Ramadan Packaging & Iftar Menus in Dubai: Order Timeline & Real Prices (2027)

Ramadan 1448 is expected to begin around 8 February 2027, subject to moon sighting — which means the packaging decisions get made in November and December 2026, not in January. Every year the same thing happens in Dubai: restaurants and retailers wait until three weeks out, discover that custom boxes need six weeks of production, and end up with plain packaging and a gold sticker. This guide gives you the actual order timeline plus real AED prices: gold-foil Ramadan tags at AED 425 per 500, custom food-board boxes at AED 3,360 per 100, iftar menus at AED 270 per 1,000, and branded double-wall cups from AED 0.94 each.

The Ramadan print calendar, working backwards

Count back from an expected 8 February 2027 start. Confirm the date locally as it approaches — but build your production plan on these gaps, which do not change:

The one date worth circling: early December. If your custom boxes are not briefed by then, they will not be custom.

Ready-stock Ramadan items (1 working day)

Start here, because these are the items that turn ordinary packaging into Ramadan packaging without a die or a six-week wait. All ship from ready stock:

• 500 Ramadan stickers with gold foil — AED 400. 4.5 × 4.5 cm, one roll of 100 in a mix of white, black and blue. AED 0.80 each.
• 500 Ramadan tags with gold foil (black or white) — AED 425. 5 × 9 cm, with hole and rope, 100 per packet. AED 0.85 each — the single best-value Ramadan upgrade we sell.
• 5 rolls Ramadan ribbon with gold foil — AED 450. 1 inch wide, 25 yards per roll.

Put together, a plain kraft box plus a foiled tag and ribbon reads as a designed Ramadan hamper for under AED 2 of decoration. That is the move for any business that missed the December window. Full range in the sticker and label collection.

Gift boxes and hampers

Corporate iftar hampers, retail Ramadan boxes and restaurant gift sets all come out of the custom box printing collection. Realistic tiers:

• 50 black gift boxes with magnetic closure, size XL — AED 1,900 (AED 38 each). Plain stock box, ready to dress with a foiled tag.
• 50 black plain gift boxes, A3 size, magnetic closure — AED 2,200 (AED 44 each). The large-format hamper box.
• 50 luxury black plain wooden gift boxes, size XL — AED 2,550 (AED 51 each). For the top 20 client gifts, not the whole list.
• 100 custom boxes, 35 × 25 × 10 cm, 400 GSM food board, black print — AED 3,360 (AED 33.60 each). Fully printed, food-grade — the right call for dates, sweets and bakery.
• 100 corrugated boxes, 35 × 25 × 10 cm, black print — AED 1,500 (AED 15 each). Half the price, correct for volume delivery.
• 100 hard-case magnetic boxes, 35 × 25 × 10 cm — AED 7,350 (AED 73.50 each). Flagship gifting only.
• 50 plantable kits with GHAF seeds in a kraft box — AED 790 (AED 15.80 each). The sustainability angle, using the UAE's national tree.

A note on quantity: the price break between corrugated and printed food board is 2.2×. If your hamper contains sealed product, corrugated plus a foiled tag delivers 80% of the perceived value for under half the cost. Save the printed food board for anything a customer opens and eats directly from.

If your Ramadan spend is gifting rather than packaging, our Ramadan 2027 corporate gifts guide covers the item side — including gahwa cups at AED 14 and cork-base ceramic cups at AED 6.50.

Iftar and suhoor menus

Ramadan menus are a separate print run from your standard menu, and they are almost always short-run because pricing and availability change. From the flyer collection, which is what most iftar menus are printed as:

• 1,000 flyers A5, 170 GSM glossy — AED 270 (AED 0.27 each). The standard iftar menu insert.
• 500 flyers A4, 170 GSM glossy — AED 260 (AED 0.52 each). Full set menus with two or three courses.
• 1,000 flyers A6, 170 GSM glossy — AED 240 (AED 0.24 each). Delivery-bag inserts and suhoor offers.
• Tent cards — AED 625. Table-top set menus and iftar timings — the item that stops your floor staff repeating the same three questions all evening.

One operational tip specific to Ramadan: print iftar timings only if you are prepared to print two versions. Maghrib time moves roughly an hour across the month, so most Dubai restaurants print a timing table for the whole month rather than a single time. Layout and material options are in our menu and table mat printing guide.

Delivery, takeaway and in-store packaging

Ramadan is the UAE's biggest delivery month. Your branded packaging does more marketing in those 30 nights than the rest of the quarter combined.

• 1,000 double-wall cups 8 oz — AED 940 (AED 0.94 each); 1,000 at 12 oz — AED 1,120; 2,000 at 12 oz — AED 1,850 (AED 0.93 each). Full range in the paper cup collection.
• 100 readymade A3 paper bags, 250 GSM, 1-colour — AED 900; A4 at AED 850. From the paper bags collection.
• 500 Euro premium black paper bags, 13 × 22 × 8 cm, 250 GSM, gold metallic print — AED 2,470 (AED 4.94 each). Gold on black is the Ramadan retail standard for a reason.
• 1,000 economy gold-foil stickers, glossy laminated — AED 460; die-cut gold foil at AED 510. Seals for bags, boxes and containers.
• Table napkins — AED 895 and cocktail napkins — AED 985 for iftar service.

Bag sizing for iftar volumes is covered properly in our paper bag printing guide, and the wider F&B set-up in the restaurant packaging guide.

Three realistic Ramadan budgets

Each line is a live store price, so you can rebuild any of these from the Ramadan printing page.

FAQ

When does Ramadan 2027 start, and when should I order packaging?

Ramadan 1448 is expected to begin around 8 February 2027, subject to moon sighting. Order custom printed boxes in early December 2026 (nine weeks out), printed cups and bags in late December, menus in early January, and ready-stock foiled tags and stickers by mid-January. The December deadline is the one that matters — everything after it has a workaround, and custom boxes do not.

What is the cheapest way to make packaging look like Ramadan packaging?

A gold-foil tag on a plain box. Five hundred foiled Ramadan tags are AED 425 — 85 fils each — and they turn a standard kraft or black box into a seasonal one without any custom printing. Add foiled ribbon at AED 450 for five 25-yard rolls and you have dressed several hundred units for under AED 900 total.

Can I print iftar timings on my menu?

Print a monthly timing table rather than a single time. Maghrib shifts by roughly an hour across Ramadan, so a single printed time is wrong within days. Most Dubai operators put the full month's table on the reverse of an A5 menu — it costs nothing extra on a two-sided print and customers keep it.

What is the minimum order for custom Ramadan boxes?

Fifty pieces for ready-made gift boxes with magnetic closure, 100 for fully custom printed boxes. Below 100 on custom printing, the die and set-up dominate the unit cost and you are better served by a stock box plus foiled tags. Our guide to printing MOQs explains where each threshold sits and why.

Do you deliver outside Dubai during Ramadan?

Yes — Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ajman and the northern emirates run on the same production schedule with one to two additional days in transit. During Ramadan, build in the extra day: delivery windows across the UAE compress around iftar and traffic patterns change. Order to arrive three days before you need stock on shelf, not the day before.

Are your prices VAT inclusive?

Yes. Every price on the store includes 5% VAT, and delivery within Dubai is free. There are no artwork or set-up charges — and if you do not have print-ready files, our free design service turns your idea into artwork at no cost.

Start your Ramadan order

Tell us your outlet count, expected covers and whether you are packaging for delivery, retail or corporate gifting, and we will come back with a quantity plan and a production calendar counting back from the first night. Browse the gift and packaging boxes or the foiled tags and stickers for live prices, or start from the Ramadan printing page.

Call 0522100909 or WhatsApp +971 52 210 0909 — send your menu or hamper list and we will price the whole run.