Storage is arguably the most important aspect of any perishable business. Without a proper storage facility, your food will spoil before it ever gets to market. The more you know about setting up your storage for success, the better off you are going to be! This article will outline what options you have to store and manufacture all types of perishables properly.
Refrigeration. Credit: Octego Ltd
Credit: Octego Ltd
At the end of this article, you should understand how to set up storage for your perishable business properly. If any questions are left unanswered after reading this post, feel free to contact our cold room contractor! We love hearing from new customers and would be happy to give more specific advice tailored specifically towards your unique services.
Storage Types
Storage can fall into two different types: transportation or stationary. Transportation storage consists of moving trucks/containers which move food goods around until they reach their final destination (usually another facility). Stationary refers to facilities where goods remain in place within the building during transit. When first starting with perishables warehousing, it's recommended that entrepreneurs start out with stationary storage. If you are beginning, it's easier to start moving perishables from place to place when they aren't perishable versus trying to do so after the food has already been processed and packaged for market.
Cold Room Requirements
To properly store perishables, a cold room must meet certain requirements in terms of temperature and humidity levels. Temperature is measured using the Celsius scale (0°C being the freezing point). The lower your desired temperature range goes on this scale; the colder things will be inside your cold room! For example: if you wanted a low temp between -20°C or -25°C, then that means that anything inside would need to stay below those temperatures. The second part of temperature management is relative humidity levels. Relative humidity refers to the amount of moisture in the air, affecting how much condensation will occur on surfaces inside your cold room. If you have a high level of humidity, there will be more water present, and therefore, if your goods were stored too close together, they would likely get wet from all the excess moisture!
Types of Containers
There are multiple types/sizes of containers used for storage purposes. Most entrepreneurs use regular cardboard boxes or plastic totes as these tend to hold up well with repeated movements without breaking apart or losing their shape over time due to wear and tear (which could result in leakage). For those looking for something a bit more durable, metal containers can be used for storage! These tend to cost a bit more upfront but last longer and don't break down as easily over time. For those looking to move goods from place to place frequently, these might not be the best option because they're typically very heavy and difficult to manoeuvre with when fully loaded.
Solutions
For perishable businesses that require frequent movement or transit of their products before reaching market or final destination, we would recommend investing in a cold room container with both temperature control features (such as our C Series) along with self-contained refrigeration units, so you have total climate management capabilities at your fingertips. This keeps perishables cool while being transported without using ice or relying on other outside factors to keep things cool for your business.
Explore Stationary Storage Options
Stationary storage refers to facilities where goods remain in place within the building during transit. Containerized transportation is an option that allows you to move perishables around without having them go bad using self-contained refrigeration units and climate control systems inside of larger transport/transit containers. This solution can be more expensive upfront but makes it much easier if you need to do frequent moves/movements with your products since they stay safe, secure, and tightly sealed at all times.
Conclusion
The above are just a few things to consider when looking for cold room storage solutions. Be sure to do thorough research into the types of units that you'll need for your business before making any major purchases or investing in anything large. Setting up the right storage and manufacturing for your perishables is necessary if you want to keep your business running smoothly and remain profitable year after year. Without this system in place, your perishable business will likely fail. Also, it never hurts to take some time now and then to review how things are working to ensure they continue operating at optimum efficiency levels year after year.
Back to Homepage
Back to Consumer Goods