How to Choose the Right Takeaway Container for Your Restaurant or Cafe

Read through the reviews of almost any Tbilisi restaurant on Wolt or Glovo and you will notice that many of the complaints are not about the food. They are about soggy khinkali, a khachapuri that arrived cold and flat, soup at the bottom of the bag. The kitchen did its job. The container did not.

Choosing one gets easier when you start from what you actually sell.

Start from the dish, not the catalog

Dish	What usually goes wrong	What to look for
Khinkali	Steam makes the dough soggy and the juices leak	A container with a slightly loose or vented lid, with sauce in a separate cup
Khachapuri	Grease soaks through and the soft cheese gets squashed	A rigid, deeper box. For Adjarian, a boat sized container with the egg and butter packed separately
Mtsvadi and grilled meat	Heat and grease	An aluminum container with a lid, which holds heat well
Salads, pkhali, eggplant with walnuts	Dressing pools and vegetables wilt	A salad container, with the dressing in a small cup
Soups such as kharcho or chikhirtma	Spills in transit	A deep container with a tight lid, filled a little below the rim
Coffee, lemonade, hot drinks	Leaks and burns	A cup with a lid that matches its diameter

Paper or aluminum

Aluminum holds heat longer and copes with greasy food, which makes it a natural choice for mtsvadi, kebabs and anything fried. The downside is that it cannot go in a microwave, and a lot of office workers in Tbilisi reheat their lunch. Paper containers are lighter, take a printed logo well and are easier to reheat, though you should check the specification of the particular product before telling customers it is microwave safe.

Both are on the right side of the plastic rules. Single-use plastic food containers and foam boxes have been restricted in Georgia since January, so there is no point planning around them.

The details that cause most of the problems

A lid that does not seal is the classic. Next comes size: a container that is too small makes the lid pop, and one that is too big lets the food slide around. Think about stacking as well, because delivery bags rarely stay flat. A kraft bag with handles carries two or three containers much better than a thin bag, and keeps them level.

Then there is travel time. A courier in Tbilisi traffic can easily take thirty minutes or more, so food that looks fine after five minutes in a container can look very different at the door. Hot food needs somewhere for the steam to go. Sauces and anything liquid need to stay sealed.

Test before you order in bulk

Order a small quantity of two or three options. Pack real dishes the way your kitchen does it, put them in a bag, carry them around for half an hour and open them at home. One test like that teaches you more than any product description. Since Yans delivers within Tbilisi the same day, you can test cheaply and reorder the winner without sitting on stock.

Look at the cost of a successful order

A container that costs a few tetri less but leaks is not cheaper. Add a refund, a replacement dish and a one star review and it becomes the most expensive option you have. Compare options by what it costs to get one order to the customer in good shape, not by price per piece.

Once you have found the container that works, buying it by the box keeps the unit price down, and you stop re-deciding every month.