PACKAGING
The not so
HUMBLE
pizza box Daniel Schwitzer, director of communications & sustainability, at packaging company, amipak, gives us his take on the power of the pizza box. ICONIC As one of the most popular and recognisable dishes worldwide, most of us can name our favourite pizza quicker than we can dial our local takeaway. A piping hot circle of molten cheese, quick and easy to eat, and loaded with tasty toppings, there’s a reason why pizza is one of the most popular dishes on the planet. While the event around which pizza packaging history revolves is a subject of debate, many credit its widespread introduction to the founder of a certain global pizza chain – Tom Monaghan. The humble pizza box is a relative whippersnapper, born as recently as the mid-1960s at a time when large-scale pizza delivery was transforming the way we consume food. But making it from oven to doorstep isn’t always plain sailing. And in my opinion, businesses need to box clever to stay ahead of the competition at a time when the foodservice industry is again growing rapidly. A GREAT PIZZA WORK The modern pizza box is a modern marvel of minor, but well-formed proportions. Its simplicity allows it to circumnavigate many 26
competing constraints. Seal it up too much and the moisture will make the dough soggy. Vent it too much and you lose the heat. So, how do you get a warm, steam-emitting foodstuff from oven to doorstep inside 30 minutes without delivering a lukewarm, soggy mess? The solution lies in the box material. Simply slide the hot pizza into a corrugated cardboard box. Yes, the pizza still degrades a little over time, but products like these give your food products the best chance of travelling well. Pizzas are humid, crispy, and slick all at once, so the challenge is to keep the contents warm and release the right amount of steam to avoid creating a soggy, lifeless crust. Each flute of the corrugated substrate is a channel for steam to travel through and allowing steam to flow prevents condensation on the box’s interior. Light enough for easy delivery and sturdy enough to sustain rough handling, corrugated boxes can help to keep pizza intact, hot, and fresh. When the consumer opens the lid, they’ll be presented with a warm, fragrant wisp of steam and a perfect pizza – the ideal opening experience.
A SLICE OF GOODNESS However, these days, pizza boxes are so much more than a disposable cardboard box design with a lift top and folded sides, finished with a little illustration of a pizza chef... From a packaging point of view, they tick plenty of vital boxes. They’re resistant, easy to produce and recycle, well insulated and ventilated to keep the food warm yet dry, flat-packed and easy to assemble, and their stackability makes them ideal for transporting. But for many businesses, the boxes also represent a still as yet untapped marketing collateral - a chance to impress the brand upon customers. A perfect blank canvas for personal touches to enable connection with the customer. In terms of visual value, boxes have somewhere between five to eight minutes to visually engage with the consumer. Customised pizza box printing can be one of the most compelling strategies to give consumers the ultimate
level of experience. On top of using vibrant and eyecatching design, businesses have taken to turning the box into augmented reality board games, and even printing QR codes that link through to mood-setting Spotify playlists. A good packaging partner should be able to work with your specific menu and customer needs to develop a shortlist of options that can be used in a variety of ways. With tight kitchen spaces and even tighter budgets, it should only take a handful of packaging products to fit your full menu. So, from an 18” family-style pizza to a variety of side dish packaging, to corrugated liners and tripods too, some of the most desirable takeaway food around can now be served in appealing, customisable and table-ready pizza packaging. Not only can it maintain the food’s same beautiful look and feel, it helps fulfil the versatility of your menu, standardises portions, and drives the overall aesthetic you’re working to. Products should preserve the optics of the dish and help
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