3

I am in need of a food container that is a specific dimension in this case (7.5"L x 3"W x 2"H) but I often need various sizes. I can't seem to find any in that dimension and I cant find a website that allows you to search by dimension. Can you custom order these types of containers or is there a website/dealer that allows you to search by dimension?

Edit: I wanted to add that I did find a company Placon who does custom food containers but its more for large restaurants and grocery stores I don't imagine they would do small batch custom containers. While this isn't what I had in mind it may be helpful to someone finding this question in the future.

landocalrissian
  • 133
  • 6
  • 1
    Have you tried Rubbermaid containers? They come in a variety of sizes. Their website only gives volume and not dimension, but a quick trip to the grocery store, Target, or Wal-Mart will allow you to see them in person. I think they are a little bigger than what you need (an inch or two), but that's better than smaller. Unless there's a reason you need exact measurements. – Brooke Jun 09 '15 at 17:58
  • Thanks @Brook I have seen them at the grocery store and Wal-Mart and they are almost what I need, but I do need specific dimensions to fit in racks or cases. I figure it may be difficult to find certain sizes but I was hoping there was an option for having them custom made, maybe not though or at least not for a small order. – landocalrissian Jun 09 '15 at 19:18
  • 1
    I was thinking you had something you were trying to exactly fit into them, not the other way around. I haven't heard of any place that custom makes containers, but I'll keep looking. Does it have to be a plastic food container? Maybe you could make something (trays) out of wood. Or maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond would have something in their bamboo (or metal) drawer organizer section. Maybe it could act as a shelf and you could put smaller food containers in those? – Brooke Jun 11 '15 at 12:34
  • @Brooke Good ideas I'll check out BB&B. – landocalrissian Jun 11 '15 at 13:15
  • 2
    If they don't have to be plastic containers, you can invest in a restaurant container system. Gastronorm containers are made out of metal (or maybe there are plastic too?) and while they don't come in *custom* sizes, they come in *standard* sizes, and the industry is full of racks and cases which fit these standard sizes in the most space efficient way possible. I don't know if Gastronorm is international, but if it isn't, there is a high chance that other countries have similar standards, even if they are mutually incompatible with Gastronorm. – rumtscho Jun 11 '15 at 14:22
  • @rumtscho These may be my best bet, though they aren't custom the wide availability of racks and cases is great. I am beginning to doubt that anyone will custom form containers for small batch orders so if you wanted to re-purpose this comment as an answer i'll accept. – landocalrissian Jun 11 '15 at 14:38
  • I wrote it. You are of course free to wait for somebody else to post about a company which does such custom orders without accepting, or to accept now and remove the mark if you get a better answer. – rumtscho Jun 11 '15 at 15:33

1 Answers1

2

The food and hospitality industry faces the same problem as you do: restaurants want to store food in a space-efficient manner, but for decades, a business model in which a mom-and-pop place gets a manufacturer to produce 15 containers of their perfect dimension was not viable. Nowadays mass customization is theoretically possible, but the industry has already solved the problem by a different way: standards.

Specifically, there is the Gastro-norm international standard for food container outer dimensions. (If you read German, click through to the German Wiki article, it is much more detailed). It is similar to the DIN paper sizes standard. Many manufacturers produce containers of these sizes independently of each other. Storage space manufacturers produce racks, cases and display systems designed to perfectly fit a given number of Gastro-norm sized containers. This might be the best solution you are going to find, as it is so widespread that I don't know of anybody trying to use a custom solution.

Note that I have seen these containers mostly used for display purposes in canteens. In this case, they were open stainless steel containers. So I don't know 1) if you can get them in plastic, and 2) if you can get covers for them, especially tight-fitting Tupperware style covers. I don't know if this is a deal breaker for you.

If they don't work, you can probably find a combination of plastic containers and storage cases which are close enough that you are only losing a minimal amount of space when fitting multiple plastic containers into a case, but it will need searching. Still, you're not losing more space than by, say, storing books on a shelf. If you get problems with transportation (containers shift in the box because they're not a tight fit), some reusable package fillers should take care of that.

rumtscho
  • 134,346
  • 44
  • 300
  • 545
  • Good answer, and they do come in plastic. The lids aren't as tight fitting as Tupperware but they are made to be taken on and off easily and I'm sure I could find a solution if I needed it to stay on tight. – landocalrissian Jun 11 '15 at 16:05