As the festive season approaches, Christmas markets, winter fairs and late-night shopping events bring plenty of opportunities for street food traders, mobile caterers and takeaway businesses. With colder evenings drawing in, warming street food and hot drinks are a popular addition to these seasonal events.
From traditional bratwurst and loaded fries to hearty soups, festive desserts and hot chocolate, there's plenty of choice when it comes to winter street food. But alongside planning the menu, choosing the right takeaway packaging is an important part of preparing for outdoor catering.
Customers at Christmas markets are often eating while standing or walking between stalls, so packaging needs to suit the food being served while being practical to carry and eat from.
At Diamond Catering Supplies, we offer a wide selection of street food packaging, including food trays, takeaway boxes, soup containers and disposable cups. Here, we look at some popular winter street food favourites and the packaging options worth considering for each.
Hot dogs, bratwurst, burgers and chips are familiar favourites at Christmas markets. They're straightforward to serve, easy to customise with toppings and well suited to customers looking for something warm to eat while exploring the stalls.
For these dishes, open food trays offer a convenient serving option, particularly when the food is intended to be eaten straight away.
Hot dog and baguette trays are a natural choice for bratwurst, hot dogs and filled rolls. Their elongated shape accommodates the bread and fillings, allowing customers to eat directly from the tray. Diamond stocks kraft and black hot dog trays, alongside other food tray formats.
Chip trays and kraft food trays are useful for traditional chips, loaded fries and smaller street food portions. Available in different sizes and materials, including kraft paperboard and bagasse, they provide options for everything from a simple portion of chips to more generously topped dishes.
For burgers, sandwiches and filled rolls, greaseproof paper can be used to wrap the food or line suitable trays and boxes. It's particularly useful for handheld items where sauces and fillings are involved.
Our Hinged Containers & Chip Trays category includes a variety of kraft food trays, hot dog trays and bagasse chip trays, while our Greaseproof Paper range offers plain and printed sheets in different sizes.
While open trays are well suited to food eaten immediately, some winter street food dishes benefit from deeper containers or packaging with a lid.
Loaded fries topped with chilli, cheese or gravy, jacket potatoes with generous fillings and hot rice or noodle dishes are all examples where the portion size and consistency can influence the choice of packaging.
Hinged food boxes, including clamshell-style containers, offer a practical way to serve larger portions and meals with several components. The integrated lid also makes them worth considering when customers may need to carry their food around an event.
Diamond stocks a selection of hinged food boxes in materials such as bagasse, paperboard and microflute board, with different sizes and shapes available to suit the food being served.
Kraft food cartons and takeaway meal boxes provide another option for hearty dishes such as curries, rice, noodles and pasta. These are available in a variety of capacities, with different closure styles and constructions depending on the product.
For dishes with generous sauces or gravies, it's particularly important to choose a container that is suitable for hot and wet foods, rather than relying on its appearance or material alone.
Explore our Hot Food Boxes & Containers range for food cartons, takeaway boxes and other packaging formats for hot food-to-go service.
A hot bowl of soup, stew or chilli can be particularly appealing on a cold winter evening, making these dishes worth considering for Christmas markets and other outdoor events.
Seasonal soups such as roasted butternut squash, tomato or winter vegetable are straightforward menu options, while heartier dishes such as chilli and stews can provide something more substantial.
For these foods, lidded soup containers offer a practical alternative to open bowls, particularly where customers need to carry their food away from the stall.
Paper soup pots are available in different capacities, allowing caterers to select a suitable size for smaller servings or more generous portions. Diamond's range includes kraft and white soup containers, as well as Vegware options, with matching lids available across selected ranges.
When choosing soup containers, check that both the pot and lid are suitable for the intended food and serving temperature. Lid compatibility is particularly important, as containers with similar capacities don't necessarily use the same lid dimensions.
Our Soup Containers & Lids category includes individual containers, compatible lids and selected cup-and-lid packs for takeaway foodservice.
Savoury dishes may be a mainstay of winter street food, but Christmas markets are also known for their sweet treats and warming drinks.
Freshly prepared crêpes, waffles and churros offer plenty of opportunities for seasonal flavours, including cinnamon sugar, chocolate, spiced apple and gingerbread.
The packaging requirements will depend largely on how these desserts are presented.
Crêpe cones offer a convenient format for folded crêpes, allowing customers to hold and eat them without needing a plate. Diamond stocks paper crêpe cones alongside other takeaway food trays.
For churros, simple paper cones or food trays can be considered depending on the portion size and any accompanying sauces. Waffles served with several toppings may be better suited to a deeper tray or suitable takeaway box.
Small Deli Pots & Lids can also be useful for serving suitable sauces and cold accompaniments separately, with the container material and temperature suitability checked for each application.
Hot drinks are another important consideration for traders attending Christmas markets and late-night shopping events.
From traditional tea and coffee to hot chocolate, spiced chai and other seasonal drinks, choosing the appropriate takeaway cups can make a difference to how drinks are served outdoors.
Diamond's Hot Cups & Lids range includes single-wall, double-wall and ripple-wall cups in different sizes, alongside a selection of compatible lids.
Double-wall and ripple-wall designs provide additional layers compared with standard single-wall cups, making them useful options to consider when serving hot drinks at outdoor events.
For a more seasonal presentation, our Christmas Coffee Cups collection includes festive designs from Fiesta and Vegware, with sizes including 8oz, 12oz and 16oz across the range.
With so many packaging formats available, the best starting point is to consider the food you're serving and how your customers are likely to eat it.
A Christmas market visitor enjoying a hot dog while walking between stalls has different requirements from someone carrying away a portion of curry or a hot bowl of soup.
Before choosing packaging for your winter street food menu, consider the following:
Small serving accessories are worth considering alongside the main packaging. Disposable Cutlery, including forks, spoons and chip forks, can be useful for dishes such as loaded fries, noodles and desserts. Paper Napkins are another practical addition, particularly for handheld foods and meals served with sauces.
It's also worth testing your chosen packaging with a complete serving before the event. This can help you assess portion capacity, lid fit and how easily the food can be handled once packaged.
From hot dogs and loaded fries to warming soups, takeaway meals and festive hot chocolate, winter street food covers a wide variety of dishes, each with its own serving requirements.
Choosing suitable packaging helps caterers prepare for the practical demands of Christmas markets, winter fairs, late-night shopping events and other outdoor catering occasions.
At Diamond Catering Supplies, we stock an extensive range of takeaway packaging and disposable foodservice supplies, including kraft food trays, hinged containers, food cartons, soup pots, hot cups and serving accessories.
Whether you're preparing for a seasonal market or supplying takeaway food throughout the winter, explore our Street Food Packaging and wider Takeaway Packaging ranges to find suitable options for your menu.
