Branded cups for pubs and bars are reusable plastic cups printed with your venue name or logo, used in place of glass for beer gardens, outdoor terraces, events and busy service. For a UK pub the right cup is a UKCA marked line measure that is safe, durable and cheap enough to reuse all season.
We make branded cups at our factory in the North East of England, and pubs are one of the most common buyers we deal with. The questions are almost always the same: which size, is it legal, how much does it cost, and how long does it take. This guide answers each in order, written from the production side rather than a sales brochure.
Why pubs and bars switch to branded cups
The obvious reason is safety. Glass on a packed terrace, at a beer festival or around a stage is a hazard, and a lot of licensing conditions now push venues toward plastic in outdoor and high footfall areas. A branded reusable cup removes the breakage risk while still looking like part of the venue rather than a throwaway disposable.
The less obvious reason is marketing. A cup with your logo travels around the beer garden all afternoon, gets photographed, and often goes home in a bag. That is your branding in front of customers for the price of a cup, and because the cup is reusable the cost per impression is tiny. A pub that runs a deposit scheme on branded cups turns the cup into a keepsake and recovers most of the stock at the same time.
Sizes and compliance for bar service
For serving draught beer or cider to a legal measure, you need a UKCA marked line measure. Our pint to line cup is 568ml at the printed line with room for a head, and the half pint sits at the half measure. Both carry the UKCA mark applied during production, so they are legal for stated measure service. If a cup is only used for cocktails, spirits or soft drinks, the line mark is optional and a to-brim format gives you the full volume.
Every cup is moulded from BPA-free, food-grade polypropylene, is dishwasher safe, and is made in the UK. That combination matters behind a bar because your cups go through a commercial glasswasher constantly, and cheaper imported stock tends to warp or lose its print. Here is the specification at a glance.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Minimum order | 50 cups |
| Price from | £0.22 per cup at volume |
| Standard lead time | 10 working days |
| Express option | As fast as 48 hours |
| Measure marking | UKCA marked line measures |
| Material | BPA-free polypropylene, dishwasher safe |
| Origin | Made in the UK |
Print, cost and how much to order
You have two print routes. Single colour screen print is quick and clean for a wordmark or simple logo, and it suits a single site pub testing the water. Full colour in-mould printing fuses the design into the cup wall, so a photographic or multi-colour design costs the same as one colour and survives hundreds of washes without fading. For a venue running cups across a whole season, in-mould is the durable choice.
Pricing is volume driven and starts from £0.22 per cup at higher quantities. A 50 to 250 cup run costs more per unit because setup is fixed, so a single pub launch pays a little more per cup than a multi-site group ordering thousands. To hold the right stock, work out your busiest session, double it, and order enough to cover a weekend without a mid-service shortage. You can browse the full range on our products page or the dedicated branded cups landing page.
Getting your order right first time
Send a vector logo, decide whether you need the UKCA line measure, and pick your size before you talk quantities. Standard lead time is 10 working days from artwork sign-off, with a 48 hour express tier for genuine emergencies. If you want a deeper walk through print methods and artwork prep, our guide to cups with your logo covers it in full. When you are ready, send your spec and we will come back with a price, lead time and a free digital proof.