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by TradingPlaces 1255 days ago
The perfect pizza box has been invented, but Apple hoards that IP, and keeps it from The People.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/74/d5/3374ac3...

4 comments

https://designawards.core77.com/Packaging/62804/Zume-Pizza-P...

Zume, which pivoted from kitchen robotics and IoT to pizza: https://archive.ph/TP9nb

To food packaging: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-zume-become-packaging-inn...

Zume no longer lists the Pizza Pod in their catalog: https://docsend.com/view/gxeeruv7mi3mbg4p

There are knockoffs going for $1.25/unit (uline's equivalent traditional square cardboard box is $0.78/unit, Pratt sells square cardboard boxes custom-printed for $0.84-$1.48/unit): https://www.goodstartpackaging.com/pizzaround-pizza-box-12-1...

Seems to be missing the all important steam vents (32 in patent drawings)
In fact, this was in the article we're discussing!

> "Even Apple—that Apple—has patented its own round pizza box exclusively for its famished Cupertino office workers"

and they link to the patent and show a photo.

In typical Apple fashion, this pizza box only holds perfectly round pizzas, churned in a factory to all look the same, ignoring the work of craftsmen and artisans that make non-round pizzas.
For the benefit of readers who may not realize you’re joking, it may be worth pointing out that this box was designed for use in Apple’s cafeterias, which serve artisanal pizzas baked in wood fired ovens: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pa784v/sources-apples-pizza-...
Until 2029, when the patent expires and anyone can make one...