Beverage shipping during the winter brings its own considerations when it comes to successfully arriving at intended destinations still safe and ready to consume. Because beverages are liquids, temperature control is an important issue, and the colder temperatures of beverage shipping during the winter can wreak havoc with the viability of beverages. Liquids freeze at colder temperatures, and depending on the type of beverages involved in shipping, this can result in flavor changes or even render the beverages unfit for drinking.
One of the factors involved in shipping is the type of container used for the beverages themselves. There are three primary types, each with its strengths and weaknesses for beverage shipping.
Plastic
Plastic is one of the most popular modern materials for a beverage container. It is cheap to produce, durable, and incredibly flexible, so it can easily be configured to different shapes and sizes of beverage containers. However, while plastic is physically durable, it doesn’t have the same shelf life as older materials.
Perhaps more importantly, plastic is not a very sustainable material. Older materials can be easily recycled, but plastic still presents issues for the environmentally minded. Because of this, plastic tends to chemically react faster than some other materials meaning that liquids stored in it may not retain their original properties as long.
Glass
This is one of the oldest materials for packaging, and with good reason. Glass has an incredibly long shelf life of decades, if not centuries, when left undisturbed. When properly sealed, glass is also extremely resistant to CO2 loss and prevents2 entry.
Unfortunately, as many are aware, despite having a long shelf life, glass is also brittle. A dropped plastic bottle results in no significant physical damage, but a dropped glass bottle will break. Glass is also extremely vulnerable to beverage shipping during winter, as freezing liquids in the glass can expand and crack the glass, causing leaks when reverting to liquid form.
Metal
Aluminum is one of the most common metals used as a beverage container, and with good reason. It is a thin but durable and flexible material lighter than glass. Unlike glass, it is also a naturally opaque material, which can also help to protect the integrity of beverages inside. It’s also easily recyclable and, like glass, extremely resistant to chemical reactions, making it perfect for preserving carbonated and even alcoholic drinks.
However, one major consideration of aluminum is that while it is a desirable material for packaging, it is also harder to come by. A shortage in available aluminum has reduced the supply for cans, and while this is mitigated somewhat by the recyclable nature of the material,
Because of these different materials and considerations, passive temperature control systems are a good idea for beverage shipping during winter. When cargo is waiting outside a warehouse, or even a dock or tarmac waiting for the next vehicle, its passive control systems maintain the internal temperature even without heating units. This can sometimes mean the difference between beverages retaining their flavor while a vehicle delay occurs or freezing and no longer being suitable for sale.
