The Pizza Box of the Future

A history lesson: there was a time when most music was delivered on round things called compact discs (CDs). When they first hit the market, CDs were shipped in jewel cases (the small plastic square things the discs were stored in), that were then placed in long cardboard boxes. Some musician named Don Henley decided that huge cardboard box was unnecessary and wasteful, and with some appropriate publicity, the music industry decided to ship CDs simply shrink-wrapped in plastic.

Fast-forward about two decades later, and some other round things that we like quite a bit, commonly called pizzas, are still shipped in large, wasteful packaging, and no members of The Eagles have jumped up to demand change. With the average pizzeria in the United States using 55 boxes per day, a pair of Beijing’s premier pizza guys, Gung Ho! Pizza’s Jade Gray and Rich Akers, last year took a look at the pizza box of the future, soliciting designs and ideas from throughout the Beijing community.

Gung Ho! co-founder Gray kicked things off with his own concept. “Jade’s design is made of plastic and consists of two detachable halves. The lid (the top part) slides off the bottom half which forms a tray. As a result, you can easily put the pizza in and out of the box. It is also easy to wash and reuse,” Gung Ho wrote.

Also contributing to the mix was the company’s marketing director Akers. “The lid is made of flexible plastic and collapses to be stored flat. A cardboard is used as a tray (and for hygiene). During deliveries, the cardboard tray is left with the customer and the plastic sleeve is taken away. In addition, the cardboard tray can be folded in half to create a smaller box to store leftovers in the fridge,” the company said.

But the winning design was presented by Jennifer Thome, a former editor and writer for True Run Media, the parent company of the Beijinger. “With this new pizza box project she wanted to show that small things can have a great impact. Jennifer designed a pizza box made out of polypropylene (a recyclable kind of plastic).

The whole pizza box is made out of plastic as well as the bottom consisting of a cardboard slider to give to the customer. The bottom front panel of the box has a “pizza release panel,” which folds down so you can easily reach under the slider to take out the pizza. The lid is not a traditional folding lid, but a lift-off lid for easy cleaning. There are two holes on each side of the card box for air ventilation to keep the pizza nice and crispy!”

Although Thome’s design has yet to go into production and use at Gung Ho! or elsewhere, the quest for a better pizza box continues.

Photo: Courtesy of Gung Ho! Gourmet Pizza Kitchen