Food Production Warehouse Tips: 3 Ways to Use Pallet Containers for Storage and Transport

delivery person passing plastic pallet

Food production comes with more than its fair share of risks. The stakes couldn’t be higher when sending food and beverage products out for delivery. If one of your products is damaged, spoiled, or contaminated, you could do lasting damage to your customers.

Food products are much more sensitive than other types of consumer goods. Most food items come with an expiration date, so it’s your job to make sure these items arrive at the destination on time. If not, they could spoil ahead of time. Approximately 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year, so do your part to make sure your products don’t end up in the trash.

Speed and efficiency are of the utmost importance in the food supply chain. It’s best to adopt a first in first out (FIFO) method when shipping out food products. The longer these products sit around your facility, the less valuable they become.

If you want to increase efficiency and your bottom line, consider investing in pallet containers to keep your inventory moving. Find out why plastic totes and bins work great in the food industry.

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Why Plastic Pallet Containers?

It’s important to use food-grade containers when shipping and transporting food products. Food grade containers are designed to store products meant for human consumption. These containers are made with BPA-free plastic to prevent the spread of illness.

Plastic is also much more sanitary than other materials, including wood. Wooden pallets and boxes tend to leave trails of debris everywhere they go. The last thing you want is for a bunch of wood chips and dust to make it into one of your containers. One of your workers could also slip on a piece of wood and fall if wooden debris is on the floor. Food processing facilities must seal any openings or leaks that may contaminate their food products. The same goes for your containers as well. Use plastic bulk containers to keep your facility as clean as possible.

hands holding tomatoes out of plastic bin

Ways to Use Pallet Containers:

  • Faster Shipping

Pallet containers are perfect for shipping and transporting food products, including produce, canned goods and baked items. Look for containers with open slats so your team can quickly fill packages with food items and send them out for delivery.

If you need to make more room in the delivery vehicle, invest in collapsible pallet containers. Your team can quickly free up extra space by folding empty containers when they are not in use. This will also come in handy on the loading dock. Keep collapsed containers to the side so your team can pull from the stack as soon as a new order comes in.

With plastic containers, your team won’t have to spend as much time building boxes, and they can get your food products out the door as quickly as possible to prevent spoilage.

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Plastic pallet containers are also extremely easy to clean. Just rinse them out and put them back into the supply chain to send out more orders.

  • Temperature Control

You can also use plastic trays and pallets to better control the temperature of your food products. Give hot items a chance to cool by setting them out on a series of plastic trays. These trays and containers come with mesh siding to keep the air flowing. This ventilation allows your products to cool in a matter of minutes. Laying out your products on a series of trays will also prevent items from sticking together.

plastic containers in warehouse

  • Effective Storage

Time is of the essence when collecting food items for shipment. If your team needs to assemble a range of dissimilar items before sending a package out for delivery, use plastic crates and totes to organize your inventory on the shelf. Since these containers come in a range of styles and colors, you can easily organize your inventory according to color. Assign different colors to different types of food products so your employees can quickly find what they need.

This storage process will speed up picking and order fulfillment, allowing you to get orders out the door as fast as possible. You can’t afford to drag your feet when it comes to transporting food. If your shipment is late, it could make all the difference in the world.

Use these efficient food warehousing tips to streamline your operations at every turn. Shop Container Exchanger for plastic pallet containers that will help you stay ahead of schedule.