Takeaways only taste as good as they look — that’s a scientific fact. No matter how delicious your dishes are, the poor presentation can lead to disappointment. If you’re serving carefully prepared cuisine for a premium price, impressing your clientele with fantastic, sustainable packaging should be a priority.
But restaurant-level presentation for takeaway food and drinks is hard to achieve. There are plenty of factors to consider — will dishes be served over-the-counter or via delivery? What packaging should you use? How will your presentation differ from a sit-down service?
Let’s look at how premium food packaging can elevate your offering and enhance your customers’ takeaway experience by making your takeaways all the more presentable.
Why Is Food Presentation Important?
From the finest Michelin-star restaurants to local street food vans, the presentation of different dishes has the power to pique customers’ interest and amplify their appetites.
In a restaurant setting, the smell of the ingredients, the sound of the food being cooked and the visual appeal of beautifully presented food are sufficient to influence the taste of the food itself. As waiting staff carry dishes from the kitchen to the diner’s tables, all of these elements are at play, transporting your customers to a world full of flavour.
When serving takeaways, nearly all of these aspects are lost.
Although the hospitality sector is making a comeback, many people opt to order takeaway food from their favourite spots — or eat at home. In turn, they’re missing out on these crucial factors that make food so enjoyable, putting even more emphasis on fantastic food presentation.
The Benefits of Excellent Food Presentation
There’s more to making your food look good than flexing your creative flair. Magnificently prepared food has other benefits too:
– Enhances the Dining Experience — Being served a well-presented meal makes all the difference to diners, whether they’re at home or dining out. Perfecting your food presentation can make the experience memorable, shareable and ultimately repeatable. Bring people back by showing care and attention to detail.
– Sparks Interest — Do you have a creative chef who can make an impression with their culinary talents? Interesting looking dishes are intriguing to customers. Even if the core elements remain the same, a fresh approach can be impactful. Adopting a quirky, alternative approach will capture your customers’ imagination.
– Builds Your Brand’s Reputation — Over half of people take pictures of their food, with 20% of those snapping food they’ve ordered. Instagram-able food that looks amazing is easy yet effective marketing, so don’t miss out on the chance to promote your brand with user-generated content.
– Generates Sales and Revenue — While we don’t condone overeating, excellent food presentation makes the question “room for dessert?” an easy one to answer. You’ll sell more food and drinks if they’re properly presented, as patrons will want to experience even more delectable delights.
Premium food presentation isn’t easily translated to takeaways, but you can implement a few techniques to upgrade your takeout experience.
How to Use Premium Food Packaging for Takeaways
Plating up meals for sit-down service is simpler than serving takeaway cuisine, but it’s not impossible. You can create delectable dishes your customers crave with a tactful approach and premium food packaging.
1. Reimagine Restaurant-Style Dishes
Plating up your food isn’t the same as boxing it up for delivery. You’ll need to take a different approach to present your food. For example, serving a Sunday roast in one takeaway container asks for trouble. Instead, opting for separate snack boxes for each aspect is a novel and effective way to get your food from A to B without it arriving in a soggy mess.
Separating your food keeps the takeouts fun and greatly helps when serving dishes with more than a few components. Food packaging with compartments can be used to great effect without giving off the sombre “TV dinner” vibe. Plus, if you’re serving Mexican food, you can use food packaging like taco inserts to ensure dishes can be eaten the correct way, allowing your customers to enjoy a real fiesta of flavour.
2. Use Premium Food Packaging
Your dishes lose freshness the moment they leave the kitchen. By the time your customers are tucking into their takeaways, their food might’ve gone cold, resulting in a fairly dismal experience.
Use premium food packaging like our luxury-quality eco-friendly food boxes to keep your food looking, smelling and tasting appealing. They keep food at the desired temperature until customers are ready to eat. Steam holes minimise condensation on the inside of the boxes, and Kraft paper liners absorb moisture, oil and grease. Not only does this improve your food presentation, but it also helps improve recycling rates.
3. Put Your Stamp on Your Dishes
“The Golden Arches” of the McDonald’s logo are unmistakable. The red and yellow colourway feature on almost everything, including their food packaging — notably the packaging of their fries. This serves to support McDonald’s brand messaging and enhance the appearance of their food.
You can achieve similar success with branded packaging. Creating continuity is an easy way to create memorable experiences for your customers. Get it right, and they’ll always want to come back for more.
4. Engage Your Customers With Assorted Packaging
Bring the dine-in experience home with eco-friendly food packaging that engages your customers instead of leaving them wondering how to approach eating their takeout. Separate your dishes with the appropriate packaging to clarify how your customers should enjoy their takeaways.
Noodle boxes are perfect for Eastern cuisine, but they’re also well-suited to hot and cold appetisers, starters and sides. Similarly, eco-bowls with lids can house all kinds of food, including sauces, dips and soups. The lids will minimise spillages while the PLA-lined packaging ends with leaky packaging. To finish, why not opt for aesthetically pleasing cake boxes that make your sweet treats even more delectable.
5. Appeal to Your Customers’ Senses
There’s nothing worse than a bland takeaway that’s lost all of its appeal before being delivered. The appropriate packaging can improve presentation without detracting from the alluring aspects of your food. Bagasse packaging — made from naturally compostable sugarcane pulp — is ideal for hot and cold dishes, since it won’t absorb any moisture or natural aromas from your freshly prepared cuisine.
Ordering Eco-Friendly Premium Food Packaging
Excellent food presentation can set your brand apart. It’s an opportunity for talented chefs, bakers and food creators to showcase their skills and present mouthwatering food and drinks. Since the takeaway trend sees no sign of stopping, it’s up to restaurateurs and food outlet managers to deliver restaurant-quality food with added convenience. Take on the challenge with premium food packaging that won’t let you down.
Check out our online shop and discover eco-friendly food packaging your customers will love. Looking for a branded packaging solution? Get in touch with us today for a free design quote.
