Custom Lunch Bags

The Brown-Bag Lunch, Branded

The paper lunch bag is one of the most familiar pieces of packaging in America. It holds a sandwich, an apple, a bag of chips and a napkin, and it is folded over twice at the top. Custom lunch bags take that familiar shape and put your name on it, which turns the boxed-lunch order you fill every Tuesday into something that looks planned rather than improvised.

Caterers are the biggest buyers. Corporate lunch orders, training days, conference breakouts and film-set catering all call for individual lunches that can be handed out quickly and carried to a desk or a meeting room. Delis and sandwich shops sell grab-and-go lunch sets from a cooler. Schools and camps pack field-trip lunches. Churches and charities hand out meals at community events. Tour operators, wineries and parks that serve picnic lunches use them as well.

What Makes a Paper Lunch Bag a Good Choice for a Small Business

This question shows up in search traffic, and the honest answer is cost, speed and familiarity. A paper lunch bag is cheaper than a box, it stores flat, and staff can pack one in seconds. Customers know how to open and carry it without thinking. For a small catering business, a printed bag also signals that someone took care over the order without the cost of rigid packaging.

It does have limits. A paper bag won't keep food cold for hours and won't protect a fragile salad from being squashed. For those orders, pack the salad in a lidded container first and bag it, or use a box. Lunch bags are best for sandwiches, wraps, fruit, chips, cookies and a drink.

Choosing Material, Size and Closure

Lunch bags here come in several builds. The fold-top kraft bag is the classic. Laminated and barrier papers suit lunches that sit in a cooler or carry something with dressing. Adhesive strips and zip closures make sense for grab-and-go lunches that sit on a shelf and need to look untouched.

Size the bag to a standard sandwich lying flat, with room for a drink can standing beside it if you include drinks. Bags that are too narrow force the sandwich to stand on end and get crushed. All food-contact materials meet FDA requirements.

Printing and Personalizing

Corporate clients like to see their own logo, or an event name, on the lunch bag. That works well at the 100-unit minimum, which covers a training day or a conference. For your own brand, put the logo on the lower half so it shows when the top is folded down.

• Print a line on the front for the guest's name or meal choice: "Turkey," "Vegetarian," "Gluten-free."
• A colored band at the top in a different PMS (Pantone) shade can mark dietary options at a glance.
• White paper in full CMYK works for event branding with photos or sponsor logos.
• Kraft with black ink keeps the classic brown-bag look.
• Leave the back plain if lunches will be labeled by hand.

The sandwich inside also benefits from a printed wrap. Custom printed deli paper for sandwiches keeps the bread tidy and adds a second branded layer that customers see when they open the bag.

Recurring corporate orders reward a little planning. If one client orders lunch for the same team every week, print a bag with their logo next to yours and keep a stock for them. It costs little at the 100-unit minimum, and it makes your catering hard to replace with a cheaper competitor.

Packing Lunches for a Large Order

Set up a line: bag, sandwich, side, fruit, cookie, napkin and cutlery, then fold and label. Pack cold items last, close to the time of pickup, and keep finished bags in a cooler or refrigerator until handover. Put a printed menu card or allergen card in each bag if the order includes different meals.

Store flat bags in a dry place away from walk-in condensation. For a big order, stand finished bags in rows in a shallow crate so they don't tip and crush each other. Sandwiches packed the night before keep their shape better in a custom printed sandwich bag inside the lunch bag.

Ordering Custom Lunch Bags

1. Decide on the standard contents of a lunch and size the bag around them.
2. Choose a material and closure from the table.
3. Send your logo and any personalization, such as a client logo or event name.
4. Get a free sample and pack a full lunch in it.
5. Approve the proof; we produce your order in 4 to 6 business days after approval.

Orders start at 100 bags with volume discounts on bigger runs, and you can get personalized lunch bags in bulk for recurring corporate clients. Shipping is free to the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia. Send your order details through the lunch bag quote request.