Custom Octagonal Pizza Boxes

Construction and Board

Octagonal pizza boxes are made from E-flute corrugated board, the same strong, insulating board used for most quality pizza boxes. The lid is hinged at the back and the front closes with a locking tab. Side vents release steam so bases stay crisp, and the box arrives flat and folds up quickly, though the extra angled panels mean staff may need a few practice folds before they are as fast as with square boxes.

White-lined board gives the brightest print for full colour or bold multi-colour lids. Kraft-faced board gives a traditional takeaway look and hides grease marks better. If the food will touch the box, food-contact grade board can be specified on request.

If you sell several sizes, the octagonal shape works from small personal pizzas up to large family sizes. Some shops use octagonal boxes for their signature range only and keep square boxes for everything else, which makes the special pizzas feel more special.

Strength at the corners is something owners often ask about. The angled panels actually add rigidity, because each fold acts as a small support column, so octagonal boxes resist crushing well when several are stacked in a hot delivery bag. They also keep their shape when the lid is opened and closed several times at the table, which helps when customers save leftover slices for later. The E-flute and liner options are explained in our guide to board and card types.

Getting the Size Right

Octagonal boxes are measured across the flats, from one straight side to the opposite one, just like a square box is measured side to side. Take your baked pizza diameter, add around 10 to 15 mm on each side, and that gives the internal width. Depth is usually 40 mm for thin and classic crusts and up to 50 mm for deep pan or stuffed crust.

The corner cut size can be adjusted too. A small cut keeps more internal space for sides tucked in beside the pizza, such as dip pots, while a larger cut gives a more dramatic eight-sided look and holds a round pizza more tightly. We will show you the shape on the proof so you can see the proportions before committing. The free proof drawn across the flats shows the corner cut at actual size.

• 10 inch: around 270 mm across the flats
• 12 inch: around 320 mm across the flats
• 14 inch: around 370 mm across the flats
• 16 inch: around 420 mm across the flats

Printing Ideas for Eight-Sided Boxes

The lid is your billboard. A strong logo in the centre works well with the octagonal outline, and a circular design can echo the round pizza inside. One or two colour flexo printing is cost-effective and looks bold on kraft, while full colour suits photographic or illustrated lids.

Do not forget the inside of the lid. A message such as a thank-you, a loyalty offer or a reminder to order again on a certain night is the first thing the customer sees when they open the box, and it costs very little to add when you are already printing the outside. Most of the ideas carry straight over from our standard printed pizza boxes in square form, which share the same board.

Is an Octagonal Box Right for You?

Octagonal boxes suit pizzerias that want to look different, deliver a lot and care about how the food arrives. They are slightly more involved to fold than a basic square box, so if your kitchen is very busy, factor in a little training time. For dine-in pizzerias with occasional takeaway orders, a stylish octagonal box can be a smart way to make takeaway feel as considered as the restaurant itself.

If you are not sure, order a small run in one size alongside your usual square boxes and see how customers and staff react.

Consider your delivery partners too. If you use third-party delivery services, drivers carry insulated bags designed around common square box sizes. An octagonal box of the same width across the flats fits those bags just as well, so you do not need special equipment to make the switch. If you run your own drivers, the snugger fit and lighter boxes are a small but welcome improvement on every shift. Drivers also find the shape easy to pick out in a mixed bag, which helps when several orders travel together. Our guide to how custom box pricing works shows why the saving per blank grows with the run.

Measure Across the Flats and Check Your Delivery Bags

An octagonal box is ordered by its measurement across the flats, so take your largest pizza, measure its diameter and add 20 mm; that is the across-flats size to ask for. Then check two things that square-box users forget. First, the inside depth against your deepest crust, since a deep pan needs the 50 mm version. Second, the width of your insulated delivery bags, because an octagonal 16 inch box is the same width as a square one and will not fit a bag that was already tight. Order one size as a trial alongside your square boxes before switching the range; many shops keep the round pizza boxes for the signature pizza and go octagonal for the rest.

Send the lid artwork and anything for the corner panels as separate files. Email the sizes, crust depth, board and quantity per size and a custom quote comes back within one working day, followed by a free design proof. Boxes are made in 4 to 7 working days after approval and delivered flat, free and tracked, on the UK mainland in 2 to 3 days. Boxes that arrive crushed or misprinted are reprinted or refunded when reported within 10 days.