Disposable Cutlery Buying Guide

Disposable Cutlery Buying Guide

Fast casual restaurants, food trucks, catering businesses and more need to provide disposable cutlery for their customers – choosing the right plastic cutlery can help you save money and provide a more premium dining experience for your guests. There are multiple different kinds and materials of plastic cutlery available. Each type has its own advantages and drawbacks. Learn about your options below, then order through Richmond Advantage and save! 

You can choose from pre-wrapped kits, individually-wrapped pieces or bulk-boxed disposable cutlery. We can even put together custom kits complete with branded napkins, moist towelettes and more just for you! We help our clients get the restaurant supplies they need conveniently and consistently at an affordable price, so you never have to worry about running out of your essentials. We’re your source for high-quality, bulk restaurant supplies.

Polypropylene

Colors: Black, White

Strength:

Flexibility: ✔✔✔ 

Eco-Friendly? No

Price: $

Polypropylene and polystyrene are your most common choices for plastic disposable cutlery. Of the two, polypropylene is more flexible. It’s ideal for lighter fare like soups, salads and stir fries. Since it’s flexible, it will bend before it breaks. However, polypropylene cutlery may not be strong enough to cut through things like steak, pork and chicken.

Polystyrene

Colors: Black, White

Strength: ✔✔✔ 

Flexibility: ✔ 

Eco-Friendly? No

Price: $$

By contrast, polystyrene is a much harder plastic. It tends not to bend and will snap when it fails. However, it’s much stronger and knife edges can be made sharper than polypropylene cutlery, so it’s a better choice for cutting through meats, When in doubt, we recommend choosing polystyrene over polypropylene to ensure you’ve got cutlery tough enough for whatever you’re serving.

PLA Plant-Based Plastic

Colors: White

Strength: ✔✔ 

Flexibility: ✔✔✔ 

Eco-Friendly? Yes

Price: $$$

There is one major drawback to polystyrene and polypropylene cutlery: it’s always destined for the landfill. Used cutlery made from these plastics is not biodegradable and can’t be recycled. However, plant-based plastic called PLA (polylactic acid) is derived from sugarcane, corn and other plant materials. It’s strong enough to be used for all sorts of manufacturing and 3D printing applications and is already a popular choice for disposable cups at your favorite coffee spot and much more. Eco-friendly PLA disposable cutlery is biodegradable and is a great choice for businesses looking to project a greener image. Best of all, PLA cutlery is versatile for all kinds of different foods, with properties similar to both polystyrene and polypropylene traditional plastic cutlery. 

 

Cutlery Material

Color

Strength

Flexibility

Eco-Friendly?

Price

Polypropylene

White, Black

✔✔✔

No

$

Polystyrene

White, Black

✔✔✔

No

$$

PLA Plant-Based Plastic

White

✔✔

✔✔✔

Yes

$$$

 

FAQs:

Can You Recycle Plastic Cutlery?

No. Ordinary plastic cutlery can’t be recycled. That’s because the material is of no use after it’s been soiled with food, and the individual pieces of cutlery are too small and awkwardly shaped for the machinery at your local recycling center to break down. Regular plastic cutlery is always considered trash after use.

What Does the Weight Of Plastic Cutlery Mean?

In addition to the different plastic types, each type of plastic may be further broken down into “weights.” For example, here at Richmond Advantage, we stock Medium, Med-Heavy and Heavy weight polypropylene cutlery. The heavier the weight, the stronger and more resilient the cutlery is. Lighter weights by contrast are less strong and more flexible. Choose a lighter weight cutlery for lighter fare, and heavier weights for heartier dishes. 

How Much does Plastic Cutlery Cost?

Richmond Advantage makes plastic cutlery affordable for your food service business! While individual pieces and serving pieces are available, you may find buying individual disposable cutlery kits more economical. These kits come complete with a fork, knife, spoon, napkin and salt & pepper packets. A 250-count box of these kits can be had for under $20

Or, for those who want to buy each piece of the place setting separately, a 1000-count box of individually wrapped forks, knives or spoons can be had for $25 or less. Browse our selection to find the right choice for your budget (and if you’re buying individual pieces, don’t forget the napkins!). 

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