Shipping Frozen Goods: Which Is The Best Carrier?

Understanding how to ship frozen foods is an essential component of your internet business if you're sending different kinds of food. Whatever food you sell and transport, it's critical that it arrives in good condition, is fresh, and is free of any potential contamination. Customers and revenue will indeed be lost or can have an impact based on how your food arrives; if it is in poor shape, it might affect one's business real bad.

Before you go too far into the world of selling and sending food, there are a few things you should know about shipping frozen goods by having a quick but in-depth look at how to ensure that your frozen meals arrive in good condition.

How To Pack Frozen Foods For Shipping

It's critical to ensure your frozen food is adequately packaged and chilled before being shipped to your outlets, customers, or vendors. Here are some essential packing considerations for frozen and chilled foods:

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• Wrap baked items in an airtight container to prevent heat and humidity from penetrating.

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• For items that must be kept frozen until delivery, choose the appropriate insulating option.

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• When the goods you are packaging are prone to leaking, or you think they might leak, use a good quality watertight plastic to wrap or secure your interests.

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• It should be double-bagged to protect all types of seafood from harsh weather temperatures.

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• Use durable corrugated cardboard boxes with ice packs, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, or craft paper to fill in the gaps for shipping your goods.

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• Use sufficient dry ice and frozen gel packs when packing frozen food shipments. It is essential to ensure ventilation in the box or container when using dry ice.

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• Dry ice is not accepted in airtight packaging by couriers, and it is not accepted for international shipments by several courier companies, including the USPS.

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• Always make sure to use one pound of gel pack for every three pounds of meat as a general rule.

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• Always wrap cookies and other goodies in wax paper or plastic wrap and fill the empty area in each box with packing peanuts, crumpled newspapers, or other similar packing material when shipping them.

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• Consider using special cold shipping boxes with insulated cooling to fit inside regular cardboard shipping boxes.

Whether you're utilizing frozen food shipping containers, bags, or something else entirely, make sure the items are appropriately cushioned to minimize any unwanted or needless moving that could result in your goods being damaged.

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Related : How to Get Free Shipping Supplies from USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL

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Challenges Of Shipping Frozen Foods

Shipping just about frozen or cold food is a difficult task. As many eCommerce merchants already know, shipping goods can present a significant amount of hurdles. Here are a few examples:

Extreme Temperatures

Depending on the weather, if it is extremely hot or cold, it has a significant impact on packaged and frozen meals, particularly if they aren't adequately packed to survive the severe temperatures.

Humidity

Humidity, alongside heat in general, is also another major threat to frozen foods.

Spoilage

Another issue that frozen food suppliers confront when a shipment is this. When food is not adequately packaged with insulated boxes and refrigerated, it is more likely to spoil the goods before being delivered to their intended receiver.

How Can We Ship Frozen Food With USPS, UPS, And FedEx?

This is how to ship frozen food through these courier services:

How To Ship Frozen Goods Through USPS?

The United States Postal Service does not provide specific cooling services for shipments.

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• Dry ice packaging is acceptable.

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• Containers must not leak and must not emit scents. In addition, to allow condensation and carbon dioxide gas from melting ice to escape, they must not be airtight.

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• International shipping does not allow for the use of dry ice packaging.

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• Over cheap styrofoam coolers and a thick polystyrene box are recommended for international goods shipping by the USPS.

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• Dry ice packages must be labeled with a Class 9 DOT miscellaneous hazardous material warning label, which reads "Carbon Dioxide Solid, Or Dry Ice."

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• The shipment must include a triplicate of the shipper's declaration for dangerous goods, which you must fasten to the outside of the package.

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• The package you are shipping should be marked with the name of the food that is being cooled or contained in the dry ice's net weight.

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Related: Amazon Carrier Facility Updates: Know What They Mean!

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How To Ship Frozen Goods Through UPS?

There are some requirements to follow when delivering frozen food with UPS, but overall, UPS is an excellent option for shipping frozen food items.

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• Make every effort to keep shipment time under 30 hours. Next Day Air is the best option.

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• Use a thin plastic liner to coat the inside of the packaging and make sure to seal the food in a plastic bag.

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• Thick insulated foam containers are recommended to keep food as cold as possible.

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• It is acceptable to package goods with dry ice. Gel packets are also a good option, although frozen water is not advised.

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• When exporting more than 5.5 pounds of dry ice via air, there are limits.

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• IATA laws will apply if you are shipping dry ice abroad.

How To Ship Frozen Goods Through FedEx?

FedEx, like UPS, is an excellent choice for shipping frozen items. Here are some pointers to remember.

• Use FedEx Temp-Assure, a collection of temperature-control technologies.

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• Cold delivery packing services are also available from FedEx.

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• FedEx Express requires perishable items to have a minimum transit time of 24 hours longer than the delivery promise for US shipments.

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• It's best to utilize insulated foam containers with at least 1 1/2" (4 cm) thick walls.

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• When shipping dry ice, ensure your outer carton has the proper identity, classification, markings, and labeling.

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• It would help if you used sturdy outer containers to house foam containers.

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Related: What is FedEx Priority Overnight?

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Choosing Frozen Food Shipping Containers

When exporting frozen food, the following packing is recommended to keep the food frozen throughout transit:

• A styrofoam insulator is a type of foam used to insulate food shipping containers.

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• Dry iceboxes are recommended.

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• Cardboard boxes with insulated box liners can easily keep the temperatures cold.

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• It is best to choose a shipping container that is a little bit bigger than the item you want to ship so that there is enough room to add ice packs or dry ice to keep temperatures down during transit.

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Related: Cheapest Overnight Shipping Options for Retailers

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How Much Does It Cost To Ship Frozen Foods?

There is no fixed price when moving frozen goods and perishable food from one region to another. The distance, weight, time, and type of frozen food you're trying to ship influences the amount of money you spend on shipping frozen food items. It would help if you also considered the cost of packaging gel and dry ice, which will be determined and considered by the weight of your items and the distance that must be traveled before they are delivered.

To ship frozen food affordably, your need firstly is to assess the resources needed to send it correctly, as well as any additional service fees the courier may demand at the last moment due to any reason at that particular time.

Once you've figured out your costs for packing and transporting frozen meals, shipping fee calculators may be a lot of help because they are a terrific method to get the most precise shipping and delivery timings to estimate from their global courier networks. That helps with label generation, monitoring shipments internationally, and more. In addition, the use of shipping calculators can ease the seller's budgeting process.

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