How Many Pizza Boxes Should a Pizzeria Order?
Published by Avco Boxes, a custom pizza and bakery box manufacturer in Long Island, New York since 1989.
Order enough of each size to cover your weekly box use for the full time it takes a new order to arrive, plus a safety buffer, rounded up to whole bundles. Then reorder whenever your count drops to that level. For custom-printed boxes, production takes 7 to 10 business days after you approve the proof, plus shipping, so your reorder point should cover at least that window with room to spare.
Step 1: Estimate weekly use for each size
Your sales history is the best starting point. Most point-of-sale systems can report pizzas sold by size. Pull a few recent, typical weeks and work out an average for each size you box.
A few things to adjust for:
- Only count pizzas that leave in a box. Delivery and takeout always do. Dine-in pizzas only use a box when leftovers go home, so add an allowance for that if it happens often at your shop.
- Count other items that use the same box. If you send out calzones, garlic knots or desserts in a pizza box, add them to that size's total.
- Allow for spoilage. A few boxes get misfolded, crushed or splashed. Add a small allowance based on what you see in your own kitchen.
- Note your busy weeks. If your own records show spikes around game days, holidays or school events, plan for those weeks separately rather than averaging them away.
Step 2: Convert boxes into bundles
Pizza boxes are sold by the bundle, so every order rounds up to whole bundles. At Avco, custom corrugated pizza boxes come 50 to a bundle in every size except 24x24 and 18x26, which come 25 to a bundle. There are 14 corrugated sizes, from 7x7x2 up to 18x26x2; the pizza box size guide helps you match box size to pizza size.
To convert, divide the number of boxes you need by the bundle count and round up. For example, 480 boxes of a 50-count size is 9.6 bundles, which becomes 10 bundles (500 boxes).
Step 3: Check the minimum
Avco's custom pizza boxes have a 5-bundle minimum, which is 250 boxes for most sizes. If a size sells so slowly that 250 boxes would last you many months, that is a sign to think twice about printing it, or to keep that size plain for now. Our post on custom vs. stock pizza boxes covers that trade-off.
Step 4: Know your lead time
Lead time is everything that happens between deciding to order and having boxes on your shelf. For a custom order that includes:
- Placing the order and reviewing the proof. Every order gets a free digital proof. How long this takes depends partly on you: approving quickly keeps things moving.
- Production: 7 to 10 business days after proof approval. Ten business days is two calendar weeks.
- Shipping within the US, which depends on where you are. Shipping cost is calculated at checkout.
Plan around the long end of the production range, not the short end, and add your realistic shipping time on top.
Step 5: Set a reorder point
A reorder point is the box count that tells you it is time to order again. A simple version:
Reorder point = weekly use × (lead time in weeks + safety weeks)
The safety weeks cover the things you cannot predict: a busier week than usual, a proof that needs a second round, or a shipment that runs late. How much buffer you want depends on how uncomfortable it would be to run out. If running out would mean sending pizzas out in plain or mismatched boxes, an extra week on the shelf is cheap insurance.
Once you have a reorder point, mark it physically. A strip of tape on the wall at the right stack height, or a note on the last bundle to open, is easier to act on than a number in a spreadsheet.
Step 6: Decide how much to order each time
Your order quantity is a balance between three things:
- Setup cost. Avco charges a $75 artwork setup fee per order, so fewer, larger orders spread it over more boxes. Bundle discounts also apply automatically on larger quantities where offered.
- Storage. Boxes ship flat, which saves a lot of space compared with folded boxes, but a large order is still a real stack. Store them somewhere dry, off the floor and away from anything that could splash or crush them.
- Cash. Boxes on a shelf are money you have already spent. Ordering months of supply at once only makes sense if your sales are steady and your design is settled.
A practical rhythm is to order enough to last a set number of weeks, then adjust after the first couple of cycles based on how it actually went.
A worked example (hypothetical numbers)
The pizzeria and figures below are invented for illustration. Use your own sales data.
Imagine a pizzeria that boxes about 120 12" pizzas, 200 14" pizzas and 80 16" pizzas in a typical week. The owner assumes three weeks from placing an order to having boxes in hand (proof review, two weeks of production at the long end, and shipping), and wants one extra week of safety stock. That gives a reorder point of four weeks of use. Each order is meant to cover about six weeks.
| Size | Weekly use (example) | Reorder point (4 weeks) | 6 weeks of boxes | Bundles ordered | Boxes cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12x12 | 120 | 480 | 720 | 15 (750 boxes) | $519.75 |
| 14x14 | 200 | 800 | 1,200 | 24 (1,200 boxes) | $900.00 |
| 16x16 | 80 | 320 | 480 | 10 (500 boxes) | $456.50 |
The box costs use Avco's per-bundle prices: $34.65 for 12x12, $37.50 for 14x14 and $45.65 for 16x16. They do not include the $75 artwork setup per order, shipping, or any automatic bundle discounts on the larger quantities. Every line is well above the 5-bundle minimum.
In practice, this owner would count boxes once a week. When the 14" stack drops to about 800 boxes, it is time to reorder. Because the sizes sell at different rates, they will not all hit their reorder points at the same time; ordering them together when the first one does is simpler and keeps it to a single setup fee, at the cost of holding a little extra of the slower sizes.
Keep adjusting
Your first estimate will be off, and that is fine. After each order, compare what you expected to use with what you actually used, and nudge your weekly figures, reorder points and order quantities. If your menu, delivery area or hours change, revisit the numbers.
For more on sizing, browse 12, 14 and 16 inch boxes, personal sizes and large and party sizes, or check our FAQ for ordering and shipping questions.
When you have your numbers, start with a free proof or order from our custom pizza boxes collection.