The History of Pizza Boxes Design

The Surprisingly Ingenious World of Pizza Box Design

Everyone loves pizza, right? It’s a proven fact. But it’s a lesser known fact that no-one loves pizza quite as much as Scott Wiener, the man who has devoted his life to the cheesy treat. Wiener has made a career out of running pizza tours around his native city of New York, and in his spare time he collects pizza boxes and reviews them on his Youtube channel, as well as writing for pizza themed publications and travelling around America eating pizza. He’s even written a book about the humble pizza box. Scott’s work has truly pushed the pizza box into the spotlight.

Many of us don’t put much thought into the vessel of our favourite treat, but there’s definitely room for improvement. Pizza can arrive cold, soggy or greasy, and the box is usually to blame. However, over the past few years the world of the pizza box has suddenly become an area of design innovation that aims to solve all of our pizza problems and reach new heights of perfection.

We haven’t collected hundreds like Scott Wiener, but here are five of the best pizza box designs that are leading the revolution.

Hell Pizza

The Problem – Nowhere to store your leftovers

The Solution – Hell Pizza’s Coffin Box

This hell-themed pizza parlour from New Zealand has been in trouble with Christian groups for naming their pizzas after the seven deadly sins, but it’s definitely in the design world’s good books after coming up with the ‘Coffin Box’. Through a series of perforations and flaps, a Hell Pizza box can now turn into a mini coffin to house your last slice, perfect to pop into the fridge for breakfast without taking up any room. The best touch is the little message on the side that says “For Your Remains”.

Eataly

The Problem – Cold pizza and a greasy box

The Solution – A super special inner sleeve

Gourmet pizza company Eataly has invested in a pizza box that costs twice as much to produce than your bog standard box, but with lots of great features. Alongside a fantastic ventilation system, the Eataly box also has a special layer inside made of an aluminium/polyester mix that keeps your posh pizza lava hot and leaves not a trace of grease on your box, which makes the cardboard much easier to recycle.

Green Box

The Problem – Wasting non-recyclable pizza boxes

The Solution – A perforated box that doubles as a plate for your slice

With a tagline like ‘Our Planet, Our Responsibility’, you know GreenBox is deadly serious about saving our world through the medium of pizza. The box itself is made of 100% recyclable material and is made up of several ‘plates’ that can be broken off and used to serve the slices up, saving on washing up water and hassle.

Pizza Hut

The Problem – Realising your pizza is cold before the delivery person runs away

The Solution – The Pizza Hut ‘HotSpot’

Starting in New Zealand (an unexpected hub of pizza box innovation!), the Pizza Hut hot spot is a neat piece of pizza box technology that tells you if your pizza is hot or not. Made out of high technology dyes that go transparent at a certain temperature, if the spot is clear, revealing the word ‘HOT’, then you know your pizza is ready to be gobbled down.

VentIt

The Problem – Soggy Pizza

The Solution – A patented and simple ventilation system

Vinay Mehta, a businessman from Mumbai with over 35 years experience in the less than thrilling world of cardboard, designed a pizza box that caused a huge stir amongst the small but fierce pizza box loving community in 2011, when he released his VentIt box. Hailed as the world’s best pizza box by Scott Wiener (and he should know), the VentIt solved an age old problem with a shockingly simple solution. Mehta built a box with three layers, including two thin pieces of cardboard with a series of holes and a corrugated sheet in the middle that allowed steam to escape while keeping in the heat. The result? A crisp, warm pizza. This genius box is booming in popularity in India, but we’re pretty sure it’s going to be the future of your Friday night in.

Alex is a writer for KSF Global, a retail design solutions company. She loves all aspects of innovative design, but not as much as she loves pizza (with extra jalapenos!).