By Bruce Geiselman
Yes, you read the headline correctly.
BMG — formerly known as Brown Machine Group — is known for manufacturing plastic and paper thermoforming equipment, tooling, automation equipment, and now ... pizza boxes.
These aren’t ordinary pizza boxes, and the unique design could “turn the pizza industry upside down,” according to the BMG website. Admittedly, they are different than anything you’ve likely seen before. The boxes are round, just like the pizzas that go inside them. They can be made on BMG's new NXT platform, which can run either plastic or fiber and is designed so that users can swap out plastic thermoforming and paper forming stations.
“It's all manufactured out of paperboard versus your standard corrugated,” said Jake Kowalewski, BMG chief commercial officer. “It's thermoformed on a paper thermoforming line. The top and bottom of the box, they're not connected. They're separate. The top can be the bottom; the bottom can be the top. They're completely interchangeable. With that, you can stack them quite easily for storage.”
BMG’s two-piece round design means boxes no longer need to be folded, providing a compact stack for storing and shipping. It also results in a 35 percent reduction in material and cuts weight by 40 percent.
The boxes are manufactured with what Kowalewski called “pucks and wells” that allow the containers to nest together, eliminating the risk of boxes sliding all over and allowing someone to carry more than one pie. Wells also catch some of the grease as the raised pucks hold the pizza crust off the bottom of the container and away from the grease. The design fits together somewhat like Legos, he said.
Pizza aficionados can also say goodbye to soggy crusts, as the BMG pizza box has vents to exhaust moisture and ensure crisp crusts, according to the company. This “desogification” technology isn’t found in traditional cardboard carriers.
BMG has designed 12-inch and 10-inch pizza boxes as well as single-slice pizza containers that are recyclable and manufactured of paperboard from sustainable sources, according to BMG. The company is manufacturing the pizza boxes on its own paper forming equipment and selling the boxes for use by pizza shops, which is a new business line for the company.
Initially, BMG designed the pizza boxes to demonstrate to potential customers a new type of food packaging that could be produced on BMG paper forming equipment. The unique design quickly spurred interest, Kowalewski said.
“We started it as a marketing effort to show people what you could form with a paper thermoformer,” he said. “Paper thermoforming traditionally has just been paper plates and paper bowls. We wanted to show people that with our capability and our technology, you can do more than just that. So, we developed the pizza box as something to show people that this is a very bespoke, very different paper forming than what you’re used to with just a standard paper plate. We started showing that around, and what ended up happening was there was demand for it, and people asked to purchase it and use it.”
When asked if any national pizza chains were interested in the unique design, Kowalewski said only: “None that I can speak about at the moment.”
BMG will also offer the technology to customers interested in manufacturing their own boxes.
“We are actually selling the pizza boxes currently, but we would make it available if somebody did want to acquire the design and manufacture themselves,” Kowalewski said.
The company’s introduction of the pizza box coincides with its unveiling of its new NXTFiber paper former. The new NXT platform can run either plastic or fiber, creating what the company calls the first “true universal modular design that could change at the drop of a hat.” Customers primarily interested in plastic thermoforming may opt for the NXTMod10, while paper formers may opt for the NXTFiber. Regardless of the unit chosen, if the additional equipment is purchased, the machines can be switched between paper and plastic, according to the company.
BMG produced a humorous, slightly edgy video promoting its pizza boxes featuring a “Sopranos”-like theme song, music from a Puccini aria, an Italian pizzeria, and a couple of characters who order a pizza and initially are skeptical about the unusual pizza box. Luckily for the pizza delivery guy, the somewhat intimidating characters, after checking out the pizza’s crispy crust, approve of the new box design.
Contact:
BMG, Beaverton, Mich., 989-435-7741, www.onebmg.com
