Why Do Round Pizzas Come In Square Boxes？

蘇珊

If you’re like most people，you’re too busy eating pizzato stop and consider the logistics of how it arrived on yourkitchen counter. Ponder it long enough，though，and you mayfind it curious that pies usually come in square or other boxesthat are a geometric departure from the round crust. So why don’tpizzas arrive in round cardboard boxes？

It’s mostly because the pizza industry doesn’t really careto disrupt the cardboard industry. Cardboard boxes are usuallymanufactured with edges（i.e. square or rectangular）becausethey can be made in one piece as well as neatly stacked.

The advantage of making a round pizza box wouldmainly be aesthetic. It’s not going to save space over an edgedbox. In the case of frozen pizzas，stacking pies vertically runsthe risk of them rolling out of place. It’s just bad pizzamanagement.

Of course，there are exceptions. Many pizzerias offersheet or Sicilian- style pizzas， which are served in arectangular shape and better conform to a rectangular box.And some chains have toyed with the conventional pizza boxshape. Domino’s has a six- sided design with tapered frontedges intended to reduce the cardboard used and limit thecompany’s carbon footprint. （It also reportedly keeps thepizza from sliding around.）

Pizza wasn’t always relegated to square cardboard. In the1800s，street sellers carried pies in portable metal containersthat kept them warm. When pizza started rising in popularityin postwar America， pizzerias used a single piece ofcardboard as support and then slipped the pie into a paper bag.Eventually， corrugated cardboard struck a fine balancebetween retaining heat without trapping too much moisture.

Will we ever see a radical rethink of the pizza box？Some people have tried. In 2010，Apple filed for a patent for around pizza container with holes so moisture can escape. It’sused in the company’s food courts. Another company，WorldCentric，designed a compostable round box in 2018 that canbe used to reheat pizza. A similar product was test- marketedby Pizza Hut in 2019. All of the designs boasted of keepingpizzas warmer and crispier for longer，but none have becomeubiquitous.

For the most part，you’re still likely to encounter squareboxes. Pizza is，after all，about finding comfort in the familiar.

如果你和多數人一樣，你一般會只顧著吃披薩而非關心披薩是怎么來到你的餐桌上的。但如果你好好思量一下，你可能會好奇為什么披薩往往都裝在和圓形披薩形狀不同的方形或其他形狀的盒子里。那么為什么披薩不裝在圓形紙板盒里呢？

這很大程度上是因為披薩產業無意給紙板盒產業找麻煩。紙板盒一般都是有棱角的（比如正方形或長方形），因為這樣的盒子可以一次成型，而且也容易堆放整齊。

制作圓形披薩盒的主要優點是好看，但是它并不比有棱角的盒子節省空間。在存放冷凍披薩時，豎著堆放披薩盒會讓披薩滾走，從而變得不好收拾。

當然也有例外。許多披薩店會提供長方形餅底的薄底披薩或西西里風格披薩，這樣裝在長方形紙盒里更合適。還有一些連鎖店對傳統披薩紙盒進行了改造。達美樂披薩推出了一種錐形邊緣的六邊形披薩盒，旨在減少紙板用量，限制企業的碳足跡。（據稱還能防止披薩在紙盒中四處滑動。）披薩并不是一直裝在方形紙盒里的。19世紀的街頭小販曾將披薩裝在便攜的保溫金屬容器中。后來，披薩在戰后的美國變得越來越受歡迎，披薩店就用一塊紙板托起披薩放入紙袋里。最后，披薩店就采用了瓦楞紙板來做披薩盒，既可以保溫，又不會讓太多濕氣留在盒子里。

未來披薩盒是否會有大創新呢？有些人已經嘗試過了。2010 年，蘋果公司給一種有孔的圓形披薩盒申請了專利，通過小孔可以散發掉披薩的濕氣。這種披薩盒被用于蘋果公司的食堂中。還有一家名為World Centric 的公司在2018 年設計出一種可以用來重新加熱披薩的可降解圓形披薩盒。必勝客在2019 年也試銷過一款類似的產品。所有這些設計都聲稱可以讓披薩保溫更久，更長時間地保留酥脆口感，但是沒有一款被成功推廣。

大多數時候，你還是會見到方形的披薩盒。畢竟，吃披薩就是從熟悉的感覺中尋找慰藉。