Safe Food Transportation

Selling fresh and high-quality produce is essential in groceries and retail food businesses. Suppliers and business owners know this very well. It can impact sales and customer satisfaction dramatically. That’s why the transport and storage of foods is so important, and refrigerated transport or reefer freight is essential to achieve this. In this post, we share a quick guide to safe & efficient food transportation.

What Is Refrigerated Transportation and How Did it Start?

Refrigerated transportation or reefer freight is a shipping cargo with advanced temperature adjustment features. It is built and designed mainly for climate-sensitive goods such as vegetables, fruits, meat, all-prep meals, bread, etc. It was first introduced way back in the 1800’s, in which the freight is loaded with ice and salt to maintain the food’s quality at a particular temperature.

Although the method was used for a long time, it was not as efficient as courier companies expected it to be and eventually, they stopped using it due to significant losses in profit.

But the idea did lead to a modern and efficient way to ship perishable goods without contaminating them and losing their quality.

The Emergence of Cold Chain Logistics

After this rocky start to refrigerated transportation (and following advances in refrigeration technology) authorities developed a safer and much more effective way to ship temperature-sensitive products — cold chain logistics.

Cold chain logistics is the transporting of perishable produce and temperature-sensitive goods through thermal and refrigerated storing and packaging methods with logistical planning to protect the cargo’s integrity.

The Importance of Temperature-controlled Freight

Temperature plays a vital role when it comes to safe food transportation. As demand for perishable goods and climate-sensitive produce increased, so too did the need for effective refrigerated transport.

Still wondering how significant reefer freights are? The following are a few practical reasons why you need it in your fresh food business.

Prevents food from contamination. The primary reason why reefer freights were built was to avoid the food from developing hazardous toxins due to contamination as well as to maintain the quality of each product. As such, temperature-controlled trucks are crucial to the fresh food industry.

Meets the high demand for perishable produce. As populations grow and consumers lean more towards fresh, healthy foods again, there has been a rise in demand for temperature-sensitive and perishable produce. With that, the call for safe and efficient Refrigerated Road Freight Brisbane and other parts of the world is rising as well.

It can be utilised for different goods. It is not only for fresh produce, there are other products that are climate-sensitive and require temperature control. These include pharmaceutical products, medicines, care products, chemical solutions, and valuable pieces of art.

Compliance with food and safety laws. Australia has strict food safety laws, so to be in compliance with regulations, it’s integral to ship and store products at their optimal temperature. 

Factors to Consider When Choosing Refrigerated Transport

There are many companies that offer refrigerated transportation services, but some have more advanced features than others. Before deciding which company to hire, check first if they offer the following elements.

Temperature Tracking Records. You don’t need to worry about not knowing if temperatures fluctuate in transit. Systems are in-built to regularly and automatically take a record of the cargos temperature during transit. The system also comes with an alarm that alerts the driver whenever the temperature strays out from the set range.

Trackers. Another useful tool some companies include in their temperature-controlled couriers is trackers. Trackers can help in supervising the truck’s transit through real-time updates, providing delivery estimates and important location information.

Loading and Unloading Protocols. Transit is not the only aspect that could affect the product’s quality— how authorised personnel load and unload them can have a significant impact as well. 

With temperature as the primary key to curbing food contamination, refrigerated transportation is indeed valuable in the fresh food and retail industry. It is the backbone which helps grocery store owners and suppliers thrive in the industry.