There are plenty of businesses that trade in temperature-sensitive products. Food, beverages, medical, pharmaceutical, and even electronics, to a degree, all rely on being kept at an optimal temperature to remain at peak performance levels. Any sustained exposure to a temperature range outside this recommended level can damage or even compromise the safety of these products for users.
One of the most common solutions to this is the “reefer unit” for shipping. This is a refrigeration unit, built into a cargo container or a tractor-trailer, that tuns the entire shipping space into a giant refrigerator to maintain the required shipping temperature for the contents inside. While this is a solution that works, it should not be the sole mechanic for shipping, as there are other solutions, like cold chain packaging, that should work with refrigerated shipping containers instead.
What Is Cold Chain Packaging?
Cold chain packaging consists of specially insulated packaging materials and cooling agents designed to lower temperatures to a specific level. They then maintain that temperature even without the aid of electrically powered solutions like refrigerators and coolants.
It achieves this by first accepting the product to ship at its already optimal shipping temperature and then insulating the air around it so that the temperature changes very little over time. This is usually done through a combination of precisely engineered insulation materials in the packaging itself, insulation materials that may be added to the product, and even cooling agents, such as dry ice or other “cooling packs.”
Extra Protection
In a reefer unit, a combination of environmental temperature control and cold chain packaging ensures that products stay at their recommended temperature during the entire time that cargo is in the reefer unit. However, cold chain packaging really shows its value in every other non-reefer unit situation. For example, if products are removed from a reefer unit and awaiting loading into the next vehicle but that vehicle is delayed, cold chain packaging potentially keeps those products at their optimal temperature for days.
Similarly, if a product needs to be shipped for only a short period of time, such as raw ingredients in a meal kit sent to a customer directly within 48-72 hours, cold chain packaging can quickly and cheaply provide the temperature protection required for that product without the significant expense of a reefer unit to protect a single customer’s purchase.
If you’re shipping temperature-sensitive products and want to know the best way to get those products to their destination safely, we can help. Contact us to explain your shipping needs and obtain a quote.
