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How To Create An Improved Frozen Pizza Shipping Experience
Shipping a carton of frozen meat over the mail seems straightforward enough, doesn't it?
Begin with an insulated box, fill it with meat, add some dry ice or other chilling substance, then ship it. Shipping frozen beef, pig, chicken, and fish is difficult for a variety of reasons. We put out our first steak orders in Styrofoam coolers, which were the industry norm at the time because we didn't know of any other option. We were concerned about the environmental impact of Styrofoam and related goods. As a result, we were determined from the start to choose a system that matched sustainability with thermal performance. This prompted us to launch some great, sustainable alternative frozen pizza boxes; but, it also forced us to learn some difficult lessons about delivering frozen items. Our cross-company commitment to continuous development prompted us to go further into resolving these challenges and, finally, to our new redesigned custom box design.
Begin with an insulated box, fill it with meat, add some dry ice or other chilling substance, then ship it. Shipping frozen beef, pig, chicken, and fish is difficult for a variety of reasons. We put out our first steak orders in Styrofoam coolers, which were the industry norm at the time because we didn't know of any other option. We were concerned about the environmental impact of Styrofoam and related goods. As a result, we were determined from the start to choose a system that matched sustainability with thermal performance. This prompted us to launch some great, sustainable alternative frozen pizza boxes; but, it also forced us to learn some difficult lessons about delivering frozen items. Our cross-company commitment to continuous development prompted us to go further into resolving these challenges and, finally, to our new redesigned custom box design.
Putting Our Aim Of Never-Ending Growth Into Practice:
We realized we had to take a step back and rethink what we thought we knew about sending frozen meat over the mail. During this period, we were fortunate to work with a world-class cold chain partner who assisted us in physically stopping the bleeding. Recognizing the importance of resolving this issue for our members, they joined us in making a long-term commitment to resolving the thaw and leaker concerns. This is what we learned from months of back-and-forth projects in which we explored, tested, re-tested, made design changes, and tested again.
We realized we had to take a step back and rethink what we thought we knew about sending frozen meat over the mail. During this period, we were fortunate to work with a world-class cold chain partner who assisted us in physically stopping the bleeding. Recognizing the importance of resolving this issue for our members, they joined us in making a long-term commitment to resolving the thaw and leaker concerns. This is what we learned from months of back-and-forth projects in which we explored, tested, re-tested, made design changes, and tested again.
The Boxes Must Be Air Tight:
We utilized a two-piece insulating product similar to the plastic-film-covered top of this box when we first started delivering. The issue with this insulating technique was that it enabled air to enter and exit the box. We observed that the insulation was frequently placed improperly, shifted during shipment, or was inadequately sealed on top. As a consequence, warm air came in, cold air came out, and the meat seemed to have been left outside for the day.
We utilized a two-piece insulating product similar to the plastic-film-covered top of this box when we first started delivering. The issue with this insulating technique was that it enabled air to enter and exit the box. We observed that the insulation was frequently placed improperly, shifted during shipment, or was inadequately sealed on top. As a consequence, warm air came in, cold air came out, and the meat seemed to have been left outside for the day.
Solution:
As a result, our colleague devised a method of sealing the insulation using an inside piece of corrugate using bux board material. Version 1 of that concept evolved into V.2 with a cover to seal the top. These two box iterations ended up limiting nearly all air movement in and out of the box, which greatly improved thermal performance.
Also Read: How To Make Correct Packaging Choices?
As a result, our colleague devised a method of sealing the insulation using an inside piece of corrugate using bux board material. Version 1 of that concept evolved into V.2 with a cover to seal the top. These two box iterations ended up limiting nearly all air movement in and out of the box, which greatly improved thermal performance.
Also Read: How To Make Correct Packaging Choices?
There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Answer:
Following on from our airflow lesson, we discovered that dead space within the box was yet another major enemy of thermal performance. Until now, we have only used one box size to send every purchase. It was a pretty typical square-shaped box that could be found in nearly any corrugated manufacturer's inventory. It was the epitome of an operational assumption that we had never considered challenging. We discovered two things when we looked deeper into the box data and simulated pack-outs:
Following on from our airflow lesson, we discovered that dead space within the box was yet another major enemy of thermal performance. Until now, we have only used one box size to send every purchase. It was a pretty typical square-shaped box that could be found in nearly any corrugated manufacturer's inventory. It was the epitome of an operational assumption that we had never considered challenging. We discovered two things when we looked deeper into the box data and simulated pack-outs:
- We were transporting a large amount of empty air.
- Our "stock" box was not designed to accommodate a wide range of requests.
Aside from being irrational for these two reasons, unfilled space on frozen meat may cause chaos.
Even with our cumulative B- in high school chemistry, we recognized that conditioning a bigger volume area with more oxygen flow required more energy, which happened to be our dry ice in our boxes. We immediately recognized that the increased oxygen and air movement accelerated the phase transition of dry ice, causing it to melt faster than expected and not keep the product cool.
Solution:
Why ship with just one box when you can ship four? The most effective method to address the large variety in our orders and product offers was to enhance the variability in our custom box options. We created four boxes intending to minimize wasted space while fitting a wide range of orders and meat products. This resulted in less material waste and better thermal performance. Most significantly, it improves the member's experience.
Why ship with just one box when you can ship four? The most effective method to address the large variety in our orders and product offers was to enhance the variability in our custom box options. We created four boxes intending to minimize wasted space while fitting a wide range of orders and meat products. This resulted in less material waste and better thermal performance. Most significantly, it improves the member's experience.
The Meat Must Be Chilled But Not Frozen:
Some of you may be thinking, "If the meat isn't defrosting properly, why not just add more ice?" Yes, we did think of it, I can gladly say! We went with the obvious remedy of adding additional dry ice, however, this resulted in another discovery: Additional dry ice helped to reduce our thaw rate, but it also increased our leaker rate. This was an “AHA!“moment that ended up helping us with a previously intractable problem of opened and leaking packaging. Frozen film (our packaging) is not meant to withstand temperatures much higher than -20°F. During testing, we discovered that the -110°F dry ice was conditioning the meatpacking to temperatures that might cause the film to become brittle and shatter. We also looked at gel packs, but quickly realized that these couldn't meet our freezing needs either. It became a bit of a catch-22 situation. Increase the dry ice while decreasing the thaws and increasing the leakers, or lower the dry ice while increasing the thaws and decreasing the leakers. We wanted to discover a technique to keep the meat cool without freezing it.
Some of you may be thinking, "If the meat isn't defrosting properly, why not just add more ice?" Yes, we did think of it, I can gladly say! We went with the obvious remedy of adding additional dry ice, however, this resulted in another discovery: Additional dry ice helped to reduce our thaw rate, but it also increased our leaker rate. This was an “AHA!“moment that ended up helping us with a previously intractable problem of opened and leaking packaging. Frozen film (our packaging) is not meant to withstand temperatures much higher than -20°F. During testing, we discovered that the -110°F dry ice was conditioning the meatpacking to temperatures that might cause the film to become brittle and shatter. We also looked at gel packs, but quickly realized that these couldn't meet our freezing needs either. It became a bit of a catch-22 situation. Increase the dry ice while decreasing the thaws and increasing the leakers, or lower the dry ice while increasing the thaws and decreasing the leakers. We wanted to discover a technique to keep the meat cool without freezing it.
Solution:
We tried an insulated pad that fits between the meat at the bottom of the box and the dry ice at the top of the box to protect the meat and packaging from the high temperature of the dry ice. We reasoned that doing so would ensure that enough coolant found its way down to the meat, but not so much that the meat and packaging exceeded the -20°F breaking point.
We tried an insulated pad that fits between the meat at the bottom of the box and the dry ice at the top of the box to protect the meat and packaging from the high temperature of the dry ice. We reasoned that doing so would ensure that enough coolant found its way down to the meat, but not so much that the meat and packaging exceeded the -20°F breaking point.
