We have been using plain white boxes bought from FSA since we opened and they have been raising their prices and I think I’m at the tipping point ($31.86 for 50 14" or 16" boxes).
Anyone have any suggestions where I can get them cheaper? Even if I have to buy a large quantity, I’ll be better off, and I have a lot of basement space to store them.
Thanks 
$31.86 for a hundred?? I dream of such a price… I recently switched my box order to a local independent supplier that has them made in China. He supplies Sysco who then warehouses them for me. I spent a few months trying to find a local supplier who could give me a three colour box, B flute, white, inside the box printing and come remotely close on price.
Nobody could even supply, let alone compete on price. My price is approx 40c per 14" box. That’s including Sysco’s markup. To put it in perspective it’s 3c per box more than I was paying for brown, single colour, no inside printing boxes.
Remember, your customers see your driver first, your box second, your pie third and then box/pie box/pie box/pie. When their done, they see your box. Next morning, they see your box. The neighbours see your box, not your pie. The garbage man see’s your box. etc etc etc…
Just my twisted strange slant… ( I know I’m far from normal, and love it ).
We are paying 41 cents for a 14" logo’d (4 color) box through Star Pizza Box through GFS.
Duh, I meant $31.86 for 50, not 100! That is .64 cents/box.
Sorry for the typo…changed the first post to be correct.
Get a quote from another box supplier. There is Joshen paper that does pizza boxes, not sure how far they go. If you are only getting plain white, it should not be hard at all to beat those prices. I was advised a couple months ago that there was a merging of some paper/cardboard companies, which was going to lead to a price increase.
You can have your current supplier match or beat the price, or switch suppliers.
Dan
I used to get my boxes (up until 2 weeks ago) from FSA, 14 inch white for 17.90 for 50. They recently raised them to 18.95, which was my tipping point. Since opening I’ve used 40k of these white, 14 inch boxes, each one covered with our menu so they don’t look completely plain. My sales rep told me he could get me cheaper boxes but they don’t currently stock them in the warehouse. I told him to stock them and he still hasn’t, so I drove an hour to RD the other day and picked up 60 bundles of 14 inch brown for 12.91 a bundle. That was well worth the trip in my estimation. I go through about 30 bundles a week so I have been trying to use my volume as leverage to no avail. And customers remark at how nice the generic image on the box is compared to the plain white one. Strange.
I spoke with the manager at RD and he can get me a break on the boxes even at 12.91 if I buy by the pallet (65 cases). I don’t think FSA could compete or even come close… but hopefully they try.
This thread reminds me of the argument I have with myself every year: To go custom box or not… I always decide NOT, because my base price would double (from $12.05 for 14" to $24 or $25) for a flat of 50 boxes. Instead, I always order full color, fully customized box ‘toppers’ for roughly $.03 to .05 cents a piece. I prefer to keep the $.20 cent savings (per box) for other advertising or profit.
I agree somewhat with boatnut, about the marketing impressions from boxes, however, having top-notch ‘toppers’ available for hand-outs or take-away menus makes use of a dual purposed approach rather than a singular approach. While those custom boxes are ‘neat’, I never can justify the cost.
Just to play devil’s advocate, the topper will likely hit file 13 as soon as the pizza arrives it the home but, as boatnut has said, there are multiple impressions with a printed box.
My boxes have obviously been going up also. .30 a week or so it seems. Just under $19 for 50 - 14" boxes and 10" are at $12.99.
I just called the Kansas City, MO Restaurant Depot and reg price 14 box is $18.65 and if I got a pallet I can get $1 off.
10" are reg price $13.50 and will give me $1 off there too.
WHat Restaurant Depot are you getting them for at the $12.91 price.
I am willing to drive a ways to pick up a couple pallets but not 12 hours one way.
I thought if the KCMO RD could get me the price you got I would drive for the pallets but their price is not even close to what you are getting them for.
Instead of driving check with a local courier or trucking company…Sometimes the little companies do regular scheduled runs to nearby large cities and can pick up pallets at a reasonable price…
Portland, OR. The 14 inch brown are 12.91, I believe the white version is 13.60 or thereabouts. I stopped getting my 10 inch boxes from FSA a long time ago when they charged me nearly 20 bucks for a bundle. I got them at Cash & Carry for 10.69. Although I just started getting the 10 inch at RD for 7.15 (the price on 5+).
Maybe being a port town cuts down on transportation and cost? Only way I could figure the price difference. They also built this RD right across the street from a Cash & Carry (haha) and that might also figure into their pricing. The 14 inch at C&C is about 15 a bundle for higher quality white.
I called Minneapolis and got the same price.
You living there probably does help.
Found COSTCO has them in certain Cities for a really good price. Atlanta, and PHX and CALI. has 14" for 12.62. I called but cant get them in the midwest.
I did start to play around with the WEBSTRAUNT stores shipping calculator.
Came up with by buying 195 bundles of 50 gets it down to $17.07 per 50 which includes shipping.
But obviously the more you by the cheaper they get .
300 packages gets you to 16.46.
Anyone from around Iowa area need some boxes and want to go in to get a few boxes with me.
I really do not need 15000 boxes.
We price shop US Food and Sysco against each other every week. Keeps them honest on prices. We also use a multi-color box topper on every box which costs us about 1.5 cents each to print. They tend to stay on the box (glue stick) unless someone tears them off. We get more of those coupons back than any other. By far our least expensive promotion per order generated.
we were using custom boxes and my suppliers have went from 18 dollars a bundle to over 23 dollars a bundle