Processed foods such as canned goods, frozen produce and pre-packaged snacks have always been a staple in American households. However, during the pandemic, fresh food delivery boomed overnight. Whether ordering groceries to be delivered or home meal kits arriving on the front porch, both items require unique packaging for storage and transit to households. Food safety and integrity are crucial for food manufacturers looking to prevent dangerous food-borne diseases or pathogens from impacting customers. This is why innovation has exponentially grown in cold chain packaging solutions.
Cold chain packaging is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 19.6% from 2023-2030, according to Grand View Research. Now more than ever, it is essential for packaging solutions to take products from the manufacturing line direct to home kitchens. Customers expect their orders to be delivered in pristine condition to their doorsteps. Additionally, with sustainability being at the forefront of companies’ and shoppers’ minds, there is now a race to achieve sustainable packaging goals while navigating economic uncertainty and protecting bottom lines.
COVID-19 pushing cold chain innovations
Ten years ago, if you shipped something cold, it was in EPS Styrofoam coolers – cheap and protected. However, during the pandemic (and after) an unprecedented number of people were ordering home delivery from food, beverage, and pharmaceutical brands. The manufacturers experienced unplanned growth in direct-to-consumer shipping, and consumers noticed the non-sustainable packaging materials.
As a result, companies are exploring packaging materials and design with the lens of sustainability, resulting in giant strides across cold chain packaging, including sustainable materials that stored and shipped temperature-sensitive goods with similar total cost of ownership. Now, businesses and end-use customers expect to see cold chain packaging with sustainable attributes or completely curbside recyclable, and improved performance.
Custom design and gaining efficiencies
In the past, cold chain packaging was largely limited to the sizes of coolers being made by the nearest EPS manufacturer. Today, sustainable packaging is customizable to fit the needs of each customer, allowing the design teams to build it to perfectly fit the application. This not only leads to the desired thermal performance of any given item, but also reduces dimensional weight for shipping. By right sizing the package, it also reduces storage and inbound shipping freight. This lowers the total cost of ownership with the added benefit of improvements in sustainability goals.
Most of the current sustainable solutions can also help with labor and/or storage concerns. They allow the flexibility to either ship as components that are assembled on-site, greatly reducing storage requirements, or they can be ship fully kitted to help with on-site labor needs. Some of these solutions are also opening the path to fully automated cold chain shipper construction on-site, enabling a fully automated front end to fulfillment lines.
New materials and meeting sustainability goals
According to a study from The Economist Intelligence Unit, there has been a 71% increase in online searches for sustainable goods around the world in the past five years.
It is very clear that companies will continue to seek sustainable products based on lifecycle analysis assessments to meet long-term sustainability goals, but these materials also need to achieve the desired thermal performance and be cost effective for companies. Currently, many biodegradable food packaging products such as biodegradable EPS still end up in landfills, leaving behind microplastics that are almost impossible to remove entirely.
For packaging experts, it will always be a priority to test designs, work with suppliers and sample new materials – starch or paper, natural fiber, or others – all for the sake of determining the right solutions to address temperature needs. It is essential to protect products from elements such as moisture, oxygen exposure, and humidity.
Future of sustainable cold chain
Companies are realizing the market potential for sustainable cold chain. By placing resources in this area of packaging, we are expecting to see continued development and growth in this field. The materials will continue to get lighter and be better insulators allowing for smaller, more effective solutions. As the market for cold chain continues to grow, we will also see it become more competitive due to more efficient production capabilities. Another interesting area to watch is fully sustainable gel packs and phase change materials (PCMs). This will allow the entire solution to be fully compostable or recyclable.
Ultimately, through smart, sustainable packaging design, companies can reduce materials and deliver a quality experience to end-users.
