Beverage shipping brings numerous logistical challenges, but beverage shipping during winter adds some additional wrinkles. It’s important, however, to address every single factor, as ignoring even one can ruin a product and leave it unsuitable—or even unsafe—for consumption and sale once the beverages reach their final destination. Here are a few considerations people need to consider when it comes to beverage shipping during winter.
Shock Protection
While many people have had the experience of shaking a carbonated beverage and seeing the explosive results upon opening the can, this is not necessarily the ever-present danger it appears to be. That type of vigorous shaking can cause explosive overflow, but only if a container is opened shortly after shaking. Under normal shipping circumstances, that is rarely a major threat.
However, constant shaking and vibration can damage beverages, depending on the container used. While cans and plastic bottles tend to be a bit more durable in this regard, glass containers are more delicate. Flaws in glass bottles can, if properly shipped, go undetected and never actually cause an issue with the beverage, even when bought and used. However, some structural flaws in a glass bottle can be exacerbated by constant vibrations, such as jostling during transport, if precautions aren’t taken. Hours—or even days—of this can affect the bottle in ways that ordinary usage wouldn’t, exploiting those flaws and causing the glass to break. For wine or beer, this can sometimes lead to unusable products.
Temperature
Another major consideration, which is a primary factor for beverage shipping during winter, is maintaining the proper temperature. Beverages are liquids and thus susceptible to low temperatures. If the temperature gets too low, the beverage will freeze solid. This has two very negative effects. The first is that liquid, when frozen, expands, leaving the possibility for bottles or cans to crack as the fluids solidify. Rapid temperature shifts can even cause the wine to resume the fermentation process, which, in a sealed wine bottle, can result in a gas build-up that explodes the bottle.
The second more important factor is that frozen beverages change flavor; in some cases, the change is so drastic as to be undrinkable. Frozen beer, for example, becomes lumpy and slushy when brought back to liquid temperatures, and wine, if the freezing process pushes the cork enough to allow oxygen back in, can let the wine turn into vinegar, completely ruining the product.
Passive temperature protection, such as pallet covers, is an excellent precaution for protecting drinks when beverage shipping during winter. Supply chains are long and varied, and the unexpected can sometimes happen at any stage of the journey. Mishaps and scheduling conflicts may mean beverages aren’t always stored in climate-controlled environments, but the protective layers of proper, insulated pallet covers can retain the optimal temperature for a beverage shipment, even while sitting on the tarmac, outside a warehouse, or in a trainyard.
It’s important to consider and prepare for these variable factors in the shipping process. Being prepared for delays means that the only thing you lose is time, rather than the quality of the product and the trust of a vendor purchasing your goods for sale.
