Packing Couroc trays is important.  Broken trays can be prevented.

Nearly all Couroc products are made of a proprietary formula of Phenolic Resin.  There are exceptions; glasses (obviously) and very old transparent Couroc.  All Couroc products can break if shipped incorrectly.  They are especially prone to cracking from a sharp blow, like being dropped.  The larger types of trays (15" and 18" wide) are vulnerable to being crushed as the outer lip of the tray will transfer force to the feet on the underside of the tray resulting in a nasty crack.

Too often I have purchased a beautiful tray and had it show up in pieces.  Insurance seldom helps as the damage is almost always preventable.  I would estimate that 10 out of 100 trays I received ended up ruined.  Out of this same 100, another 15 to 20 made it through despite the poor packing.

Here's what you should do:

- Find the right box.  It must have room all around the tray on all sides - a couple of inches at least - for packing material.

- If possible, wrap the tray in paper - bubblewrap can screw up the finish.  Also, I find that a piece of half inch styrofoam insulation taped to the outside of the paper levels the middle of the tray with the lip allowing it to take much more weight without breaking.

- Cushion the tray.  You must wrap the tray in cushioning of some sort.  It should be wrapped around the tray and taped so that it cannot seperate from the tray.  Packing peanuts alone will not keep the tray from moving to the edge of the box where it will probably lose a corner.

- Fit it in the box.  Use something to make sure the tray cannot move around.  Sliding around will almost always result in a break.  When you are finished, you should be able to shake the box and nothing inside should move.

If you follow these steps your results should be excellent.  Please let me know if you have any further suggestions or feedback. Oh, and if you have an opinion, please take a second and click on the "was this guide helpful to you?" box below.

Likelihood of a Couroc product breaking in shipping.

18" trays   HIGH

15" trays   MEDIUM

12" trays   MEDIUM-LOW

8" trays    LOW

6" x 7" trays   LOW

Two tiered servers   LOW if you disassemble for shipping

10" plates     LOW

14" platters   MEDIUM

12" bowls    LOW

15" bowls    MEDIUM

10" Oblong tray   LOW

Glasses   -  ???

Boxes of all type    LOW

Ashtrays     LOW