Ovenstory

Sustainable pizza Restrictor

Service
Structural Design & Experiential Design
industry
Brief
We collaborated with Ovenstory(Rebel Foods) to design a pizza box of 11”. The design should help in delivering pizza through rough packaging handling and transit conditions and bring in experience for customer

Ideation| Prototype

Now Cloud kitchens are sprouting all over India which has also increased the demand for packaging for food delivery. The major challenge with this model is the restaurant has to build the brand without a physical store which gives interesting opportunities for packaging to innovate. With interesting opportunities comes challenges of transit, packaging handling and designing delightful experiences for consumers.

4 KEY CHALLENGES

We focused on 4 major challenges in the brief that we have to design solutions for while designing the packaging. 


4 key challenges in the brief we kept in mind while designing

WORKFLOW OF THE PROJECT

To achieve the most efficient and feasible solution in a tight frame, we followed a 'Research Led Design' approach. We gave majority of the time frame to build mockups and simulate in actual scenario with kitchen and transit trials. This helped both Ovenstory team and our team collaboratively decide on few data points.

Workflow of Design process

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

1. Product physical properties: to understand pizza’s geometry and physical properties transiting from hot to cold temperatures

2. Kitchen operations: To understand a fast paced kitchen operations, workers mindset, norms and regulations and process of packing food

3. Storage scenario: As cloud kitchens are working on a low cost model and high profitability, the kitchen spaces are very cramped up. There are multiple brands running under same premises. Hence the package needs to be stored in flat condition. The design should be easy to store 

4. Transit Conditions: To consider transit challenges like what kind of shock a package will go through. Virtually simulating the shock factors and incorporating protection at the relevant areas in packaging

5. Delivery challenges: To understand delivery team challenges as they are travelling on roads and face multiple hindrances like weather, traffic, storage facility on bikes.

6. Material for packaging: To choose material which can scientifically help us in achieving the desired results. It should be eco-friendly and food safe. 

7. Consumer experience: To consider end mile expectations. To add value experiences which will matter to the consumer for eg: easy disposal.

INTRODUCING SNOWFLAKE

Their existing pizza box is octagonal and provides a close fitting to pizza. After multiple experiments and brainstorming we considered taking advantage of their existing octagonal box and adding an insert to protect pizza rather than developing an entirely new design. The octagonal shape helps in restricting lateral movement of pizza inside the packaging. So our design direction was to develop an external tray that helps in restricting pizza’s vertical movement and that also converts into a serving tray. This direction also helped Ovenstory to continue their existing operations and packaging inventory.

Inspiration

Snowflake + Pringles

The tray is inspired by the geometry of snowflakes and pringles. We took the best of both the products wrt their unique shapes, geometry and features. We got inspired from snowflakes for its symmetric pattern and overall structure geometry. Pringle’s ellipsoid structure inspired us to design the form of the tray which restricts vertical movement of pizza.


Snowflake parts and details

Working principle 

We leveraged the physical properties of pizza during its transition period from hot to cold. We targeted the most hot & soft part and made it sit at the bottom of the pizza box and raise the height of the crust area. While the pizza is cooling down it sets itself like a Pringle formed shape on the tray and restricts any type of rotational and vertical movement.


The flanges of the tray get locked to the outer box walls. When pizza is placed over the edges of the tray due to friction between tray and crust of pizza it does not allow it to move from its location. Hence this ensures overall restriction in movement of pizza in the box. 


Perforations are provided for each slice that helps consumers to pick up a slice with help of the tray without getting hands messy. These perforations also act as indicators to the chef while slicing pizza and helps in slicing pizza into equal parts. The division or edges of the tray depends upon the number of slices a company wants of pizza. The tray serves the both purpose of restricting the pizza movement and also converts into a serving dish. 


Snowflake(tray) with octagonal pizza box

BENEFITS OF THE DESIGN

1. Formation is easy

It takes seconds to form the tray. Avoiding any kind of hassle at the operations end. It comes in a flat condition and does not take much space in the kitchen and can fit drawers.

Easy formation of tray


2. Adaptations

Snowflake can be easily scaled up to multiple geometrical shapes(hexagon, pentagon, rectangular). Number of serving trays can be dependent on number of slices a company wants.

Snowflake can adapt to multiple geometries


3. Restricts pizza

We conducted multiple vibration tests with the mockups and through transit trials. The tray helps to restrict the movement of pizza even if it is kept vertical in condition.

4. Converts into a serving dish

Snowflake not only restricts the pizza movement but also converts into a serving dish. It elevates the consumer experience of surprise and keeps the eagerness of eating hot pizza by eliminating time to bring plates. Keeps the hands oil free and hygiene.

5. Eco- friendly

Snowflake restricts the movement of pizza so well, we can get rid of plastic saver. This is one the most crucial and beneficial feature of the tray that all together it eliminates the plastic from the packaging. It is all paper!

FINAL PRODUCTION

Final pilot ready samples after multiple kitchen and transit trials.

Pizza packaging with insert

* The design under Design registration and patent

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