Bakery Boxes, Bags and Liners for UK Bakeries

What is in the bakery range?

Bakery packaging covers more than boxes. This range runs from a single croissant box to a sheet of baking parchment, twelve items in all.

Nine are boxes for finished bakes sold at the counter or online. One is a bread bag, and two are used before the bake leaves the oven: tin liners and parchment.

Here is the full list, with the job each one does.

Who orders bakery boxes?

Independent bakeries and cafés make up most orders. Home bakers selling at markets and online need them too, as do doughnut shops, patisseries and farm shops.

Each type of bakery leans on different boxes. A doughnut shop lives on boxes of six and twelve. A patisserie needs shallow boxes that do not touch glazed tops. A farm shop sells loaf cakes and traybakes from a shelf.

A good all-round start for mixed counters is a window bakery box that shows the bake, which suits buns, slices and small treats.

• High street bakeries and coffee shops
• Doughnut shops and dessert bars
• Patisseries and cake shops
• Market and online home bakers
• Farm shops and delis selling local bakes
• Wedding and event caterers with favour boxes

Should bakery boxes have a window?

A window sells the bake before the box is opened. On a counter or a shelf, customers pick what they can see.

Windows suit dry or lightly glazed items: buns, brownies, loaf cakes and macarons. They are less useful for very sticky or greasy bakes, where marks on the inside of the window look messy.

Window cut-outs are possible on suitable styles. Your proof shows exactly where the window falls, so you can check it lines up with the bake inside.

Brownies and traybakes are a good fit for a window, because the cut edge shows the layers. Brownie and traybake boxes often have a window in the lid and a grid sized to your squares.

What sizes do bakery boxes come in?

Bakery boxes are sized to the bake, then to the number of pieces. Measure the item at its widest and tallest after decorating, not straight from the tin.

Leave 5 to 10 mm around delicate items so the sides do not scrape icing or glaze. Height is the measurement most often missed.

The sizes below are common starting points. Everything is made to your size, in millimetres or inches.

Which board copes with butter and glaze?

Most bakery boxes are white or kraft folding board. White shows bright colours and looks clean in a patisserie. Kraft gives a warm, homemade look that suits farm shops and markets.

Butter and glaze are the main threats. A croissant can leave a grease mark within an hour. A grease-resistant lining or coating on request keeps the outside print clean.

Heavier boxes, like a dozen doughnuts or a 1 kg baklava tray, may need firmer board or E flute corrugated, about 1.5 mm. Doughnut boxes for sixes and dozens are often sized so the lid does not touch the glaze.

How do patisserie, macaron and baklava boxes differ?

These three hold small, precise bakes that are often bought as gifts. Each one has its own problem to solve.

Patisserie boxes need a shallow base and a lid that stays well clear of piped cream. Macaron boxes hold shells in rows so they cannot roll. Baklava boxes are shallow and wide, sized by weight because that is how baklava is sold.

Gift buyers judge the box as much as the bake. Macaron boxes with rows for each shell are popular for wedding favours and birthdays, often with a window and a sticker seal.

• Patisserie: shallow, wide, lid clear of decoration
• Macarons: rows from 2 to 24, sometimes a window
• Baklava: sold by weight, often 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg
• All three: inside print suits a gift message

What about pies, traybakes and loaf cakes?

Slices of pie and tart need a wedge box that holds the point of the slice without crushing it. Sizes follow the pie and how many slices you cut.

Traybakes and brownies are cut square, so the box is sized to your cut and grid. A box of nine 50 mm squares is a common gift size.

Loaf cakes are sold whole, often from a farm shop shelf. Loaf cake boxes sized to your tin are sized to your bake, with a window on suitable styles so the crust shows.

Croissants and pastries sit somewhere between these groups. They are sold singly or in small sets, and they shed flakes and butter. The box benefits from a lining on request and a lid with a little headroom.

Why print bread bags as well as boxes?

Bread bags go out in far larger numbers than boxes. A busy bakery can hand out hundreds of loaves a day, each one carried down the street in a bag.

That makes the bag the most-seen piece of packaging most bakeries own. A one colour print of the bakery name is often enough.

Paper bread bags for loaves and baguettes come in block-bottom styles for tin loaves and long flat bags for baguettes and rolls.

Do you need tin liners and parchment as well?

Tin liners and parchment are used in the bakehouse, not on the counter. They save time, because nobody has to cut and fold paper by hand before each bake.

Pre-formed liners drop straight into a loaf tin. The cake bakes in the liner, lifts out cleanly and can be sold still in its paper.

Baking parchment cut to your trays lines sheet trays for traybakes, biscuits and sausage rolls. Plain is usual, but printed sheets can line a display tray.

How should bakery packaging be printed?

Bakeries often have a hand-drawn or script logo. These print best at a decent size, as fine strokes thin out on kraft board.

One colour on kraft is a common look for artisan bakeries. Full colour CMYK on white suits doughnut shops and dessert bars with bright branding.

Matte or gloss varnish can be added to boxes. Inside print works well under a lid, where a short message is revealed when a gift is opened.

1. Pick the three or four boxes you sell most and design for those first.
2. Keep one logo position across all boxes so the range looks consistent.
3. Leave a clear space for a flavour sticker or a date label.
4. Check each window position on the free proof.
5. Approve the proof, then production starts.

What mistakes do bakeries make with packaging?

Bakery boxes go wrong in small ways that customers notice. Each one is cheap to fix at the quote stage and costly to fix after printing.

Slices are a frequent problem when a box is borrowed from another product. Pie slice boxes shaped to a wedge keep the slice from sliding into a corner.

• Measuring bakes before icing, so the lid squashes the decoration
• Using windows on very greasy pastries
• Ordering one doughnut box size when most sales are sixes
• Choosing thin board for heavy trays of baklava or traybakes
• Putting fine script text on kraft, where it fills in

How do you order bakery packaging?

Send us the bakes you need boxes or bags for, the sizes and roughly how many. A photo of the bake on a ruler is very helpful.

You get a written quote from £0.25 per unit. Quantities are quoted per order, and you can mix boxes, bags and liners on one quote. Food-contact materials available on request.

After you approve the free design proof, production takes 4 to 6 business days. Free tracked delivery covers the whole UK in 2 to 3 business days. If anything arrives misprinted or damaged, photos within 10 days get a reprint or refund.