A PET cold cup looks like the simplest line on a packaging order: clear, familiar, cheap to ship. It is also the line where details decide whether drinks leave the counter without a leak.
What a PET Cold Cup Is, and What It Is Not
A PET cold cup is formed from polyethylene terephthalate, a rigid transparent plastic. It shows the drink, carries a printed or sleeved brand and stays rigid under ice. It suits cold service: juice, smoothies, iced coffee, bubble tea, desserts. It is not a hot-fill cup; for hot drinks, ask for PP. Maximum service temperature per size is [to be confirmed]; get it in writing.
Rim Diameter Comes First
Everything else follows the rim. Our PET cold cups are built in six rim families: 89, 92, 95, 98, 107 and 117 mm, from 200 ml to 1,040 ml. The 200 ml cup (S9207) sits on 92 mm, the 630 ml cup (S9820) on 98 mm, the 1,040 ml cup (S11732) on 117 mm. A lid is interchangeable only inside one family. Two suppliers' "98 mm cups" can still differ in rim outside diameter within tolerance, so a lid that snaps onto one may sit loose on the other supplier's cup. Ask for the diameter with tolerance, then test a sample.
Gram Weight Separates Two Cups of the Same Volume
Volume alone does not describe a cup. Two 400 ml cups on the same 89 mm rim weigh 10 g (S8912) and 11 g (S89B12); the 630 ml cup on 98 mm comes at 15.5 g or 16.5 g. That difference is wall thickness: rigidity in a full cup, resistance to cracking when cups are de-nested at speed, and less flexing as a lid goes on. A lighter cup suits fast, low-cost service; it is wrong where staff de-nest one-handed.
Cup, Lid and Straw Are One System
PET lids come in four profiles per diameter: flat, tall, straw and dome. Flat lids seal and stack, tall lids clear toppings, straw lids carry a pierced hole, dome lids carry desserts. Each has its own weight - 89 mm flat 2 to 2.3 g, 98 mm straw 3.8 to 4.5 g - which sits in your cost. Straw diameter must match the hole, and a straw lid will not fit a cup from another rim family.
What the Carton Tells You About Landed Cost
Carton configuration moves delivered cost more than unit price. Cups up to 98 mm pack 1,000 per carton, the 107 mm family 600, the 117 mm family 500, with lids following the same counts. Ask for carton dimensions and piece count, then work out cartons per pallet and container. A cup a few percent cheaper can cost more delivered if it cubes out early.
Documents to Ask For, and the Scope Line Inside Them
Two SGS reports sit behind this range; their scope is narrower than buyers assume.
The EU report is SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., SHAHG2123705201, dated 10 November 2021, on a PET cup lid, Item No. XYA 102. It covers Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 with amendment (EU) 2020/1245: overall migration below 3.0 mg/dm2 in 3% acetic acid and in 50% ethanol at 70 °C for 2 hours, against a 10 mg/dm2 limit; sensorial odour and taste to DIN 10955 at 0 points against 2.5; specific migration of heavy metals, primary aromatic amines, ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid, all not detected. All passed; the report covers the lid. An equivalent (EU) No 10/2011 report on the cup body is [to be confirmed].
The second, CANHL23006748201 dated 28 July 2023, covers PET cup, PET dome lid, PP cup, PP lid and PP straw under US FDA 21 CFR 177.1520 and 177.1630. For the PET cup and dome lid, chloroform-soluble extractives to 177.1630 were not detected in 8% ethanol and n-heptane, and reached at most 0.1 mg/inch2 in distilled water, at 120 °F for 24 hours against a 0.5 mg/inch2 limit. All passed. It is a US FDA report, not a substitute for (EU) No 10/2011.
Both reports predate the 24-month window several marketplaces apply to food-contact documents, and the 2023 report describes the articles generically, with no item number. If you list on a platform with a document policy, ask for a current report on your exact SKU, carrying your model number. Ask for the Declaration of Compliance: Article 15 and Annex IV of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 require it to name the article and cite the migration data relied on. Our DoC is [to be confirmed] pending a SKU-specific report, as is our recycled PET (rPET) position [to be confirmed].
How Does EU Regulation Treat a PET Cold Cup?
Under Directive (EU) 2019/904, bio-based and biodegradable plastics are managed as plastics. Cups for beverages and straws appear among the products listed in Annex Part B, and plastic beverage cups must carry the harmonised marking under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2151, away from the rim. Whether a cup falls within the Directive, and which national duties follow, depends on its construction and your market; final classification is the buyer's call.
Request the Datasheet and Test Reports
We supply clear PET cold cups from 200 ml to 1,040 ml on six rim families, with flat, tall, straw and dome lids to match. Tell us your market, sizes and drinks, and we will send the datasheet, both reports and a lid-fit sample.