Based on the Affiliation’s just-released 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Tendencies report, the outdated adage “costume for achievement” applies in terms of your food-to-go.
90% of off-premises clients say they’d doubtless order a better number of meals objects for takeout or supply if the restaurant used upgraded packaging that helps maintain meals near the temperature, style and high quality as when it’s served within the restaurant.
Not solely are clients hungry for extra off-premises meals than they presently order, greater than half, together with 60% of Gen Z and millennial adults, are prepared to pay additional for takeout and supply if the packaging helps keep meals high quality. In any case, the explanation they’re ordering takeout out of your restaurant is your meals; they merely need the meals to extra intently resemble what they expertise once they dine in.
How have you learnt if the to-go packaging you utilize cuts the mustard? Order takeout or supply out of your menu and consider the meal that arrives in your doorstep. Give your employees coupons to order menu objects at price on their nights off in alternate for suggestions or embrace a questionnaire in your clients with each to-go order. Have them consider your packaging on the idea of the next:
- Temperature
- Meals texture integrity
- Visible enchantment
- Package deal integrity
- Package deal attractivenessBranding impression
What to search for
Takeout packaging is available in all sorts of supplies, sizes, shapes, colours, and worth ranges. Get samples of various packaging to check, and experiment with off-premises orders of your totally different menu objects. Whereas it will be ideally suited to succeed in for one sort of packaging in numerous sizes for all of your menu objects, some supplies and packaging types are higher suited to sure meals.
Pizza, for instance, nonetheless transports greatest in cardboard packing containers, and soup in a spherical polypropylene container with snap-on lid (which is each reusable and recyclable), or a spherical paperboard container with a leak-proof liner (ideally compostable). You’ve gotten a variety of selections, together with glass, metallic, foil, paper, paperboard, cardboard, plastics, compostables, and extra.
One of the simplest ways to decide on the packaging materials is to think about the kind of meals it’ll comprise, the fabric’s environmental impression, and the native laws it should meet each when it comes to meals security and shopper security. For instance, go for PFAS-free and BPA-free supplies if selecting plastic containers, to forestall meals contamination.
Run the identical supply or takeout exams together with your employees, your self, or your clients to see how totally different packaging stacks up together with your menu objects in the identical areas:
Temperature. Think about each temperature retention and publicity. The previous is how effectively the packaging holds the meals’s temperature in transit, whether or not sizzling or chilly. The latter is how effectively the fabric stands as much as warmth or chilly. Can the package deal be microwaved or not? Aluminum, for instance, retains warmth effectively, however can’t be reheated in a microwave oven. Some plastic containers will soften if the meals they comprise goes above 140°F.
Integrity. Is the packaging sturdy sufficient to resist bumps and bruises in transit? How effectively does the package deal maintain the contents? Is it leak-proof? Is it tamper-evident or tamper-proof? Kraft paper packing containers and bowls, for instance, make good takeout packaging, however want some kind of moisture barrier or lining to forestall moist meals like soup or sauced objects from leaking. Which will make them much less straightforward to recycle or eliminate.
Sustainability. Talking of disposability, shoppers more and more demand compostable, recyclable or reusable supplies in off-premises packaging (See the weblog publish on “How to transition to more sustainable food packaging.”) Thankfully, the variety of choices is rising quickly, from compostable packaging and utensils constituted of PLA plastic, bagasse and different plant fibers, to straws constituted of wheat or paper. Nonetheless, clients additionally need handy methods to eliminate takeout packaging correctly, which suggests letting them understand how.
Aesthetics and presentation. Is the packaging engaging? Is it accessible in daring, vibrant colours, or with clear, clear lids? Does it mirror the restaurant’s values and branding? Does it showcase the meals? Does it help you current the meals the best way you’d plate it on a desk? Is it Instagram-worthy? Does the meals look appetizing? Has it shifted within the packaging throughout transit or does it nonetheless look “plated?” Are parts—entrée, sides, dressings/sauces—nonetheless separate?
Versatility. Are you able to serve a number of objects in the identical package deal? Some packaging is appropriate for each cold and hot meals, for instance. Some strains allow you to use the identical lid on totally different measurement containers, lowering the variety of objects you have to preserve readily available and simplifying the manufacturing course of. Can packaging be reused by the shopper, or serve one other objective?
Persona. Does the packaging suit your model? Are you able to print your brand or branding on it? Are you able to personalize it with issues like QR codes that present extra info reminiscent of menu descriptions, vitamin, ingredient sourcing, reheating directions, package deal disposal, and so forth.? Is there a approach so as to add buyer names, thank-you notes, or personalised messages? If not, are you able to embrace a branded piece—coupon, card, or brand sticker—contained in the generic to-go bag? Even including one thing so simple as a hashtag on branded packaging can encourage clients to share their experiences together with your model.
Packaging innovation
Suppliers proceed to make enormous strides in efficiency and sustainability in takeout packaging. Some current improvements embrace:
- A transparent plastic clamshell container that’s ridged and vented to make sure that fried meals stay crisp and sizzling. Reusable and recyclable, the anti-fog container prices lower than a coated paperboard field.
- A coffee cup that may be recycled in normal paper recycling mills. The cups, constituted of recycled paper, function a skinny plastic liner that’s dropped in and evenly glued in place, making it straightforward to separate from the cup throughout recycling.
- Trendy containers constituted of wheat straw that function particular ridges and vent holes to maintain meals recent and heat. Sturdy, grease-resistant and compostable, the containers can go from freezer to microwave.
- A frozen gelato to-go kit that features a container for hand-scooped gelato, cones, and carrying case.
- Recyclable and compostable containers with PLA liners or aqueous liners which can be grease- and moisture-resistant.
- Tamper-resistant, tamper-evident, clear, anti-fog polypropylene packaging that’s microwaveable and dishwasher-friendly.
As prices come down on RFID chips, NFC tags, and digital sensors, takeout packaging might quickly mimic retail meals packages that monitor orders, monitor temperature, use antimicrobial nano coatings to protect freshness, and sense when meals in modified environment packaging (MAP) has gone past its secure shelf life.
Within the meantime, get your clients to position extra off-premises orders—go for takeout packaging that maintains meals integrity when the rubber meets the street.
