Restaurants rely on takeout business more than ever before. Whether you are sending leftovers home with a customer or packaging up meals for delivery or pickup, you will need the right disposable products to get the job done – including a bag to carry the meal. This raises the question of whether it makes more sense to buy paper or plastic takeout bags for your business.
Plastic bags typically cost less than paper bags but often appear cheap. They are also harder to brand and usually can’t be recycled. For many restaurants, investing a bit more in custom paper bags is a smart move, as these bags can be recycled, comply with plastic bag bans, feel more luxe, and can more easily be printed with your business name and logo.
Disposable Design works with independently owned and operated restaurants, food trucks, coffee shops, and other businesses throughout the United States. We sell a range of high-quality custom paper bags, custom napkins, custom soup cups, and more. Each of our products can be customized to enhance your marketing efforts. Reach out today to talk to a member of our branding team about our paper bags and other promotional products.
Paper vs. Plastic Bags for Takeout
If you run a food service business, chances are good that you offer takeout in some form. For many businesses – particularly those whose main business isn’t takeout or delivery – this can present a challenge when it comes to packaging up meals to go.
As a business owner, you may be asking yourself a lot of questions about disposable products for takeout. What types of packaging should you use? How can you be sure that your packaging choices will be cost-effective and support your goals as a business? Will your customers be upset if you use a certain type of packaging?
One of the first decisions that you may make is whether to use paper or plastic bags for takeout. Below, we break down some of the pros and cons for each type when it comes to these bags.
Sustainability
For many companies, the question of whether to use paper or plastic bags depends in part on environmental issues. Surprisingly, plastic bags actually require fewer resources to manufacture than paper bags. Depending on the quality and thickness of the bag, it may also be easier to reuse these bags than paper bags.
However, paper bags still have an advantage when it comes to recyclability. Most local recycling centers won’t accept plastic bags for recycling – even if they are made out of plastic that can be recycled. They’re too lightweight for recycling to be cost-effective, and it can be hard to corral the bags in the machinery.
By comparison, paper bags can be recycled in almost every community. Most paper bags (without a wax or plastic lining) are also biodegradable, which means that even if they aren’t recycled, they will still break down over time. Perhaps more importantly, when paper bags degrade, they won’t release harmful microplastics that can damage our bodies and the environment.
While plastic bags may consume fewer resources when it comes to manufacturing, they are generally not as environmentally friendly as paper bags. If you want to make the more “green” decision, then custom paper bags are the way to go.
Cost
Plastic bags typically cost less to purchase than paper bags. Of course, pricing will depend on numerous factors such as the thickness and quality of each type of bag. As a general rule, plastic bags will cost less than paper bags. They may also be easier to store as they take up less space than paper bags.
The relatively low cost of plastic bags may have an impact on other areas of your business, however – such as customer perception. Plastic bags are inexpensive – and they often look cheap as well. Takeout orders packaged in a nicer paper bag are often perceived to be of higher quality.
Putting your best foot forward when it comes to packaging is an important way to grow your business and set yourself apart from the crowd. Companies like Chick-Fil-A are so successful in part due to smart packaging (custom bags with the red Chick-Fil-A logo). A takeout order in a paper bag just feels more special than in a thin, almost see-through plastic bag – which can help to boost sales.
Branding
It is far easier to print a name and logo onto a plastic bag than on a plastic bag. That is why you generally only see custom-printed plastic bags from major retailers like Target or Walmart – not mom-and-pop shops. Most independently owned restaurants that use plastic bags for takeout either have plain bags or something generic printed on them, like “Thank You.”
This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Marketing is a major part of running a successful business – and that includes branding. When it comes down to it, you don’t want your customers walking out of your restaurant or walking around with a cheap plastic bag that doesn’t have your business’ name on it. You want them to carry around a paper bag with your logo printed on it – which is basically free advertising for your business.
Along the same lines, custom paper bags are simply more “Instagrammable” than plastic bags. Few people will take a picture of a white plastic bag that contains their takeout – but they might snap and post a pic of a crisp white bag with a stylish logo on the front.
Because branding is so important to a business’s bottom line, paper bags have the edge here. The ability to print a name and logo onto your bags is a key benefit, and shouldn’t be overlooked when making a decision about what bags to use.
Customer Demand
The final issue to consider when it comes to deciding between paper and plastic for your takeout bags is customer demands. In other words, what do people want when they get takeout?
Every customer is different, of course. But as a general rule, many people prefer paper over plastic for environmental and aesthetic reasons.
While there is some debate about whether paper or plastic bags are better for the environment, many people are actively trying to eliminate plastic from their lives (such as by using glass food storage containers, beeswax cloth, or reusable storage bags). Regardless of what the science may say, on an instinctual level, your customers may believe that paper bags are the more eco-friendly choice.
This perception is reinforced by the ban on plastic bags in many states and cities across the United States. Currently, plastic bags are banned in California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. More than 500 cities and towns across 28 states also have plastic bag bans. Some communities haven’t banned bags outright, but require businesses to charge a fee to customers for plastic bags in order to reduce their usage.
The end result of these bans is that restaurants in some cities and states can’t offer plastic bags even if they want to do so. In other places, plastic bags may be available – but customers don’t have a favorable opinion of them. To satisfy customer demand, paper bags may be a wiser choice.
Customers may also prefer paper bags for aesthetic reasons. Simply put, paper bags look nicer than plastic bags and often feel more luxe. Using paper bags instead of plastic can be a great way to make your restaurant stand out and seem more upscale – even if you’re not a fancy or expensive establishment.
It’s also easier to make paper bags seem more modern – which goes along with certain trends. They photograph well, which can be great for social media and website content. Paper bags also look more “clean” than plastic bags, which can add to the overall appeal for customers.
Get Custom Paper Bags for Less from Disposable Design
Plastic bags are inexpensive but have a lot of downsides – including being hard to recycle, looking cheap, and being hard to brand. With a paper bag, you can put your logo front and center – and take advantage of the positive associations that many people have with the product. When you custom print a high-quality paper bag for your business, you can also take your branding to the next level.
At Disposable Design, we sell a full line of custom disposable products, including paper bags, recyclable plastic cups, foil sandwich bags, and more. All of our products are sold in smaller quantities and at fair prices so that small to medium-sized businesses can afford to buy our promotional products.
To learn more about our custom paper bags or to speak to a member of our branding team, fill out our online contact form or hit the live chat button at the bottom of the screen.
