When you step into any bakery district, you will see a trend. The box a customer leaves with will tell you more about the bakery than the donuts will. Pink Donut Boxes have subtly emerged as one of the most memorable packaging options in the bakery sector and tiny bakeries are capitalizing on this trend to establish a fast brand identity that doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg in marketing efforts.
This is not an ordinary trend. For lots of customers, the pink box has become a trigger for memory and bakery businesses are playing on that memory now. A bakery that packages its donuts in a simple white box has a slight possibility that the next time someone has a sweet tooth, they’ll remember it.
Where Did the Pink Box Trend Actually Come From?
The use of pink packaging in the bakery industry has been a long-standing tradition that goes back several decades, when the cost of pink packaging was low and it made the bakery easily visible in the storefront. Eventually, it was adopted as a sort of shorthand for donuts, similar to the way that a red cup indicates coffee season at some coffee chains. That’s a nod to the independent bakeries that have gotten on board and are ordering Pink Donut Boxes not for fashion’s sake, but because it’s just as effective.
Before they even open the lid, customers now equate the colour with a certain type of treat. It’s part of the reason why it can be a more cost-effective solution for smaller bakeries, as it is a built-in recognition that ads cannot replicate.
What Should a Bakery Look For Beyond Just Color?
Choosing a box based on color is not the complete story. A donut box must hold up all day long, from the busy morning rush to the car ride home.
Box Sturdiness
Even a dozen donuts will make thin cardboard sag under the weight, particularly if they are filled or glazed. With proper wall thickness, there is no sliding around in the box.
Grease and Moisture Resistance
Donuts give off oil and steam and a box that’s not well oiled gets soggy quickly. Check to see if the finish decolors or fades in the presence of grease.
Ventilation
Tightly closed boxes keep the steam in, leaving the donut texture soft in minutes. The box is closed, but has small vent holes to allow heat to dissipate, making it easy to carry.
Does Order Size Change What Options a Bakery Has?
Bakeries are all different sizes and packaging suppliers used to cater for all of them the same, irrespective of shop size, requiring large orders. This is starting to change.
- Donut boxes are now available in small independent shops in smaller quantities, like a few hundred rather than multiple thousands.
- Seasonal bakeries can test a design for a particular holiday season, and then decide whether to run the entire year with it or not.
- Growing chains can increase order quantity incrementally when new stores open. As new stores open, growing chains can increase order quantity incrementally.
- Branded boxes for pop up and market vendors are no longer prohibitive.
The change is important since packaging previously was one of the major challenges for a new bakery to have a professional start on the first day.
How Do Custom Donut Boxes Help on Social Media?
It’s a branded box that photographs well and that is more important than many bakery owners realize. When the design catches the eye, photographers tend to post images of their boxes before customers even take a bite, particularly if the box is visually striking. A poorly designed box doesn’t get into a lot of people’s feeds; a good one does and a small bakery gets some free advertising.
Sourcing Donut Boxes Wholesale: What Should You Ask First?
A bakery owner will need to ask a few direct questions before signing a deal with any supplier:
- Does this company directly manufacture or go through a broker?
- Are they able to match the same colour of pink in all reorders?
- Do they have wholesale pricing for donut boxes that is reduced for smaller stores, besides the big chains?
Kwick Packaging only works with bakeries on custom printing runs, so these are the kind of circumstances that small shops should seek out when shopping for a supplier.
Kwick Packaging and Other Well-Known Box Manufacturers in the USA
Some manufacturers have established a good reputation for themselves in providing bakery and food service packaging throughout the country. IPS Packaging has a vast range of food-safe rigid boxes that are available for bakeries of all sizes. What’s unique about ePac Flexible Packaging is its digital printing that enables shorter runs and reduces lengthy changes between orders. Aside from these old-time stalwarts, there’s a new wave of manufacturers that have been gaining traction lately: those that will provide direct production and minimums for the more flexible independent bakery looking for flexibility without sacrificing print quality.
Final Thoughts
The small details are the key to the bakery industry and packaging is one of those that is easy to overlook. While Pink Donut Boxes provide quick brand awareness of their shop, the box also needs to withstand the realities of the world, including grease, weight and the rush of Saturday morning. Over time, these bakery brands that consider the box as an integral part of the product rather than just a container are likely to foster greater customer loyalty.
It is always best to test a small batch before going all in on the design and function – this is the safest way to ensure that the design and function are correct for an entire order.
