assembled and bulky. |
| Printed wrap, coated art paper or textured stock | The face the customer actually sees. Textured and linen stocks lift perceived quality without another foil pass. Trade-off: textured stock can make fine print and small type less crisp. |
| Hot foil and emboss | The finish that defines a Ramadan or Eid gift box, priced by stamped area rather than by logo count. Trade-off: it is a separate pass, and foil area is where the cost quietly grows. |
| Soft-touch lamination | A matt, velvety outer surface that photographs well and hides fingerprints. Trade-off: it is applied to the outer wrap only, never to a food-contact surface. |
| Die-cut board tray with a greaseproof liner | The practical food-contact route for dates and chocolate: a board tray with a liner that handles cocoa butter and oil. Trade-off: it is a component to place at packing. |
| Moulded or velvet-lined tray | Holds each item in a fixed cavity and looks like a confectioner's case. Trade-off: higher tooling and unit cost, and it only pays off on a fixed assortment. |
Best for
Ramadan and Eid are the second annual packaging peak after Q4 gifting. The box is part of the product's value, and the season's production slots fill months in advance.
Assortment boxes for pralines, truffles and sweets that need cavities rather than a single void, usually with a fixed range and a fixed tray.
Date, chocolate and coffee sets sent to clients, where the box doubles as the accompanying card. Foil, emboss and a printed insert card carry the message.
Fixed assortments bought in controlled volumes, where consistency between runs matters more than the price of any single unit.
Christmas, Chinese New Year and Valentine's ranges where the box is designed to a date and cannot slip — which is why the schedule is quoted before the structure.
Sizing
Sizing here is driven by the tray, and the tray is driven by the assortment. Send the item count and the footprint of the largest item and the cavity layout follows — including the depth, which on a gifting box is the difference between a box that looks full and one that rattles.
The indicative figure reflects the rigid outer box at the 500 pc tier; the food-contact tray, the liner, the foil coverage and any ribbon or insert card are quoted as their own lines. Treat the number as a planning figure for the outer box only.
| Dimension | Guidance |
|---|---|
| Tray first | Fix the tray cavities from the assortment, then size the outer box around the tray. Doing it the other way round is how boxes end up with slack space that shows in the photograph |
| Slack in the box | A gifting box that is too deep reads as under-filled. Cavity depth plus a small clearance is the target, not the outer box height |
| Freight volume | Rigid boxes ship assembled or partly assembled and take far more volume than flat-packed board boxes. On a seasonal order this is usually the largest landed-cost line after the unit price |
| Season calendar | Artwork locked 4–6 months before Ramadan or Eid, and a physical sample approved before the bulk run — foil, emboss and velvet trays cannot be judged from a screen |
| Volume tiers | The rigid range's indicative band is quoted at 500 pcs. Larger volumes improve the unit price, but the structure and the tray remain the dominant cost |
Free quote
Send the basics and you will get an itemised price plus a 3D mockup with your branding.
What you get
Reply within one business day. No obligation, and no design files needed to start.
FAQ
Seasonality, the tray and the certificate — the three things that decide whether this box ships on time.
Keep looking
The same one-piece tuck-top construction as our standard food box, with a die-cut window and a film specification so the product is visible before it is opened. That visibility is the whole reason to buy it: it merchandises macarons, biscuits and truffles on a shelf or in a delivery photograph. The trade-offs are honest ones — the window adds a die and a film choice, and the film is the part of the box most likely to conflict with your market's packaging rules.
A tray with a rim in board or corrugated, wrapped in a printed sleeve, with die-cut dividers that separate components so nothing arrives crushed or leaking into everything else. The failure in meal-kit packaging is rarely the box itself — it is a sachet that opens into the dry goods. So the structure is designed around your components, and inserts are cut to your own items and quoted as separate lines so you can drop one and see the saving.
One die-cut sheet, tabbed and locked without glue, on board chosen for direct food contact. Grease resistance comes from an aqueous or PLA dispersion coating, a coated board grade or a separate liner, tested with a sample of your product before the bulk run. It travels and stores flat and assembles in seconds, which is why bakeries and takeaway counters reorder it — but on this format the barrier decides the price, not the artwork.
Get a free quote
Tell us the product, the quantity and the destination. You will get an itemised factory-direct price, a recommended structure and a 3D mockup — no design files needed to start.
Free quote
Two minutes to fill in. No design files needed to start.