A food container for storing irregularly shaped preferably pie shaped foods having a central, inner cavity or compartment defined by a pie-shaped bottom surface, vertically extending side walls and a circumferential wall, along with a hinged top surface. The container may be built for further individual compartments or cavities and these may be stacked one on the other to separately store individual pieces of pie or pizza without one piece contacting another piece and, yet, storage space and footprint of the container is minimized, to advantage. A set of pie shaped cavities are provided for sliding receipt within a cabinet for food storage.

Systems and methods for providing compostable food containers which preserve the quality of a food product for an extended duration of time, and which optionally allow for cooking of the food product therein. In some implementations, the food containers are sturdy, stackable, insulating, and require minimal or no manual labor to assemble. In some implementations, the food container includes a base and a cover which cooperate to form a closed chamber for supporting, protecting, insulating and optionally cooking a food product, such as a pizza. The base and cover may each be formed of a single layer of material including, but not limited to, molded sugarcane fiber (bagasse), molded wood fiber, molded bamboo fiber, molded paper or plastic.

The invention describes a covering element (10) for pizza, in a material with a reduced thermal dispersion or thermally insulating, comprising an upper surface (1) and a side surface (2) that extends orthogonally to the upper surface (1) substantially along the perimeter of the same upper surface (1), said covering element (10) being characterized in that the upper surface (1) is provided with an opening (3), preferably with an opening with a triangular section (3).

A portable container includes flexible walls defining an interior compartment and a support feature within the interior compartment providing a surface to support an item within the interior compartment, where the item is suspended above a wall. In at least some implementations, one of the walls is a lower wall and the support feature holds the item above the lower wall. In other implementations, a container includes a plurality of walls connectable together to define an interior compartment. At least two separate walls are selectively movable to and from open and closed positions. One movable wall is an upper wall and another movable wall is a wall adjacent to the upper wall. This permits, for example, items to be loaded into and unloaded from the container both through the top and through a front, rear or side wall.

A food freshness device for preserving the freshness of prepared food is disclosed. The food freshness device includes a base having a support surface and a plurality of drainage cells bounded by sidewalls, and legs extending a distance from select sidewalls to form flow channels. Flow channels are designed to prevent pooling under the food item within the drainage cells, thereby reducing pooling of the liquid and likelihood of reabsorption into the food item. The disclosure is designed to be supported by a substrate, such as a pizza box or plastic container.

A kit for take-out pizza includes a container and a cover, wherein the pizza container includes a basin-shaped tray having slanted lateral sides that enable stacking a second tray on the first tray by having the slanted walls support a bottom of the second tray received into the slanted walls, and stop projections provided on lower inner portions of the lateral walls of the tray, which support the second tray to form a stack of trays and to define, within the lower tray, a chamber for housing a pizza to be transported.

A hot pizza box is formed of corrugated cardboard and includes an aluminum liner for the top, bottom, front, back and side panels to help retain heat within the box. A second aluminum liner may be located within the corrugated material of the box either above or below the corrugated material in the box panels. An alternative pizza box is formed of resilient material having interior and exterior members enclosing a cavity. A formed aluminum panel is located in the cavity. The bottom panel of the box has a central aperture penetrating the interior member. The aluminum panel has an opening formed to align with the aperture and a series of channels extends from the opening to edges of the panels. The aperture serves to channel heat from the pizza to the opening in the bottom panel and through the channels to the panels and tabs of the pizza box.

A heat unit containing a phase change material consisting of polyethylene glycol and a fatty acid combination of stearic and palmitic acids is disclosed. When heated in a microwave for about four (4) minutes the heat unit reaches a temperature of about 70 C. (158 F.). When placed in an insulated container, the heat unit will, after six (6) hours, have a temperature of about 40 C.-55 C. (104 F.-131 F.). The heat unit is advantageous for maintaining food hot during transport as well as other uses where long term heat emission is needed.

A carry handle (33) for carrying a pizza box or cake box or other boxed food product is made of inexpensive disposable paper or cardboard and comprises a pair of strap portions which generally are parallel to each other and in a side-by-side relationship and are joined to each other by a fold line (17). The strap portions can be twisted about the fold line (17) into a cross like configuration. A pizza box can then be placed on the cross like configuration. The strap portions are longer than the width of the pizza box and can therefore be lifted up and over the pizza box and connected together to form a reliable carry handle.

A kit for take-out pizza includes a container and a cover, wherein the pizza container includes a basin-shaped tray having slanted lateral sides that enable stacking a second tray on the first tray by having the slanted walls support a bottom of the second tray received into the slanted walls, and stop projections provided on lower inner portions of the lateral walls of the tray, which support the second tray to form a stack of trays and to define, within the lower tray, a chamber for housing a pizza to be transported.