With more people shopping online, selling cakes on the Internet has become an important part that helps the baking industry grow. But cakes are easy to break and change shape, so delivering them is a big problem that stops the industry from developing. According to the "2024 Baking E-commerce Logistics Report," 38% of complaints are about broken cakes—this happens because the packaging is not good. Every year, this brings billions of yuan in losses. Now there are rectangular cake boards. They are not just a better kind of packaging material. Instead, they give a good way for online shopping. They basically solve the delivery problems that the industry has had for a long time.
Addressing the Three Core Pain Points of E-commerce Delivery
Online cake shopping has special problems in the delivery process. From the cake shop to the buyer, the cakes have to go through at least five steps: sorting (putting things in order), moving, and delivering. If people don’t handle the cakes right in any of these steps, the cakes can get broken. There are three big problems: the cakes fall apart, leak oil, and aren’t well protected during delivery. These problems make buyers unhappy and hurt the brand’s good name.
Cakes often collapse because their supporting part doesn’t work well. Traditional round cake board can’t hold much weight. When multi-layer cakes are moved (and the ride is bumpy), their center of weight easily shifts. This makes the cream change shape and the layers in the middle collapse. A chain cake brand did a test: They simulated 30 minutes of delivery. For cakes on round trays, 65% collapsed a little or a lot. But for cakes on rectangular boards (same thickness as the round ones), 92% stayed intact. The rectangular shape makes the tray touch more of the cake’s bottom. This spreads the cake’s weight evenly on the whole tray. Plus, the rectangular board has a 1.5cm-high edge that stops things from spilling. It’s like a "tray + small fence"—giving two kinds of protection. Even if the delivery stops suddenly or has other rough shakes, the cake won’t shift easily.
Oil leakage is a concern for both food hygiene and packaging aesthetics. The oil and jam in cream cakes are prone to leakage due to temperature fluctuations. Traditional paper trays often absorb oil, causing the structure to soften and even contaminate the outer box.
The key to protecting cakes during delivery is being able to stand hits. Stacking and storing packages is common in online shopping delivery—and this needs packaging that can hold a lot of weight. Rectangular cake boards are stronger because they have a three-layer structure: - The top layer is 250g imported kraft paper (it makes the board hard). - The middle layer is corrugated paper (the kind with small folds, which softens hits). - The bottom layer is 200g gray-backed white board (it makes the board flat). With this structure, a single 30cm x 20cm cake board can hold 5kg without changing shape. This fully meets the needs of stacking express packages. A fresh food online store did a test: they dropped cake packages from 1.2 meters high. Only 12% of the packages with rectangular cake boards had broken edges or corners. That’s much lower than the industry’s average of 45%.
The Dual Advantages of Structural Innovation and Customized Services
Rectangular cake boards’ advantage is not just about solving existing problems, but also about their ability to change easily to meet different needs. The reason they have a stable structure is that materials science and engineering design are closely combined.
When it comes to choosing materials, this product has three kinds of custom options: - The basic model uses 350g white cardboard. It’s good for small, single-layer cakes. - The enhanced model uses 500g composite cardboard. It works for celebration cakes with up to three layers. - The flagship model uses food-safe honeycomb cardboard. Its six-sided honeycomb shape spreads out pressure, so it can hold big, decorative cakes with 8 or more layers. A baking studio said that using the flagship cake board successfully sent a six-layer fondant cake to another province—something that was impossible before.
Size customization breaks the limitations of traditional packaging standards. Using digital cutting equipment, the cake board specifications can be precisely adjusted to the size of the cake mold, with a minimum error of 0.5mm. For custom-shaped cakes, a "rectangular base + custom-shaped rim" combination is also available, maintaining the stability of the rectangular structure while accommodating specialized styling requirements. A popular Beijing cake brand customized a 28cm x 18cm cake board for its popular "Starry Sky Mousse." The edge is laser-engraved with a planetary orbital pattern, making the packaging itself a recognizable part of the brand.
Personalized printing also makes brands more valuable. It supports techniques like hot stamping (printing with hot metal), UV printing, and embossing (making patterns stick out). Brands can put their logos, product stories, and even QR codes into the design. A high-end wedding cake brand in Shanghai prints a dark outline of the couple’s wedding photo on the cake board. They also add a date with hot stamping. This makes the packaging part of the wedding memory. This new design made the number of customers buying again go up by 30%.
Value Reconstruction in Line with Market Trends
Now the baking market is changing from "buying for taste" to "buying for experience." According to a Meituan baking industry report, by 2024, consumers will pay 47% more attention to "cake appearance" than last year. And their need for "cakes arriving in good condition" will reach 92%. This trend needs packaging solutions that balance good looks and usefulness.
The design idea of rectangular cake boards fits this need very well. Their simple shape lines go well with many kinds of cakes—from simple naked cakes with buttercream to fancy European-style cakes with decorations. The rectangular base makes the cake look special. Compared with round trays, the rectangular shape is easier to put in gift boxes. It also reduces empty space during shipping and leaves more room for decorations. A creative baking brand’s “Constellation Cake” series uses the flat surface of rectangular cake boards. They put edible star decorations on it. This makes sure the cakes stay in their original shape after delivery. As a result, the cakes got 200% more attention on social media.
This extended practicality has also created new consumer scenarios. Rectangular cake boards made of biodegradable materials can be used directly as serving plates. A parent-child cake brand's "DIY Cake Set" features a partitioned plate with cartoon-shaped cutting lines, allowing parents and children to share the cake without the need for additional cutlery. This design increases the product's price premium by 15%.
Innovating materials when people care more about the environment shows its worth. This product uses paper with FSC certification and water-based ink. It can break down naturally 90% of the time, which fits what consumers want now—being good for the environment. After a chain brand started using this environment-friendly rectangular cake board, a survey about how much people like the brand found something. "Environment-friendly packaging" was the thing people mentioned most as a good point, making up 27%.
Benchmark Application in High-End Scenarios
In high-end places where quality is the most important, rectangular cake boards show their worth. At the 2024 Hangzhou International Wedding Expo, a top baking brand’s “Golden Years” themed wedding cake got a lot of talk. This cake is 1.8 meters tall and has six layers. It took 40 minutes to go from the workshop to the expo. In the end, it looked perfect—and that’s because of the custom-made rectangular cake board that supports it as the main part. What makes this solution special is its three custom designs: - The bottom cake board is made of 12mm thick honeycomb cardboard. It can hold up to 30kg. There are four hidden support feet to spread out the pressure. - The middle layer has different thicknesses. It goes from 8mm thick at the bottom to 3mm thick at the top. This keeps the board strong and also makes it lighter. - The surface has a food-safe gold film. It matches the gold decorations on the cake. The edges are cut with a lace pattern using laser. This makes the packaging and the cake look like one. The brand manager said, “Before, big cakes like this could only be made at the place where they’re used. Rectangular cake boards let us deliver more high-end custom cakes. Now we can take orders from 50 kilometers away, not just 5 kilometers.”
For business gifts, rectangular cake boards also bring surprises. A financial company made a cake to thank its customers. It used a rectangular cake board with gold stamping and embossing (a way to make patterns stand out). The board had the company’s logo and the words “Thank You” on it. After people ate the cakes, many kept the cake boards to use as special photo frames. This design—letting people use the board again—has made more people know about the company for over three months. From solving delivery problems to adding value to brands, rectangular cake boards are changing what online cake packaging is like. They are not just something to hold the cake. They also help brands and customers have a better experience together. As online baking businesses keep growing, this useful and new idea will definitely become an important part to help companies be more competitive.
Post time: Sep-15-2025