Eating at a restaurant with an international menu is a fun way to broaden your taste buds. However, you might notice that some of their dishes don’t taste as fresh as the others, particularly those that use ingredients that aren’t local.
If you’re the type who wants to get your money’s worth for freshness and authenticity, you’re better off travelling overseas to enjoy the local delicacies there yourself. Because when it comes to transporting food products, crossing a great distance comes with a price, especially if it involves shipping by air.
In addition, there are many components at play that affect the food’s freshness while in transit. Check out this site for more information about stringent standards for transporting dry, chilled, and frozen goods.
Admittedly, every business wants to ensure the quality of its products. They’re bound to lose clients if the quality is compromised. Considering how food products are prone to spoilage, preserving their freshness is challenging while in storage and during transportation. However, following these tips and pointers can help you overcome the challenges when transporting food products:
1. Be Familiar With The Products
Since people will consume these products, warehouse staff and refrigerated courier services must be intimately familiar with the nature of the products they’re handling, especially if they’re perishable goods. These food products are difficult to transport because they’re sensitive to temperature, humidity, storage, and shipping conditions.
Perishable food products require a careful organization to retain their freshness. For example, some fruits cannot be placed together during transport. Fruits that emit large quantities of ethylene like bananas, apples, and peaches should not be set near ethylene-sensitive fruits and vegetables, such as grapes, avocadoes, broccoli, and cauliflower.
On the other hand, root crops like onions must be handled and transported with care as they’re sensitive to pressure and impact. The ideal storage environment for onions is cool, dry, and dark. Additionally, if potatoes are inside the shipping container, keeping them separate from onions is best since the last releases chemicals that trigger the potatoes to start sprouting.
Many preserved food products also require refrigerated storage. Otherwise, the food will go wrong, regardless of whether it has preservatives to extend its shelf life.
2. Package Appropriately
Partnering with a refrigerated logistics company that implements strict quality control is essential to ensure efficient transportation of food products. Nonetheless, you need to secure your food products in appropriate packages to retain their freshness and preserve their quality. After all, food is highly susceptible to spoilage and contamination.
Powdered ingredients stored in flimsy bags are bound to tear up once they get caught on something. To address this, you may use shrink wraps to keep them in place and prevent them from moving too much while in transit.
Be that as it may, be mindful of toeing the line between too much and too little packaging. You may be trying to ensure certain food items, like bottled fruits or sauces, are secure by bundling them in thick rolls of bubble wrap. However, if you use excessive protective packing materials, your products will take up a lot of space.
Research or seek expert advice about the appropriate packaging for different food products in preparation for shipping. Find the middle ground when using packaging materials. With this, you can ensure the efficient delivery of your food products without compromising quality and safety.
3. Determine The Appropriate Mode of Transportation
Time is a critical factor in transporting food products. Every minute counts when transporting food products from the warehouse to the client. Any delivery delays may affect the freshness of the products by the time they reach their destination.
In addition, being mindful of the nature of the products you’re delivering is a must. It helps you determine the suitable mode of transportation, whether via road, rail, water, or air.
4. Monitor Its Progress
With how much technology has advanced, society can perform all sorts of tasks in less time. When it comes to food transportation, businesses utilize technology to track the products from when they leave the warehouse until they arrive at their destination.
From counting the items to maintaining the ideal temperature, refrigerated transport services install sensors to monitor everything in real-time. This way, any concerns will be addressed much faster.
Takeaway
Due to food’s sensitive nature, they’re one of the most challenging products to handle and transport. It’s crucial to prevent contamination and deterioration as customers put a premium on freshness and quality when it comes to food. Fortunately, there are proven steps to ensure efficiency in transporting food products.
