Blank for the Traditional Pizza Box
Correll Concepts – World Leader in Pizza Box Design Innovation™
The Traditional Pizza Box
Since the 1960s the most widely used pizza package has been the square corrugated box with the double-panel, or roll-over, front wall that connects with the side walls at the front corners. We call it the Traditional Pizza Box. It also goes by the names of "Walker Lock Box" and "Roll-over Box.
The blank for the Traditional Pizza Box looks like this.
Blank for the Traditional Pizza Box
Virtually all national pizza chains (excepting Domino's Pizza) have used the Traditional Pizza Box for decades. The vast majority of smaller chains and thousands of independents have been using it, as well. It's so widespread that pizza people tend to view it as the “ideal carton.” In fact it's far from it!
While it has a couple strong points (e.g., good stacking strength), the Traditional Pizza Box holds a number of substantial drawbacks. Unfortunately, it has been around for so long that most operators are oblivious to these problems. So for your convenience we describe them here.
The
Traditional Pizza Box Drawbacks
1
– Material inefficient. Due in large part to the double-panel
front wall, the Traditional Pizza Box uses much more material than is necessary
to create a sturdy, functional pizza carton. (To see how it happens, click
here.) When most pizza company executives first learn of this, they're shocked
and incredulous. In short, the Traditional Pizza Box is very UNgreen.
2 – Relatively expensive. Due in large part to the huge excessive material usage, the Traditional Pizza Box often carries a higher-than-necessary price tag (although many pizza company execs incorrectly assume that this box is the lowest-cost corrugated box option they could get).
3 – Crooked-stacking. Due to two tabs that project downward along the bottom of the front wall, the Traditional Pizza Box can create crooked, wobbly stacks resembling the leaning tower of Pisa.
4 – Unfriendly to in-box pizza-cutting with a rocker knife. Due to its permanently upright front and side walls, the Traditional Pizza Box is not well-suited for doing in-box pizza-cutting with a rocker knife. Therefore, if a pizza company's chosen cutting implement is the rocker knife, the pizza must be cut outside the carton and then slid into the box — called out-of-box pizza-cutting. This requires extra motion and frequently results in a misshapen pizza.
Here's what a pizza can look like after it's cut on a board and slid – or, perhaps more correctly, "thrown" – into the box. (This, by the way, is an actual pizza as boxed up at a pizzeria. There has been NO adulteration to the pizza or to the photo.)
Misshapen Pizza resulting from
Out-of-box Pizza Cutting
5 – Leakage-prone. Due to two holes in the bottom panel that receive the two tabs (mentioned in #3), the Traditional Pizza Box can leak “pizza juice” when it holds a juicy or highly-greasy pizza.
6 – Accidental-opening prone. Because the Traditional Pizza Box lacks a positive interlock between the cover panel and the tray portion of the carton, the box frequently experiences “bottom panel droop,” or accidental opening, during the delivery transaction. This typically occurs when a driver hands a large loaded box to a customer. The customer receives the carton by grasping it at a rear corner with one hand. In so doing, the opposing front corner of the box (diagonal to the rear corner where the box is being held) drops down. With a large loaded box, it occasionally happens that the front portion of the lower tray actually “breaks,” or bends, along the side wall just in front of where it's being held. This projects a bad image to a customer. (Most pizza company execs are unaware of bottom panel droop because it occurs at a time and place remote from where they work.)
7 – Floppy structure, low-quality look and feel. Because the Traditional Pizza Box lacks a positive interlock between the cover panel and tray portion of the box, it can have a sloppy feel about it. This sloppiness, in turn, connotes a low-quality image. In addition, bent side walls that bow outward due to in-box pizza-cutting can create a sloppy, low-quality look to the box, as well.
8 – Hard to dispose of. Due to the permanently connected front corners, many people can't figure out how to “break down” the Traditional Pizza Box to fit into a trash receptacle. They find it to be very "hard to dispose of."