Why do we need packaging?

For a busy chocolatier, one of the primary objectives is to achieve the most amazing flavours, packed inside a chocolate that both looks stunning and creates a mouth-watering desire to be eaten. This takes hard work, dedication and time.

Your packaging is one of your best sales tools; your brand ambassador. It is normally the first thing that your customers see and is crucial to the buying process.

Why Packaging from Keylink?

You want your chocolates to stand out from the crowd and work hard for you, and this is where we can help!

At Keylink, we provide a comprehensive range of different ways for you to communicate your story, show off your chocolate creations and your brand to your customers, and entice them to buy.

We offer a huge array of packaging options that you can buy off the shelf and use to create your own unique look with your logo or by mixing and matching different colours and adding the flourishes of ribbons and bows.

What you need to consider

Folding or rigid packaging?

Great packaging doesn’t have to be expensive. If you want quality at the lowest outlay, then the folding range is for you.

We have lots of different folding boxes, from the spectacular colours of our Cosmopolitan range to textured board boxes, chocolate bar and slab sleeves, Easter egg boxes and inserts, ballotins and transparent boxes in an array of sizes.

Pros of folding boxes:

• Inexpensive
• Premium look
• Small pack sizes
• Flat packed – less storage
• Easy assembly

Cons of folding boxes:

• They do require assembly.

If you prefer rigid boxes and still want to achieve a really premium look, then take a look at our rigid box collection. It includes our newest range - square boxes, that you could buy in two colours of the same size and mix and match, to make your own unique look. Or try our rectangular box range, which contains a collection of different plain and patterned alternatives with both card lids or transparent.

Pros of rigid box ranges:

• Luxury look
• Competitively priced
• Range of sizes and shapes available
• Small pack sizes

Cons of rigid box ranges:

• More storage room is needed.

Transparent lids or rigid card lids?

If you want your customers to be able to see the chocolate creations in the box, then completely transparent lids are an option, and you can have your logo printed on them too!

Cardboard with a transparent window?

These are perfect to give a snippet of what’s inside without giving away the surprise. Again, you can have your logo printed on as your branding is key!

Cardboard lids?

If you want to keep the delights of the inside as a surprise, then you could use ribbons to decorate and make more of a feature of your logo on the lid.

A note on recycling...

Much of both our transparent and cardboard packaging is recycleable, and we are working closely with our suppliers as an ongoing project to keep you informed as any changes come into place - so keep an eye on our website for up to date information on this.

We also offer bags made from biodegradable and compostable film, which are very popular, but you must be aware that if your products are presented outside, for example at a farmers’ market or craft fair, weather conditions can affect these as damp conditions may begin the biodegrading process.

Bags

Our range of bags is very large and includes hard bottom bags - both plain and patterned -that can stand up on your shelves when containing even very lightweight contents. Bags are also available for a range of chocolate bars, chocolate figures and for general use. We have re-sealable bags, paper carry bags and have just introduced cone bags too.

Pros of bags ranges:

• More cost effective than boxes
• Variety of sizes and styles
• Mostly transparent to show your products off
• Easy storage
• Ideal for point of sale

Cons of bags ranges:

• Most bags require some way of closing the bag.

Ribbons and fastenings

We have a range of ribbons to cover all requirements. Pre-tied bows are hugely popular, with a twist tie to make closing bags very quick and easy.

Pros of our ribbons and fastenings range:

• They give your products a premium finish and a way of closing your packaging at the same time.
• Another way of adding your personality, or colour scheme to your packaging

Cons of our ribbons and fastenings range:

• For some people tying the bows can be an issue, but we have online videos to help. Pull-bows make ribbon tying very simple.

Your logo on your packaging

You can have your logo printed on almost any of the boxes or bags purchased from us. This is the best way to exploit the power of packaging - by using it to market your brand to your customers and have your name remembered. This process is known as hot foil blocking, and all we need is the artwork of your logo in the right size.

Semi-Bespoke packaging

If you are interested in having your rectangular range of boxes in your brand colours, you can select from the GF Smith Colorplan ranges and we can work with our supplier to have this produced for you.

This is normally a 4-6 week process.