Keeping Chocolate Safe in the Post

What actually damages chocolate in the post?

Three things cause almost every disappointed customer: movement, pressure and warmth. Movement means pieces sliding into each other, so dusting rubs off and painted shells scuff. Pressure means something pressing on the top of the box, so the lid flattens piping or cracks a thin shell. Warmth means a parcel left somewhere sunny or beside a heater, so the surface softens, blooms or marks.

Good packaging deals with the first two almost completely. The third is about timing and a little planning. None of it needs anything exotic: a well-sized box, the right insert, a pad on top and a snug outer carton do most of the work.

It helps to picture the journey. The parcel is lifted, dropped onto a belt, stacked under heavier parcels, sorted, loaded into a van and carried to a door. At every step it can be tipped or squeezed. Packaging that keeps each chocolate still and keeps weight off the top will cope with all of it.

How does each layer protect the chocolates?

Think of it as layers that each do one job. If one layer is missing, the others have to work harder and usually fail.

Which insert is best for posted boxes?

A formed food-safe PET tray is the safest choice for chocolates that will be posted. Each cup follows the shape of the piece and grips it at the base, so it cannot rock or slide even when the parcel is turned over.

A card insert holds firm pieces well on a counter, but soft or dusted pieces can shift in a hole cut in card. For mixed shapes, card dividers with a paper cup in each cell are a good middle ground. Our guide to inserts and trays for chocolates compares all three in detail.

Why does the gap above the chocolates matter?

Parcels are stacked, and the weight above presses on the lid. If the lid sits right on the chocolates, that pressure goes straight into them. A few millimetres of air above the tallest piece, plus a pad or glassine sheet, means the lid flexes before anything touches the chocolate.

Too much air causes the opposite problem: pieces can lift out of their cups when the parcel is upside down. The aim is a small, even gap, which is why we size the box depth from your tallest piece.

How should the outer carton fit?

Snugly. A printed chocolate box rattling in a large outer carton takes every knock at full force. Choose an outer that leaves only a small space on each side, and fill that space with paper so the box cannot move.

A box that will always be posted can have an outer carton sized to match it. We can supply plain outer cartons with your printed boxes so everything fits together from the first order.

Crumpled paper is the simplest filler, and most packing benches already have some. Whatever you use, push it in firmly enough that the box does not shift when you shake the closed carton gently.

What is the best packing order?

Pin this list near the packing bench. A few seconds per parcel saves a great deal of time spent on replacements.

1. Fill the insert or tray from the back row forward.
2. Lay a pad or glassine sheet over the chocolates.
3. Close the printed box and add a seal or band so the lid cannot slide.
4. Wrap the box in a sheet of paper to protect the print.
5. Place it in the outer carton with paper filling the gaps on every side.
6. Add a cool pack, if needed, so it does not touch the printed box directly.
7. Seal the carton and mark it as fragile.

How do you deal with warm weather?

Chocolate does not like warmth, and a parcel can spend time in a van or a sorting office. You cannot control the journey, but you can shorten it and soften its effect.

• Post early in the week so parcels are not held over a weekend
• Use a tracked service so you know where the parcel is
• Add a cool pack in warm spells, wrapped so it does not touch the box
• Tell customers when to expect the parcel so it is not left outside
• Hold back very delicate pieces in the warmest weeks

Our own boxes travel free and tracked to UK mainland addresses in 2 to 3 working days, which keeps the window for warmth short when we deliver empty boxes to you.

Which chocolates travel best?

Enrobed truffles, firm ganaches, solid bars and fudge travel well. Painted bon bons travel well in a tray formed to the mould. Cocoa bombs need a cup each, because the thin shell cracks if it rolls. Pieces with soft, high decoration, such as tall piped rosettes, are the hardest to post and are often better sold over the counter.

If you are building a range for online sales, it is worth choosing pieces with that in mind and keeping the most delicate ones for the shop.

Bars are the easiest of all. A wrapped bar in a printed sleeve or box slides into a small padded envelope and rarely suffers, which is why many makers start online sales with bars before moving to boxed assortments.

What mistakes lead to damaged parcels?

Posting a box with no insert is the most common, followed closely by an outer carton that is far too large. Others include a lid that touches the decoration, a cool pack laid directly on the printed box, where damp can mark it, and posting late in the week so the parcel waits over a weekend.

Each one is easy to fix once you know it is the cause. If you are seeing damage, look at which layer is missing.

Keep a note of every damaged parcel and what was inside. After a few weeks a pattern usually appears: one flavour that cracks, one box size that rattles or one week of warm weather. Fixing that one cause often clears up most of the problems at once.

How do you get boxes made for posting?

Tell us on the quote that the boxes will be posted. We will suggest a PET tray, size the box with a pad on top and offer a matching plain outer carton. The free design proof shows the box and insert before anything is made.

Card boxes are made in 4 to 6 working days after proof approval and rigid boxes in 8 to 10. We reply to every quote by email within one working day, and minimums are low and set per job.

If a customer reports damage to a box we made for you, a photo of the outer carton and the box helps us see which layer let the chocolates down.