What Packaging Should I Buy for My Restaurant? (UK Buyer's Guide)

The name CupsDirect causes a lot of operators to assume we only sell cups, but the majority of our customers are restaurants and takeaways who need food containers, foil trays, bags, cutlery and napkins just as much as they need cups.

This guide covers every major packaging category a restaurant or takeaway is likely to need, what each one is actually for, and where the gaps tend to show up in practice. The gaps matter more than people expect: the foil tray lid that wasn't ordered with the trays, the sauce pots that ran out on a Friday night, the carrier bags that were never added to the standing order because nobody thought to check.

Food containers: matching the box to what goes inside

The right container depends on what you're putting in it, whether it needs to travel, and what your customers are likely to do with it after the meal, so a box that works perfectly for dry fried chicken will be soggy and fall apart before a saucy curry gets across town.

Kraft and paper food boxes

Kraft boxes are the workhorse of UK takeaway packaging, handling burgers, sandwiches, wraps, fried chicken and chips well while the natural brown board takes printing cleanly, which is why they're the default for operators who want branded packaging without investing in fully custom print runs. Vented kraft boxes are particularly good for fried food since the vents let steam escape rather than trapping it inside, keeping things crispy for longer, while a deli box with a fold-over lid keeps toasties and wraps contained and neat on delivery.

Bagasse containers

Bagasse, made from compressed sugarcane fibre, handles wet, hot and saucy food far better than most paper-based options, so a curry, a portion of loaded fries with gravy or a saucy noodle dish, all dishes that defeat a standard kraft box within minutes, are where bagasse clamshells earn their place. 

One thing worth being clear about: bagasse is certified compostable to EN13432, which requires industrial composting to work as described, so if your customers are going home to a general waste bin the composting credentials don't translate into practical benefit. Our Bagasse vs Kraft guide and Bagasse vs rPET vs Paper guide cover the material trade-offs honestly.

Foil trays and microwavable containers

Foil trays are non-negotiable for Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern and other cuisines where dishes are heavy, saucy or go straight from oven to customer, and they have the added benefit of going into kerbside recycling when clean. The thing operators most often forget is that foil tray lids are sold separately, so always order them at the same time as the trays. If you also run a delivery-first operation or your customers regularly reheat food at home, it's worth stocking microwavable PP containers alongside your main range since foil trays and some paper-based options can't go in a microwave.

Trays, scoops and portion pots

Food trays, chip scoops and portion pots are easy to overlook until you're running a busy service without them, and street food operators and fish and chip shops know exactly how costly that gap can be:

•   Food trays are ideal for fish and chips, loaded fries and festival-style portions where you want presentation without a full box

•   Chip scoops that match your portion size save time on every single order and are standard for fish and chip shops and quick service

•   Portion pots with lids cover sauces and dips for delivery orders and are equally useful for condiment stations in dine-in settings

Cutlery: the category most restaurants underplan 

Cutlery gets less attention than containers in most packaging conversations, and then causes a disproportionate number of customer complaints when it's missing from a delivery order or the wrong type ends up in a bag. Since the UK single-use plastics regulations came into force in October 2023, plastic cutlery is no longer permitted for food service in most settings, so wooden and bamboo alternatives are now the standard:

•   Wooden cutlery and bamboo sporks for counter service and takeaway

•   Pre-wrapped cutlery kits with fork, knife, spoon and napkin, which save assembly time on delivery orders and make sure every bag goes out with what it needs

•   Bamboo skewers for street food presentation and sharing boards, a small detail that noticeably lifts the look of a dish

Bags, wraps and napkins

Bags and wraps are the packaging that customers interact with last and remember most, so a carrier bag that splits at the handle when the order is halfway to the car is the thing that gets mentioned in the review, not the quality of the food. Brown kraft SOS bags are the standard for most UK takeaways, and matching the bag size to what you're putting in it matters since a small bag crammed with boxes loses its handles faster and creates a bad handoff for the customer and driver alike.

Greaseproof paper does the things that boxes can't: it wraps a burger to hold everything together, lines a chip tray so the oil doesn't soak through, and goes between layers in a catering order to stop things sticking, while greaseproof bags are the faster option for counter service, covering croissants, pastries and anything that needs to go out quickly without a lid.

On napkins: 1-ply is the right call for counter dispensers and high-volume environments, while 2-ply is worth the slight price increase for table service or delivery bags. If you're not already including napkins in your delivery bags as standard, it's one of the easiest ways to reduce negative delivery reviews and it costs almost nothing per order.

Drinks packaging: if your restaurant serves more than food

Restaurants serving hot drinks, soft drinks or alcohol by the measure need packaging for those too. The main categories to consider: 

•   8oz and 12oz paper hot cups for coffee and tea to go, which covers most restaurant drink menus

•   Clear rPET cold cups for juices, soft drinks and iced drinks

•   UKCA-marked pint cups for licensed venues serving beer or cider by the measure, where the UKCA mark is a legal requirement, not a nice-to-have

•   Disposable wine glasses for outdoor dining and events where glass isn't practical or permitted

Our Festival Bar Playbook and UKCA rules for pint glasses guide cover the operational and compliance side in detail.

At a glance: which container for which food? 

Use this as a quick reference when reviewing your packaging setup: 

 

Ordering from one supplier rather than several

Most restaurant operators who use multiple packaging suppliers didn't plan it that way: it happened gradually, with cups from one place, containers from another, bags from a cash and carry and foil trays from wherever was cheapest that week, and the result is usually a tangle of minimum order thresholds, mismatched delivery schedules and the occasional Friday scramble when one supplier is out of stock.

CupsDirect covers all the categories in this guide from a single account, so for operators consolidating their packaging spend that means one order, one delivery and one invoice. 

For those moving significant volumes, pallet or case ordering on high-usage lines, including food packaging, foil trays, bags and carrier bags and catering trays and scoops, also reduces per-unit cost in a way that smaller, more frequent orders don't.