OEM Factory 14oz/410ml 6.9"x4.3" Aluminum Foil Tray for Side Dish & Kids Meal

You don’t think much about a foil tray until you’re packing 300 kids meals before noon. That’s where this 6.89 by 4.33 inch tray comes in. It holds 410ml – about 14 ounces – which is enough for a scoop of mac and cheese, some green beans, and a small cornbread. The depth is 40mm, shallow but not flat. Shallow means you can stack them high in a delivery bag without crushing the food underneath.

One school kitchen we work with switched to this size last year. Before that, they used round plastic containers that didn’t stack well. Now they fit 40 trays in a single insulated bag instead of 25. The driver carries fewer bags, and the food stays hot longer because there’s less empty space.

The rim folds. You don’t need a machine. Just pinch and roll over the lid. It’s not for soup – the fold isn’t watertight – but for thick stews, baked beans, or rice bowls, it holds fine. A BBQ caterer told us they use these for their pulled pork sides. The lid keeps the smoke flavor in, and the shallow depth means the meat doesn’t swim in sauce.

From the factory floor, making a tray this shallow is actually trickier than a deep one. The aluminum has to stretch just right to avoid thin spots on the bottom corners. We run these on presses set to a slower cycle – about 65 pieces per minute instead of 80 – to keep the wall thickness consistent. The alloy is 8011, which is common for food containers. It gives you a bit of springback, so the rim holds its fold.

Why do restaurants keep buying this size? It’s not because of the fancy certifications, though we have BRC and FDA. It’s because the math works. A case of 1000 trays costs less than $0.10 per unit. Compare that to molded fiber or bioplastic, which can be double or triple. And aluminum doesn’t get soggy. Leave a plastic container in a hot delivery bag for 40 minutes, and the bottom softens. Aluminum stays rigid.

One customer uses these for frozen ready meals – a small lasagna portion, directly into the oven at 180°C. No need to transfer to another dish. Another uses them for catering sample spoons at food festivals, just a bite-sized portion of paella or risotto. The 410ml size is small enough to be economical but large enough to feel like a real side.

If you’re ordering wholesale, we pack 1000 per carton. The carton is standard – 36x28x24cm – so it fits on a pallet without weird overhang. Custom printing on the lid is possible if you need your logo out there.

So that’s the tray. Nothing magical. Just a shallow, foldable aluminum box that helps a kitchen move food faster, cheaper, and with less mess.