Tips on Shipping Perishable Food

Shipping your items can be complicated. You can never know what might happen during long travel. If you ship large items, they can get easily damaged. On the other hand, if you ship valuable things, they can get lost, thus you might end up without your treasure. However, shipping food is even more tricky than any of the items mentioned above. Specifically, shipping perishable food can be difficult. This is why you should read our tips on shipping perishable food for you.

Prepare on time

Just like with everything in life, good preparation is a key to success. Shipping perishable food is no different. If you are not sure what is considered to be perishable, here is the answer for you. The International Air Transport Association says that something is perishable if its ingredients will deteriorate over a certain period of time. Additionally, food perishes due to harsh conditions, or they can face some other problems.

• Harsh conditions
• extreme temperatures
• humidity
• staleness
• spoilage

Packing perishable food

There are several ways to pack food in order to keep them good and fresh. You also need good movers to help you with the shipment, for example, Wailea movers.

Styrofoam Boxes and Styrofoam Cut Sheets

Styrofoam is an excellent material for protection. You can choose either styrofoam boxes or cut sheets depending on your needs. They both come in standard sizes. The cut sheet can be customized to fit in the box that you will use. On the other hand, styrofoam boxes can differ in their thickness. You will not need much ice if you opt for a thicker box. However, it will cost you more, but it will be more effective.

 

Insulated Liners and Insulated Pads

Insulated liners offer perfect protection since you can tightly wrap your items. This way you can also fill the extra space that you might have in your box. On the other hand, insulated pads are also an excellent choice. They are quite effective and similar to insulated pads. Furthermore, they are made of recycled material, so you will be saving mother nature using insulated pads. Additionally, you can choose to buy a matching cardboard box or use one of yours.

Secure movement

Nobody wants to receive broken cookies, cakes or bruised fruit. In order to avoid these unpleasantries, you need already mentioned pads. There are more options, of course. Bubble wrap will do the job as well. The food should be in the center of the box with 2 to 3 inches of bubble wrap or any other material. Additionally, you should always pack food in new boxes with new protection material. Do not reuse the old materials! It would be wise to use sturdy corrugated boxes and seal them well. This way, it will keep the heat out, and your product will stay fresh. The short remainder, you will need to choose good movers as well, so consider hiring residential movers Hawaii.

Keep your food cold

Shipping perishable food during summer is challenging. For this reason, you should secure the coldness inside the box. There are two ways to achieve it. You can opt for gel packs or dry ice. Dry ice is the best for ice cream or any other food that needs to remain frozen. Additionally, dry ice will not thaw as gel packs, but it lasts shorter than gel packs. However, you should be extremely careful with dry ice. Use gloves in order to avoid getting burnt. Furthermore, dry ice is a hazardous material, so there are the restrictions in its usage, especially if you are shipping perishable food via air. Some movers might not ship the item that is dangerous.  Gel packs keep your products between 32 and 60 degrees F. It is always a good idea to precool your container to maximize its effectiveness.

     

Shipping Perishable food

When you are shipping perishable food, you need to remember that those items have a limited lifespan. For this reason, you should schedule your shipment in order to gain most out of it. It would be wise to ship perishable food at the beginning of the week, aim for Monday or Tuesday. Otherwise, your product might end up in the storage for a weekend to wait for Monday. This way, your food might get spoiled, and this can be a huge problem if you own a business. Additionally, you have the option of tracking your package. It may come handy if you want to see how much more your items need to travel.

The cost of shipping

If you want to ship perishable food that is also refrigerated, it will cost you. Even if you make the smallest possible package, it will not help much. It will help if you run a small or big business where you sell products. You should calculate how much the shipping will cost you, and then decide on the price of your product. For example, if you think that the shipping price is too much, then you can increase the price of your product. This way, the shipping will not be expensive as it was before, and you will not lose any money. Additionally, if you offer a delicious and unique product and interesting boxes, people will want to buy it.

Stand out

It is important to stand out if you want to attract attention. As you can see, shipping perishable food can be expensive. If you have unique and attractive products, then they have to have matching boxes. You can design your own boxes, paint them in eye-catching colors or put on them funny and cute pictures. This will surely help your business, and you will not have to worry about shipping fees.  For example, if you sell Hawaiian dishes, try designing the box with Hawaii in mind. Just make sure they reach the destination in the perfect condition.

Shipping perishable food

As you can see, it is not so difficult to ship perishable food. It is important to start on time, prepare well, and you will avoid an unpleasant situation.