The inner wall is 304 stainless throughout — the grade matters because lower grades pick up odours and pass them to whatever goes in next. The closure seals inverted, which is the only test that matters for something that travels in a bag.
In practical terms that means a few specific things: The 304 liner throughout — the grade decides whether it holds odours, and lower grades do. Snaps. The footprint fits a normal bag without displacing everything else. The closure seals under inversion rather than merely closing, which is the only test that matters for something carried in a bag. The 304 liner does not hold odours, so yesterday’s curry is not in tomorrow’s porridge. The steel grade resists corrosion from salt, acid and long contact with hot food.
Also on the buyer’s checklist here: inner liner, no rusting, no flavour transfer, no breakage, food-grade materials, the plastic grade, outer shell, odour resistance.
Buyers come back to this one for a combination of reasons rather than a single feature: complaints are rare enough that the buyer stops budgeting for replacements; mixed-colour containers let them test the range before committing capital to one colour; the entry quantity is low enough to trial without a warehouse full of stock; the complaint rate is low enough that they stopped budgeting for replacements. None of those is a claim about the product on its own — they are the reasons a buyer gave when they placed a second order, which is a different and more useful thing.
Also cited on repeat orders: inner liner, no rusting, in stock, minimum order, mixed loading, full container, shipment planning, consistent retail, reorder.
Choosing between them
How TM-1001 compares with the rest of the range
Buyers rarely arrive knowing which model they want — they arrive knowing the brief. This table is the fastest way to check whether TM-1001 is the right answer or whether a sibling fits better. The row highlighted is the one you are looking at. Every model listed runs from 500 pieces per design.
plastic body rather than steel, which keeps the price down
50
Every model above ships from 500 pieces per design. Mixing several of them in one container is normal — a 20ft container holds roughly 26 m³ of cartons, so a mixed load is planned on carton volume rather than on piece count. Send the full list at enquiry rather than model by model.
Who is buying TM-1001, and what they do with it
A supermarket chain in Malaysia takes this one for students and families, and from there out to smaller shops downstream; and carried as part of a wide assortment rather than deep stock on any one line. On the buying side: and end-user repurchase is strong enough that the facing keeps earning its space.
Also on the buyer’s checklist here: gifting, stores, students, minimum order.
End uses we actually see: a commute where there is no microwave at the other end; a packed meal; party favours and school-year gifts; desk use through a working day; gifting; event giveaways. Those are the briefs this model was shaped around, and it is why the spec looks the way it does.
Also on the buyer’s checklist here: students, packed meals, office workers, commuting, office use, gifting.
A harder run we did on this model: A buyer in Indonesia placed a large single order across mixed colours with their own logo printed timed to a seasonal peak. We ran the line on overtime and moved their batch up the queue, running printing in parallel rather than in sequence. They have reordered 3 times. We mention it because a deadline is the one thing a factory cannot negotiate after the fact — either the line is free or it is not, and knowing which is the useful answer.
Also in play on that job: mixed loading, full container, peak season, custom decoration, expedited.
Importers & wholesalers
This model packs 60 per carton (62cm×47cm×65cm for the base size — the full carton table is in the spec above), and that number decides how many pieces fit a 20ft container far more than the FOB price does. What decides your landed cost here is the carton, not the unit price: ask for the container plan before you fix a retail price, because a wide-body jar fills a 20ft on volume long before it hits the weight limit. We quote EXW Yongkang, FOB Ningbo or Shanghai, or DDP door to door, and we will say which of the three costs you least given where you are rather than defaulting to whichever is easiest for us.
Brand owners & private label
TM-1001 ships in yellow only, so any other shade is a dedicated 1,000-piece run rather than a stock pick. Budget it as three lines, not one: decoration sits inside the unit price, a matched Pantone is its own spray run from 1,000 pieces, and packaging is separate with its own tooling and proofing round. Brands that budget these as a single number are the ones surprised at quotation: decoration sits in the unit price, a matched Pantone is a separate spray run from 1,000 pieces, and a printed colour box carries its own tooling and one proofing round. We sign an NDA before you share artwork, and a shape you tool for stays reserved to you — the same terms we have run with Hallmark since 2017 and with KRAUS for over ten years.
Retail chains
TM-1001 packs 60 per carton, so a 12-store drop lands on a clean carton multiple rather than a split case. Retail-ready means more than a colour box: UPC or EAN printed and scan-tested before the carton is sealed, carton marking to your own packaging manual, and inner counts that match what your DC expects. A barcode that fails at the till becomes a chargeback, and it is entirely preventable at our end: we print and scan-test every UPC or EAN before the carton is sealed. Ask for the retail packaging spec sheet with your first quote — it lists carton dimensions, inner counts and the UPC placement we scan-test before sealing.
Promotional distributors
TM-1001 runs 3 capacities on one design, so a mixed-size order still moves as a single production run rather than 3 queued ones. Work backwards from the in-hands date, not forwards from the order date: 7–10 days for a pre-production sample, about 30 days production after approval, then 30–35 days sea freight to Europe or 25–30 to the US west coast. Production is 30 days after deposit and artwork approval, plus 7–10 days for a printed pre-production sample, plus sea freight — roughly 30–35 days to Europe, 25–30 to the US west coast. Late artwork is normal in this business; a date discovered late is not survivable — artwork approval is what starts the 30-day production clock, not the deposit. Tell us the date at enquiry and we will say honestly whether it is achievable.
End users & institutions
On TM-1001 laser engraving is the safe call for daily institutional washing. FNSKU labels, Prop 65 and suffocation warnings applied here, cartons built to FBA dimension limits, and we can split a shipment across fulfilment centres if you send the plan. Doing it at the factory removes a prep-centre handling fee and about a week of transit on every restock. Watch dimensional weight on this category — the carton is light for its size, so FBA usually bills on volume.
Failures we hear about from buyers who switch to us
Almost every buyer who moves this product to us arrives with the same list of complaints about a previous supplier. Worth knowing whoever you end up buying from.
✓
An inner wall that is not really 304
Lower grades rust and hold odours, and food picks that up immediately. Ours is 304 throughout, stated on the invoice.
✎
Lids that do not lock
The most common complaint we inherit: a container that seeps into a bag once is never bought again. Ask any supplier to run an inverted seal test with liquid in it, not just show you the gasket.
⚑
Importers & wholesalers
— A good fit — this one already ships in mixed-colour containers for buyers testing which colours move. Stock colours are yellow, and 500 pieces per design gets you started rather than 5,000.
◷
Brand owners & private label
— Yes. Three separate lines to budget: the logo sits in the unit price, a matched Pantone is its own run at 1,000 pieces, and packaging is third — this model ships in a printed colour box as standard, and anything else is a separate tooling and proofing round.
☑
Retail chains
— Currently on shelves through buyers in this channel. Retail-ready colour boxes, printed UPC or EAN, and we scan-test the barcode before the carton is sealed.
⚙
Promotional & gifting
— One of the stronger uses for this model. Give us the in-hands date at enquiry rather than after artwork approval — we work backwards from it and tell you honestly whether it is achievable.
End users & institutions — Suited to schools and campus retail, offices. For institutional buying, specify laser engraving rather than print — a printed logo on a coated body typically fades within one season of daily commercial dishwashing, while an engraved mark is cut into the 304 steel and does not.
Not the right pick if… — you need food to stay hot for hours. This model is not vacuum insulated — it is a container, not a flask. Look at our vacuum range instead and we will point you at the closest equivalent.
Where TM-1001 is actually made
Eight workshops in Yongkang, Zhejiang, running since 1998 — mould development, vacuum welding, injection moulding, spray painting, laser marking, printing, assembly, inspection and packing, all in one building. For TM-1001 the stage worth watching is compartment moulding and lid tooling.
Lunch boxes live or die on the lid. The body is straightforward — 304 liner, or food-grade PP on the vented models — but the lid carries the gasket, the latch and, on tiered models, the weight of everything above it. Injection moulding and gasket fitting run in the same building as assembly, so a lid problem is caught on the line rather than in a container. On the three vacuum models the liner is drawn and vacuum-tested as a semi-finished part, same as our flasks. On the compartment models the check is different: fill, close, invert, and watch the seams between compartments — a box that leaks soup into the rice reads as a defect even though nothing left the box.
We inspect 8% of every batch rather than a fixed sample per shipment. Buyers are welcome on site — eight workshops in Yongkang, Zhejiang, running since 1998, about three hours by road from Ningbo port and two from Hangzhou airport, which makes a factory visit a realistic side trip rather than a separate journey. Ask to see that bench specifically; it is where the difference shows — we check vacuum integrity on 100% of bodies at the semi-finished stage, before assembly and coating, because a micro-leak is undetectable once the jar is built.
Is TM-1001 the right one for your programme?
Importers & wholesalers — A good fit — this one already ships in mixed-colour containers for buyers testing which colours move. Stock colours are yellow, and 500 pieces per design gets you started rather than 5,000.
Brand owners & private label — Yes. Three separate lines to budget: the logo sits in the unit price, a matched Pantone is its own run at 1,000 pieces, and packaging is third — this model ships in a printed colour box as standard, and anything else is a separate tooling and proofing round.
Retail chains — Currently on shelves through buyers in this channel. Retail-ready colour boxes, printed UPC or EAN, and we scan-test the barcode before the carton is sealed.
Promotional & gifting — One of the stronger uses for this model. Give us the in-hands date at enquiry rather than after artwork approval — we work backwards from it and tell you honestly whether it is achievable.
End users & institutions — Suited to schools and campus retail, offices. For institutional buying, specify laser engraving rather than print — a printed logo on a coated body typically fades within one season of daily commercial dishwashing, while an engraved mark is cut into the 304 steel and does not.
Not the right pick if… — you need food to stay hot for hours. This model is not vacuum insulated — it is a container, not a flask. Look at our vacuum range instead and we will point you at the closest equivalent.
FAQ
Ordering TM-1001 — common questions
Why TM-1001 rather than another model in this range?▾
This one runs 400 ml / 800 ml / 1200 ml, and it is the one with a shape that suits gift programmes. End users are office workers carrying a hot lunch, commuters, students and school lunches, gifting programmes, desk and office use. If your brief is different from that, say so in the enquiry — we would rather point you at a sibling model than sell you this one and have it come back.
What is TM-1001 made of?▾
304 stainless steel inner, plastic outer. The grade matters more than buyers expect: lower-grade steel picks up odours and passes them to whatever goes in next, and thin plastic warps in a dishwasher. We state the material on the invoice so there is no ambiguity later.
Which colours can we order TM-1001 in?▾
Stock colours are yellow — those run from 500 pieces per design. A matched Pantone is a separate spray or resin run and starts at 1,000 pieces. Mixed-colour containers are normal here: several buyers deliberately split a container across colours to see which ones move before committing to one.
How do we brand TM-1001?▾
Silk screen for one to three flat colours, UV digital for full colour, heat transfer for a wrap. Laser engraving does not apply — it is a stainless process. If your programme pairs this with a steel product under one brand, expect two decoration methods and two slightly different results; plan for that at design stage.
What is the MOQ, lead time and carton spec for TM-1001?▾
From 500 pieces per design in stock colours; a matched Pantone starts at 1,000 because a custom colour means a dedicated run. Production runs 30 days after deposit and artwork approval, sample in 7–10 days. Packing is 60 pcs per carton at 400ml: 62cm × 47cm × 65cm; 800ml: 62cm × 47cm × 66cm; 1200ml: 76.5cm × 54cm × 26cm. We quote EXW Yongkang, FOB Ningbo or Shanghai, or DDP if you would rather we handled duty and delivery.
Get a quote on TM-1001
Tell us the quantity, colours and how you want the logo applied — we reply within 24 hours, Monday to Saturday.
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