Custom Pick and Mix Boxes

Windows, Bag Inserts and Liners

A window is the single most useful feature on a sweet box. Bright jellies, fizzy cola bottles and pastel sugared almonds sell themselves, and the window lets them. We cut the window to suit the artwork and cover it with clear film, positioning it so the sweets show at their best when the box stands upright.

Some shops weigh sweets into a clear cone bag at the scale and then drop the bag into a printed box. The bag keeps the mix sealed and stops sugar dust collecting in the corners, while the box gives the customer something sturdier to carry. We size the box around your cone or block-bottom bag so it stands upright without folding over. If you sell chocolates in separate cells rather than loose sweets, our sweet boxes with dividers are made for that job.

A thin glassine or greaseproof liner inside a box is a good idea for fudge, coconut ice and anything slightly sticky, so the board stays clean.

Sizing by Weight Rather Than Millimetres

Shop owners tend to think in grams, so start there. A box of about 90 x 60 x 110 mm holds roughly 100 g of mixed jellies, which is a typical kids' size. A box of around 120 x 70 x 140 mm suits 200–250 g, a 150 x 90 x 160 mm box takes about 400–500 g, and a sharing box of about 200 x 140 x 90 mm takes a 1 kg family mix. Foam sweets and marshmallows take up far more space per gram than dense jellies, so a box meant for 200 g of foams needs much more volume.

Test with your own stock. Fill a mock-up box with your heaviest and lightest mix and check the lid still closes. We can send a plain sample size before printing if you are unsure.

If you sell by price rather than weight, size the box so that a full box of your average mix lands at the price you want. Shops that charge a fixed price per box often choose a slightly smaller size than they first planned, because customers pack sweets tighter than expected.

Print and Board for Sweet Packaging

Folding board of 300–350 gsm suits most pick and mix boxes, giving a stiff, smooth surface that takes bright full-colour print. Kraft board looks lovely with a single bold colour and suits traditional confectioners and farm shops. Food-contact grade board is available on request for sweets that sit unwrapped against the card.

Bold, cheerful designs work best at a counter, but retro sweet shops often choose a simple stripe pattern in two colours that echoes old sweet jars. A matt lamination gives a soft modern feel; gloss makes colours shine under shop lighting.

Hang holes punched in the top flap let pre-filled boxes hang on pegs near the till, where impulse buys happen. Matching the box colours to your shop sign or awning helps the whole counter feel like one coordinated display, and it makes the boxes easy to recognise when customers carry them out.

Sweet Counters Beyond the High Street

High street sweet shops and retro confectioners are the biggest group, followed by cinemas, garden centres and farm shops with a sweet counter. Soft play centres and bowling alleys sell pre-filled boxes from the café counter. Party planners and wedding stylists order small favour-size boxes for sweet tables, and hotels and venues use them as room treats.

Market traders selling fudge and brittle by weight use window boxes to keep pieces separate and clean between the stall and home.

Cinema and leisure venues usually want sturdy boxes that can be held on a lap in the dark without spilling, so a gable or tuck-end style with a firm base works best there. Seaside and holiday shops sell pre-filled boxes as take-home treats, often with a design that shows off the shop front. Wedding sweet tables usually add sweet favour boxes for weddings in the same print.

Order Your Two Best-Selling Weights First and Add the Sharing Box Later

Pick and mix boxes are sized by weight, so start with the two weights you sell most, usually around 250 g and 500 g, and leave the 1 kg sharing box until you have seen how the first two move. For each weight, fill any box you have with your typical mix and note the volume, because jellies, foam sweets and fudge all take different space. Decide whether customers fill the box at the counter, which needs an open scoop or a tuck box that stays open, or if you pre-fill and seal with a window. If sweets touch the card, ask for food-contact grade board, and for sticky items plan a paper cup or divider insert inside.

Send the style, target weights, quantity and artwork, and a custom quote comes by email within one working day. The free proof shows the window position, any divider layout and the text. Production takes 4 to 7 working days after approval, boxes arrive flat by tracked courier to UK mainland addresses, and damaged or misprinted boxes reported within 10 days are reprinted or refunded.