We’ve all used them and greedily stuffed our faces out of one of these at some point in our lives.

Over the past ten years, with the increase in the chaos of daily life and the decrease in spare time, consumer markets have been graduating more and more towards convenience products, and it’s no different with the food industry.

The drastic increase in fast food eateries, takeaway joints, and home deliver fast food services has simultaneously seen a massive growth in the food container industry, and the shining stars seem to be the takeaway cups and containers.

The paper cup industry has seen humongous growth and changes over the years, constantly revolutionizing it’s products to adapt to the changing needs of the market. The industry started out with basic paper glasses and cups that we all drank from as kids in birthday parties and bowling alleys, which arose from the need of disposable containers for drinking.
Unbreakable and easily disposable, these paper glasses grew to be widely loved by frantic mothers and fast food diners for serving their guests, and at cinemas for serving fountain drinks.

The next popular insurgency in the paper cup market came from the advent of the famous ‘cup corn’ which referred to steamed corn soaked in butter served in a paper cup.
Cup corn was popular in cinemas, theaters and fast food vendors on the streets, and from that point on the wide use of these user friendly cups opened the eyes of ambitious entrepreneurs to the huge untapped market of disposable cups and containers. After this, the world saw paper containers becoming more and more popular in the market.

Big fast food brands such as Mc’Donalds and Burger King began packaging not only their drinks but also food items in paper containers.
Chinese fast food and delivery restaurants had a ball with the common acceptance of these containers. Delivery and packaging became easier, and this led to the development of the ‘eat-out-of‘ containers.

These containers were shaped and created in such a way that one could simply pop off the lid and stick a spoon in the box and eat straight of out it.

Consumers began to prefer this method of packaging over the regular plastic containers due to it’s convenience value. No washing or cleaning required, no need for utensils. Order, eat out of the box, and dispose of it in the garbage. Simple, quick, and easy.

The 21st century has brought on a wide awareness among people regarding the growing need for eco-friendly disposable items, and the need for renewable ans sustainable energy. All over the world people are beginning to feel the effects of global warming, and more and more people are habituating the use of recyclable materials into their everyday life.

This awareness and green revolution pushed the paper cup industry to begin producing their containers and cups using recyclable eco-friendly materials.

Many consumers intentionally and actively purchase ‘green’ rated products, including containers, in an attempt to reduce their carbon footprint. In today’s day and age, paper cups come in a variety of different sizes, colors, types and combinations to suit the needs of different consumers all over the world.Takeaway cups and containers have become a common household items and is not only used on a commercial basis, they are in demand at home by mothers preparing school lunches for kids and teenagers living on their own for packaging their meals without having to go through the effort of washing dishes.
For those who don’t know how to operate a dishwasher, paper cups are the solution to all their problems.

Customizing takeaway containers has also become a popular practice in recent years. Fast food restaurants and take away eateries have replaced the old and mundane plain white containers with customized cups carrying their logos and fancy  and trendy artwork to suit.

Even small time home based caterers have begun customizing their packages to carry names, logos and messages to their customers. Designer cups and containers have become a widely loved concept. Designer cups come in varieties of different patterns, colors, shapes and carrying capacities, and some gutsy and wild – hearted youngsters have produced fabulous and unthinkable designs.

Thermal cups are a popular favorite among coffee shops for their heat retention properties.

The world has gone wild with its sense of design and one can see impeccably intricate graphics and wittily composed art on the face of all takeaway cups and containers.

The design marvel hasn’t limited itself to only the cup though. It has been carried forward to the engineering aspect of the lids of the containers as well. Thousands of different types of lids have been created to suit different purposes, depending on what cup they’re made to fit on.
Intelligent design has produced equally intelligent lids, with flaps to open and close when in and not in use, to anti back-flow lids that prevent spilling and leakage when used with a straw.
Some smart lids are also made to interlock or join with other lids or cups in a way where they can both be carried together with convenience. And the lit goes on and on. One can see that it is inevitable that in current times no matter what purpose it’s meant to serve, you are sure to find a takeaway cup or container that suits your needs.

The increasing urgency of the situation with our ecosystem is creating a need for the use of recyclable materials which should be enough to urge people towards buying more eco-friendly products.

Using paper cups helps reduce the usage of water which would otherwise be wasted on heavy load dishwashers and jet sprays, and the use of recyclable papers for making these cups ensures that we reduce our carbon footprint in any small way we can.

If you’re running your own food business this could be a cheap and easy option for delivery and takeaway packaging, and don’t forget the fabulous makeover you can give your cups with customized graphics and logos which can be useful in attracting more customers.

Paper cups are easily available across millions of manufacturers and even more vendors and re-sellers, and are a cheap convenient option for everyone!