Whether you ship food out as part of your business, or you would like to send a friend or family member a few of your favourite treats, you should make sure you are familiar with how to package food efficiently.
If you are sending perishable foods, such as baked goods or refrigerated foods, you need to act quickly and make sure your items get to their destination in a short time frame to prevent the build-up of bacteria.
The way you package comes down to what type of food will be inside. Does it have to be kept cold? Does it have to be kept frozen? Is it a fragile food? Either way, we have the answers to help solve your food packaging questions.
Packaging food with no temperature requirements
When it comes to packaging “shelf” food (that is, food with no specific requirements to be kept at a certain temperature), the process is not too different to packaging regular goods. Make sure you have a sturdy box that is strong enough to support the contents. It is always good practice to line the outer box with a plastic lining so the contents are secure, and unwanted bacteria can’t get in.
Be sure to provide internal packaging to fill any gaps so that the contents don’t end up rolling around inside the box.
Packaging to keep food cold/frozen
Packaging for cold or frozen food stuffs is slightly different because you need to make sure that all of your food will arrive at its destination at the same temperature it left you in. This requires some extra steps to ensure your food doesn’t become spoiled.
- Estimate the size of the food contents and use a cardboard box that will hold the food with some extra room for internal packaging.
- You will then have to find a box container that fits well into the outer cardboard box. Styrofoam as an example acts as a great insulator, minimising the amount of warm air touching the food and the amount of cold air getting out of the package. You may even be able to source a packaging solution for your goods that already has a temperature-controlled aspect built into one system.
- Make sure there is enough room inside the inner container to fit the food in, as well as some ice packs. These will be essential to maintain the temperature inside the packaging.
- Be sure to put your food, especially anything frozen, into multiple plastic bags to avoid any leakage from melting. Squeeze out any remaining air and seal so each bag is completely airtight, letting no food out or bacteria in. A soggy box can be difficult to deal with and can completely ruin the integrity of the packaging, therefore not protecting the contents inside.
- As above, add either dry ice or gel ice packs to keep the food at a good temperature (under 4 °C) throughout the delivery process. Make sure to protect yourself if and when handling dry ice because it can cause injuries if it makes contact with the skin.
- Shut the inner box with all of the food and gel packs inside and make sure it is sealed, with tape on all open joins before placing into the cardboard box ready to be sealed and labelled for delivery.
- It is worth adding a note on the outside of the box explaining that the contents inside are perishable.
Packaging for fragile foods
Fragile foods, such as baked goods, need a different type of packaging to maintain their form on the journey from A to B.
- Wrap the goods individually in plastic wrap or foil to maintain freshness for as long as possible. If you want to wrap multiple items up together, use parchment paper between layers so they don’t stick together.
- Place the food in an airtight container to further make sure they don’t become stale on the journey. If there is room around the food, add some sterile packing peanuts to avoid any movement.
- Seal the inner airtight packaging and place into a cardboard box and fill any gaps with packaging filler so the inner box does not move around. You can seal the box and add the address on like usual.
- Add ‘FRAGILE’ and ‘THIS WAY UP’ to the outer packaging so those delivering know not to place upside down.
Delivery services for couriering food
Same day delivery and next day delivery services are perfect for moving food because they are extremely quick and do not give the food time to become spoiled or become stale, maintaining the freshness, ready for the recipient to enjoy.
