The supply chain business model requires speed and efficiency. Products must reach warehouses (and stores or direct customers) in optimal condition. In the case of food safety, ingredients have to be as fresh as possible when they arrive. So, how do you keep food items as fresh as possible while it has to make a journey that spans several days or hours? Cold chain management is the answer, but that’s only about a third of what you should know. Read on to learn more!
Cold Chain: Which Foods Should You Refrigerate?
Proper cold chain management can help satisfy customers and leave competing cold chain companies in the dust. It’s not enough to just know that foods should be refrigerated for transit. Usually, depending on the type of cargo you carry, different foods require different conditions to make sure they come out on the other side fresh.
Here’s how to know which foods to refrigerate, and how to always keep your cool in the face of industry pressure.
The Cold Chain: A Brief Overview
The cold chain describes a section of the supply chain that deals with refrigeration-in-transit. Cold trucks, being kept at low temperatures for the duration of the trip, allow for certain foods to retain their freshness.
A functional cold truck ensures that stock remains fresh, even in cases where the supply chain experiences delays due to unforeseen circumstances.
What Are the Biggest Cold Supply Chain Mistakes?
Sadly it is not uncommon for unethical companies to cut corners in their supply chain processes. A company might view cutting corners as a way to save money. See below for a few of the most common cold chain money-saving mistakes.
Dropping Refrigeration Temperatures
Dropping the temperatures on reefer trucks in order to save money can have severe consequences. Doing so can put the entire supply chain at risk by bringing lesser quality food to customers. In some cases, this can even cause certain foods to expire faster than others.
Failure to Maintain Cold Supply Units
Each cold truck should undergo maintenance at least once every few weeks. This is especially true if the truck spends a lot of time on the road. Nevertheless, many companies try to cut costs by neglecting cold truck maintenance. If your fleet doesn’t run at optimal capacity, you can’t expect to deliver optimal stock to any of your customers. Not to mention, if the products you are delivering do not arrive in optimal condition, your customers will not be happy.
Ignoring Food Health and Safety Guidelines
Oftentimes this is done by companies who just haven’t done their research on how to store and ship food safely. Nonetheless, it can also be done by companies who just don’t care. This is perhaps one of the biggest dangers to cold chain supply safety.
Optimal Refrigeration Guidelines
Always follow optimal refrigeration guidelines when transporting any type of food item. Refrigeration guidelines have everything to do with the health and safety of consumers. These guidelines help to guarantee the food reaches the end destination in the best possible condition.
For most food items, simple logic is enough to figure out what types of food do and do not need refrigeration. For example, any foods that can turn bad when they are not kept in a fridge at home or in-store need refrigeration.
Maximize the freshness and quality of food items at home with the FoodKepper app.
Cannonball Express Transportation
Cannonball Express Shipping Company has been providing top-of-the-line service at a reasonable rate. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, we provide nationwide refrigerated LTL services, as well as, local delivery services. Contact us today!
Nationwide Shipping Company Services:
- Refrigerated LTL deliveries in the lower 48 states
- Refrigerated Cross dock
Local Shipping Company Services:
- Redelivery Services
- Truckload & LTL Capabilities
- PUP
- Cross dock
- Transload
- Warehouse and Distribution capabilities from multiple Omaha Locations