Custom Printed Cup Sleeves.

Not really, once you count honestly.

A sleeve on its own is cheap. But the fair comparison is single wall cup plus sleeve against double wall cup, and those usually land at roughly the same cost per drink. You also carry two SKUs instead of one, and someone has to fit the sleeve on every cup — a couple of seconds that adds up in a morning rush.

The genuine advantages of sleeves are elsewhere:

• Artwork flexibility. Run four seasonal designs a year over one plain cup rather than printing and storing four cup variants.
• Sunk cup stock. If you already hold plain cups, sleeves brand them without writing that inventory off.
• Lower minimums per design, which suits collaborations and one-off events.

If you want one cup, one design, and the fastest service, a double wall cup is the better answer.

Very likely, but send us a cup or the exact specification rather than just the ounce size.

Paper cups are conical, and the important measurements are the rim diameter, base diameter and height — the taper. Two 12 oz cups from different suppliers can have noticeably different profiles, and a sleeve cut for one will ride up or slide down on the other.

Fit is the main failure point for this product. Too loose and the sleeve slips off, especially once the cup gets damp. Too tight and staff struggle with it during service, which is worse than no sleeve at all.

Most menus are covered by two sleeve sizes — one for 8 oz and one for 12/16 oz, since those two often share a body taper.