A food delivery case perfectly fits the bill of a working case. It usually carries high volumes of products daily. Its design promotes the food company’s brand image. And the case safeguards contents meant for human consumption.
Food delivery cases have to be durable and sturdy, and able to keep food at the right temperature. But they also have to be small enough to be easily carried around and moved from store to vehicle to a customer’s front door. For this reason, designing cases for food service comes with some unique challenges.
Let’s examine the biggest challenges facing food service case designers, and take a look at a real-life example of how to deal with them successfully.
Ensuring Food Safety
The most important function of a case for food service is protecting the contents from contamination and spoilage. To help ensure your case serves this function, focus on these areas of case design:
- Sealing and ventilation: Food contamination can occur when a case is not airtight or when it provides too much airflow inside and outside the case.
- Temperature control: Maintaining the appropriate temperature of stored food is essential to keeping it contamination-free. So, to keep food hot or cold, you should include a temperature control unit.
- Easy to clean materials: Properly cleaning food service cases between uses prevents contamination, mold and mildew growth, and helps protect your brand from scrutiny. Choose materials with smooth surfaces and include rounded corners in your design to make them quick and easy to clean.
Durability and Functionality
The average food delivery person makes about 16 food deliveries per eight-hour shift. As a result, your material choice and design strategy should support durability and functionality. For example, materials like nylon, neoprene, lycra, and polyester can provide the strength you need to endure a heavy workflow. Also, you can add Velcro seals to help provide easy product handling and protection from accidental spills.
In addition, some food service companies have specific needs. This might include outside pockets for accessories or a variety of compartments for containing hot and cold foods. As such, your case design process should consider the different types of food products and equipment the cases must store and carry.
Portability
Since time and volume are critical factors in food service, your case design should include components that make the food products easy to transport. Whether on foot or by vehicle, your food service cases should consist of accessories like shoulder straps or convenient handles.
Maintaining Brand Image
Not only do food service cases have a challenging functional role, but they also usually showcase valuable brand images. Since the colors and images on food service cases can leave a lasting impression on customers, it is essential to partner with a case manufacturer like Tetrafab that provides the following:
- Logo stitching
- A variety of colors and textures
- Many case styles
- Screen printing for logos
- Logo stamping
Staying on Budget
As with most mass-manufactured goods, a significant challenge is including all of the above design qualities in your case while staying within your budget. This issue is another solid reason to partner with a reputable case designer and manufacturer like Tetrafab. Our company has over 30 years of expertise in helping clients get all their desired features in the final design in the most cost-effective manner possible.
Tetrafab Case Study: KFC
Designing food service cases may seem challenging. One company that definitely understands the challenges is KFC.
This popular fast-food chicken chain hired Tetrafab to design and manufacture a large catering bag to keep food orders warm and organized during delivery. KFC has a world-famous brand image. So, this branded catering bag not only needed to be functional but also needed to represent the brand.
In short, the bag needed to:
- Be large and accommodating
- Have several different pockets and compartments
- Feature a PVC screen for displaying removable tickets, receipts, and credit card slips
Tetrafab’s team of designers started by choosing the right materials for the job, including a thermal lining interior, polyester exterior, and a rigid foam insert for the bottom of the case. Along with the temperature-preserving features, the design team added steam vent holes the on the bag to keep the order fresh. As a result, these KFC bags provide a potent combination of food safety and quality.
Next, our designers placed Velcro pockets on each side for easy access. The main flap on the top of the bag is equally accessible. To prevent the bag from accidentally opening, the Tetrafab team added Velcro-lined handles. They also added a removable shoulder strap to help delivery staff carry heavy loads long distances.
In keeping with the KFC brand signature, the designers selected a bright red polyester for the bag’s cover. And they placed stitched logos on all sides of the case. These two style choices accentuate the KFC brand image.
KFC officials loved the final design, and the bag became very popular. As a result, KFC restaurants across the country now use them.
Finalizing Your Food Service Case Design
Designing a food service case that’s functional and stylish is easier than you might think.
If you’re ready to start designing a case for your company, contact Tetrafab to learn more about how our team can help.
