1400 ml / 1600 ml / 2000 ml, double-wall vacuum 304 stainless. It is the one with compartments that come apart for cleaning and stack back without a diagram, a shape aimed at site and factory canteens. Custom logo from 500 pieces.
The vacuum layer is what makes this work: with almost nothing left to conduct heat away, hot food stays above serving temperature through a working day, and in the larger sizes you can pour in boiling water and raw rice in the morning and open cooked congee at lunch. 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.
Also on the buyer’s checklist here: inner liner, no flavour transfer, advantage.
The detail behind that claim: The 304 liner throughout — the grade decides whether it holds odours, and lower grades do. Parts that come apart for cleaning and stack back without a diagram. On cheap versions the lid leaks. 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. Thermal performance holds through a working day rather than fading after the first hour, because the vacuum is drawn properly rather than partially. The 304 liner does not hold odours, so yesterday’s curry is not in tomorrow’s porridge.
Also on the buyer’s checklist here: heat retention, cold retention, inner liner, no flavour transfer, lid, food-grade materials, gasket quality, double-wall.
The reorder logic, in the buyers’ own framing: complaints are rare enough that the buyer stops budgeting for replacements; the entry quantity is low enough to trial without a warehouse full of stock; we take mixed-colour part-container loads and rush orders rather than insisting on clean full-container runs; end-user repurchase is high enough that the retailer keeps the facing. We track this deliberately, because what makes a buyer come back is rarely the thing that made them enquire in the first place.
Also cited on repeat orders: no flavour transfer, inner liner, word of mouth, lid.
Choosing between them
How TM-1004 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-1004 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-1004, and what they do with it
A hotel group in Bangkok, Thailand orders this one regularly. It also goes through an industrial buyer; and the orders themselves are for staff welfare packs. Worth noting how they buy: ordering in volume.
The use cases behind the orders: a commute where there is no microwave at the other end; a packed meal; camping and days out; shelf retail; staff welfare and corporate packs; desk use through a working day; canteen service. The spread matters commercially: a model that only suits one of these is a harder listing to justify.
Also on the buyer’s checklist here: office workers, commuting, packed meals, office use, outdoor use, camping, retail.
A job worth mentioning: A buyer in Bangladesh with their own logo printed. We ran the line on overtime and moved their batch up the queue, we split the run across batches so the first pallets could ship while the rest finished. They now order on a monthly cycle. We would rather show a job that stretched us than a routine one, because the routine ones tell you nothing about what happens when something goes wrong.
Also in play on that job: part container, expedited production, shipment, custom decoration, consistent reorder.
What TM-1004 means for each kind of buyer
Six kinds of buyer order this range, and each gets caught by something different. Below is what changes when the model is TM-1004; the questions that apply to every model are in the lunch boxes buyer guide.
Importers & wholesalers
This model packs 12 per carton (67cm×47.5cm×21cm 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.
Brand owners & private label
Stock colours are not fixed on TM-1004 — tell us the shade at enquiry and we will confirm what is on the shelf before you commit to a Pantone run at 1,000 pieces.
Retail chains
TM-1004 packs 12 per carton, so a 12-store drop lands on a clean carton multiple rather than a split case.
Promotional distributors
TM-1004 runs 3 capacities on one design, so a mixed-size order still moves as a single production run rather than 3 queued ones.
End users & institutions
On TM-1004 laser engraving is the safe call for daily institutional washing.
Failures we hear about from buyers who switch to us
The complaints below come from buyers who arrived here after a bad run elsewhere. Ask any supplier about them directly — the way they answer tells you more than the answer.
✓
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.
✎
A vacuum that fades
A weak draw passes a same-day test and disappoints two months later. We check vacuum integrity on 100 % of bodies as semi-finished parts — before assembly, before coating — because on a finished branded unit the flaw stays invisible until it becomes your customer’s problem.
⚑
Importers & wholesalers
— Workable from 500 pieces per design. At 12 pcs per 1400ml: 67cm×47.5cm×21cm; 1600ml: 67cm×47.5cm×24.5cm; 2000ml: 76.5cm×54cm×26cm carton, a 20ft container takes roughly 2,900 pieces of this model alone — worked from the biggest of this model’s carton sizes, and confirmed on the pro forma once the load plan is fixed. Tell us the full model list at enquiry rather than one at a time — the quote changes when several models share a colour run or a carton size.
◷
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.
☑
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 canteens and site catering, 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.
Where TM-1004 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-1004 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-1004 the right one for your programme?
Importers & wholesalers — Workable from 500 pieces per design. At 12 pcs per 1400ml: 67 cm×47.5 cm×21 cm; 1600ml:67 cm×47.5 cm×24.5 cm; 2000ml:76.5 cm×54 cm×26 cm carton, a 20ft container takes roughly 360 pieces of this model alone. Tell us the full model list at enquiry rather than one at a time — the quote changes when several models share a colour run or a carton size.
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.
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 canteens and site catering, 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.
FAQ
Ordering TM-1004 — common questions
Why TM-1004 rather than another model in this range?▾
This one runs 1400 ml / 1600 ml / 2000 ml, and it is the one with compartments that come apart for cleaning and stack back without a diagram, a shape aimed at site and factory canteens. End users are office workers carrying a hot lunch, commuters, outdoor and camping use, camping, desk and office use. If that does not describe your programme, send us the brief instead of the model number — picking from a catalogue is how buyers end up with the wrong one.
How long does TM-1004 keep food hot?▾
At 1400 ml / 1600 ml / 2000 ml, expect around 12 hours with a full fill, less if it is opened repeatedly or only half filled. The double-wall 304 stainless body is the reason: with the air drawn out between the walls there is almost nothing left to conduct heat away. Two habits worth printing on your packaging — rinse with boiling water before filling, and fill it as close to the top as practical.
Can TM-1004 be made in our brand colour?▾
Yes. This model ships in its standard finish from 500 pieces; a matched Pantone means a dedicated run and starts at 1,000. Send the Pantone reference with your enquiry — we match against an approved physical sample rather than against a screen, because screens drift and a sprayed body in your hand does not.
How do we brand TM-1004?▾
For a brand colour we spray the body first and print onto the coating — two operations rather than one, so it shows in the price. For a mark that never wears, laser straight into the steel. Which is right depends entirely on whether the product lives on a desk or behind a bar.
What is the MOQ, lead time and carton spec for TM-1004?▾
Minimum is 500 per design, or 1,000 if you need the colour matched rather than chosen from stock. Production runs 30 days after deposit and artwork approval, sample in 7–10 days. Packing is 12 pcs per carton at 1400ml: 67cm × 47.5cm × 21cm; 1600ml: 67cm × 47.5cm × 24.5cm; 2000ml: 76.5cm × 54cm × 26cm. Our plant is about three hours from Ningbo port, so FOB Ningbo is usually the cleanest route; EXW and DDP are both available.
Is this the same thing as a "lunch box with thermos"?▾
It is the same job done in one piece. When buyers search for a lunch box with thermos they usually mean a metal lunch box packed alongside a separate vacuum flask — the format most of us grew up with. TM-1004 puts the vacuum into the box itself: the stacking body is double-wall 304 with the air drawn out between the walls, so the food stays hot for hours without a second container to carry, wash and lose. If your programme really does need the two-piece set, we make matching vacuum food jars and can quote the pair as one line and pack them in one colour box — tell us at enquiry, because it changes the carton plan.
Get a quote on TM-1004
Tell us the quantity, colours and how you want the logo applied — we reply within 24 hours, Monday to Saturday.
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