The eye eats with you - the optimal packaging for burgers

The hamburger. For many, it is the epitome of fast, cheap fast food of dubious quality and nutritional value. In part, this credo still holds true today, especially where the burger is still the central product of fast-food chains operating worldwide.

Just as no one expects a cheap wristwatch in a high-quality-looking tin can, the same is true here. The main thing is that the layers of the burger are held together adequately and the "sandwich" stays warm until it has been brought to the place where it will be eaten. Even in the last years of the old millennium, therefore, McDonald's, among others, served its hamburgers in folding boxes made of Styrofoam-like material.

For some years now, however, the much-criticized burger has also been undergoing a change of meaning in parts of the gastronomy and catering industry outside its mother country: away from the quickly piled-together, cheap mix of ingredients, towards a high-quality(er) meal that can easily compete with other dishes in terms of quality, taste and, not least, creativity.

It's clear that such higher-quality burgers want to be packaged differently than something that is on the same level in customer perception as "French fry barrier" or prepackaged roadhouse sandwiches. But what is the ideal burger packaging? We'll show you what the options are.

Something burger customer as entrée

Just as noodles can be traced back to historical China, so too can burgers. In the form of "Roujiamo," there was already a dish there a good 1,000 years before the turn of time that not only visually tends in the direction of burgers or kebabs.

However, if we talk about "the" hamburger, the cliché of the typical American dish is actually one hundred percent accurate. Around 1900, the German emigrant Louis Lassen served a steak sandwich in the snack bar he founded in New Haven, Connecticut. At that time, however, it consisted of toast with a (non-solidified) minced meat filling. Today, this dish is called a "sloppy joe" in professional circles, but in gastronomic history it was actually the first burger - at least according to hearsay.

Because: Around this era, several U.S. snack operators invented similar dishes. To this day, various U.S. states claim the title "Home of the Hamburger. The only thing that is really certain is that it is indeed a U.S. invention.

In its early decades, the burger was accordingly a snack menu prepared to order. Not haute cuisine, but not fast food either. However, when cars became a mass commodity after World War I, more and more operators came up with the idea of serving food to drivers as quickly as possible; specifically, in the vehicle itself.

This was the birth of the transformation of the burger into a true fast food:

In 1921, "White Castle" was founded, the first burger chain according to modern understanding.
Among other things, the burgers were pre-prepared there and could be delivered immediately when ordered.
In 1940, the first McDonald's restaurant was opened.
In 1948, In-N-Out Burger conceived of the first drive-through (known locally as a drive-in).
In 1955, McDonald's was made into a franchise system.

The burger was a perfect match: a complete meal between two halves of a bun, called "buns". No cutlery needed, no dirty fingers. A dish literally made to be eaten in the very fast way - which preprogrammed its decline into a cheap "fast food". In many countries outside the U.S., this impression was reinforced because the burger was introduced there in the first place with fast food franchises. So it never had a higher-quality diner past there.

That it didn't stay that way is thanks to many restaurant operators around the world. In the USA, this has always been the case. Elsewhere, since the turn of the millennium, for example, hamburgers have been offered that do not follow this low-quality basic line (even in the to-go sector). This is exactly where the need for optimal burger packaging comes in.

The Big Mac Index has been an important global purchasing power index since the 1980s. Since McDonald's operates in about half of all countries worldwide and offers the Big Mac almost everywhere, the respective prices of this burger (and conversion into U.S. dollars) allow interesting conclusions and comparisons to be drawn, which extend to valuations of national currencies.

What does burger packaging have to do?

Packing for burger black
A lot of requirements are placed on packaging for burgers.

You order a burger in a restaurant. Does it even have to be packaged when you eat it there? Maybe not. Many establishments do it the classic way and simply pierce a wooden skewer vertically through the menu, so that nothing is pushed apart when you bite into it.

However, this approach already shows you one thing: a burger definitely has its special necessities for packaging. These become more important the further apart the cooking and consumption locations are:

Depending on the type of burger, this is stacked quite high in relation to the diameter and is therefore unstable. Furthermore, the stability stands and falls with the shape of the patty(s), called "patties". The less smooth they are at the top and bottom, the more wobbly the entire burger becomes. This tendency is amplified if there are smaller ingredients on top of the burger, such as tomato slices. So the packaging must be able to hold the layers together securely. There must therefore be no free space at least above and below the buns.
The hot burger allows moisture in the air to condense on the inside of the packaging. Furthermore, it has other sources of moisture due to various sauces. This is particularly tricky. On the one hand, it must not cool down (too quickly), but on the other hand, the moisture must not remain in the packaging, because otherwise at least the buns will become mushy. This is further complicated because certain burger ingredients, such as lettuce and tomato, should not become too warm.
The burger as a single dish is rather rare. More often, at least fries are added as a side dish. Ideally, however, the potato sticks should not spread in any transport packaging.
No matter how well a burger is "built", depending on the ingredients, it is practically impossible to avoid components falling out when biting into it, such as pieces of lettuce or diced onions. These must be safely caught by the packaging.
The burger packaging should be in character with the value of the burger.
The burger comes into direct contact with the packaging, which must therefore be food-safe.
For to-go burgers, it may sometimes be necessary to allow the food to be reheated in the packaging. For example, because customers still have a long way to go before they can eat.

Last, but not least, it is necessary to address the issue of sustainability. The vast majority of all to-go burgers are taken away indisposable packaging. Accordingly, this should be as easy as possible to dispose of and recycle.

Simple, effective and cheap: wrapping paper as burger packaging

The simplest solution does not automatically have to be the worst - even if wrapping paper is among the most important burger packaging used by major franchise chains.

First, the paper is extremely cheap and takes up very little space until it is used. Then there are various options for very sustainable papers up to grass paper. And as far as the necessities mentioned are concerned, this burger wrapper can really "deliver":

The burger is tightly enclosed. No chance for the layers to shift. At the same time, however, moisture can escape with appropriate wrapping techniques.
When opened up, the paper has a comparatively large surface area. Ideal for catching falling burger components or serving as a base for fries and other side dishes.
Among other things, when using Butcher Paper or similar high-quality but largely natural (kraft) papers, this burger packaging can certainly look high-end.

Last but not least, disposal is also easy and space-saving. However, no matter how strong the paper is, it always needs a solid, sufficiently large base. Depending on the nature of your target group, it may therefore be the wrong burger packaging.

Many uses: Paper burger bags

Wrapping paper is more like to-go packaging. However, if you want to (also) serve burgers at the table and don't want to do without packaging altogether, then burger bags could be the ideal approach.

They are also made of paper, but are closed on at least two sides. This results in less cohesion overall. But customers can already catch a glimpse of the delicious contents. What's more, the bag is ideal both for keeping fingers completely clean and for effectively preventing ingredients from falling out when biting into them.

You may already realize it: because of these features, the burger bag is also a great to-go helper when there is additional outer packaging. Which brings us to another classic:

Stable and practical: disposable folding boxes as burger packaging

Are you one of those people who open the lid of their burger folding box, flip it over and then pour the fries in there? Then you already know one advantage of this packaging. It automatically has another layer after opening - not only practical when the burger is eaten in the car.

However, the folding box offers even more. Especially if it is not made of such thin cardboard, as is the case with many of the large franchise chains:

Folding boxes can be equipped with hooks and other interlocks. This keeps them closed very reliably. This is particularly practical if the burger is slightly higher than the (closed) box. Then it can exert pressure on the menu and therefore hold it together perfectly - even under rough transport conditions.
Particularly when using thicker cardboard packaging (and possibly appropriate shaping), very great stability can be achieved. This is essential, especially for lavishly topped takeaway burgers, so that they are not crushed during transport and thus become unsightly.
Due to the thickness of the material, the thermal insulation effect is excellent. As a result, this burger packaging can keep its contents warm for a very long time. At the same time, depending on the design, the material can absorb moisture and thus prevent the contents from becoming mushy.
To many people, folding boxes have a high-quality effect, especially if they are appropriately designed. Especially if your burgers are of medium to high quality, this is important so that there is no discrepancy in the impression.

What's more, it doesn't even have to stop at the single package that can hold just one burger. Thanks to the almost limitless formability of cardboard packaging, burger packs with separate compartments also exist. This is a highly interesting solution for combining entire menus with fries, dips and other side dishes in one package.

As far as sustainability is concerned, there are recently folding boxes for burgers made of materials such as bagasse or bamboo. Depending on the design, these can be composted in the garden from the outset.

Still rare, but interesting: reusable folding boxes

Many restaurants have regular customers. However, as far as takeaways are concerned, the vast majority of them rely on disposable packaging. As long as they are produced sustainably and are easy to recycle, there is not much to be said against it. However, from an environmental perspective, there is still room for improvement.

This brings us to a relatively new type of burger packaging, reusable folding boxes. In terms of design, they are very similar to the aforementioned burger folding boxes in their wealth of variants. Unlike these, however, they are made of materials that can be rinsed and thus reused several times.

These can be conventional plastics or plastic recyclates. Equally conceivable, however, are various bioplastics, as well as appropriately treated wood or wood-based materials.

Reusable packaging becomes mandatory

The basic idea is simple: If you order more frequently from the same establishment but eat out, you don't necessarily need new burger packaging every time. In fact, clever restaurateurs could even turn this into a discount or deposit principle - although it must of course be emphasized that these burger containers have to be rinsed, which imposes additional costs on the restaurant depending on the approach.

Conclusion: Burger packaging does not necessarily have to have fast food level

Even if the big burger franchises of this world still don't exactly offer high-quality burgers, other restaurateurs are doing so more and more - and thereby leading this diverse delicacy away from an image it definitely doesn't deserve. Packaging is going the same way. Even if wrapping paper and folding boxes are the most common approach, they, too, can be quite different in value from those for cheap burgers - much like a handmade burger with high-quality ingredients from a restaurant does.

FAQ

Should I use different folding boxes for different burgers?
Especially if the burgers differ in "stack height" and diameter, then this is definitely recommended. Because, as already mentioned, the folding box does a lot to hold the burger layers together during transport, but at the same time should not press them together too much. Different folding boxes are therefore a sensible approach so that there is never too much or too little space in the burger packaging.
How can I maintain the crispness of French fries in the packaging?
This requires maximum breathability. Just a few minutes in virtually airtight packaging (typical plastic disposable boxes are notorious for this) can permanently ruin the appearance of the potato strips. The material should therefore either be extremely breathable or have many openings.