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Disposable Plates and Bowls

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Disposable plates and bowls serve food at functions, markets and takeaway counters, where nothing comes back to the kitchen to be washed. They are chosen on rigidity before anything else: a plate that flexes when a customer carries it across a room with one hand is a failure, however good the print looks.

Material decides the behaviour. Bagasse plates, pressed from sugarcane fibre, are rigid and handle warm and oily food well. Coated board is lighter and cheaper for dry food. Rigid plastic is the most durable and the least popular with customers.

Disposable bowls are a separate decision again, because a bowl holds liquid and needs a lid if it is going anywhere. Think about them with the disposable cutlery, napkins and takeaway containers that go out with them.

Catering a function? The price guide has carton prices for the plate sizes, the bowls and the lids that match them, so one list covers the table.

These are the top FAQs for Disposable Plates and Bowls

Paper, bagasse or plastic — which holds up?

Bagasse is the strongest of the fibre options and takes hot, oily food without going translucent. Coated board is fine for a sandwich or a slice and poor under a curry.

Rigid plastic outlasts both and is the right answer where the plate is carried a distance or reused during an event. The reusable equivalents are in crockery if the event is on-site.

Will a disposable plate hold a hot, saucy dish?

A rigid fibre or plastic plate will. A thin board plate will soften where the sauce sits and then fail at the rim, which is where it is being held.

If the dish is wet enough to pool, use a bowl rather than a plate. A rimmed bowl and a lid travels; a flat plate does not. See commercial soup bowls for the reusable version.

What sizes does an event need?

Two plate sizes and one bowl covers most functions: a main plate, a smaller plate for canapes or dessert, and a bowl for anything with liquid.

Buy the main size deep and the others by the sleeve. Serving tools are the other half of it — see serving spoons and chafing dish sets and fuel.

Are bagasse plates actually compostable?

In a commercial composting stream, yes, which is what the material is designed for. In a general waste bin it behaves like any other fibre and goes to landfill.

The claim is only worth making if the waste stream exists behind it. Pair it with sorted rubbish bins and have a look at the rest of the eco friendly disposables range.

Do disposable bowls need lids?

If the bowl leaves the premises, yes, and the lid has to come from the same range. If it is eaten where it is served, a lid is waste.

Order lids at the same ratio as bowls for delivery, and not at all for a buffet. Mixing the two is where the over-ordering happens.

How do I stop plates flexing when they are carried?

Go up a grade rather than up a size. Flex is a function of material and thickness, so a smaller rigid plate carries better than a large flimsy one.

For a standing function, a plate with a moulded rim is far easier to hold one-handed. Food display baskets and trays take the load off the guest entirely.

What goes with them on a self-serve table?

Cutlery, napkins and something to hold them, then the serving tools beside each dish. A dispenser setup beats a pile for both hygiene and usage.

See napkin dispensers and cloches, food covers and lids for the rest of a self-serve line.