The food industry relies heavily on logistics and the supply chain to ensure that products reach consumers in optimal condition. One of the essential elements in this process is the cold storage, which plays a critical role in preserving perishable products.

Maintaining a controlled environment in terms of temperature becomes a fundamental challenge when it comes to frozen products and fresh products. In this blog, we will explore the importance of wood packaging solutions in the context of cold storage warehouses, and how these solutions can help ensure the integrity of products during their journey through the food supply chain.

The importance of cold storage

In the food industry, cold storage plays a crucial role in ensuring that perishable products reach consumers in optimal condition. But what is Cold Storage?

Cold storage, as its name suggests, refers to the preservation of products at low controlled temperatures, well below ambient conditions. This is achieved through the use of specially designed facilities equipped with precise refrigeration and freezing systems. Its main function is to prevent food from deteriorating, thus prolonging its useful life and maintaining its quality.

Products Requiring Controlled Environments

Frozen foods and fresh products, such as fruits, vegetables and meats, are clear examples of products that need to be stored in temperature-controlled conditions. Inappropriate temperatures can lead to the proliferation of bacteria, loss of texture, flavor and nutritional value, significantly affecting the quality of the food and ultimately the health of the consumer.

Efficient Cold Chain Management

The cold chain is the set of processes and controls that guarantee that products are maintained at the appropriate temperature from their origin to their final destination. To achieve this, efficient management that involves all actors in the supply chain, from producers to retailers, is essential. A deviation in the cold chain can have serious consequences, such as the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria and the loss of products, which affects both quality and food safety.

Challenges in preserving perishable products

Preserving perishable products in cold storage environments presents a number of crucial challenges that must be addressed to maintain food freshness and quality. These challenges are fundamental in the food supply chain and deserve special attention:

1. Temperature Fluctuations:

One of the most significant challenges lies in maintaining a constant temperature within cold storage facilities. Uncontrolled fluctuations can have detrimental effects on products. Temperatures that are too high can accelerate spoilage and bacterial growth, while temperatures that are too low can cause freezing damage, affecting the texture and flavor of foods.

2. Moisture Loss:

Humidity is a critical factor in preserving the freshness of products, especially fruits and vegetables. Cold environments often have lower humidity levels, which can result in a loss of moisture from foods. This leads to dehydration and wilting of produce, reducing its quality and visual appeal.

3. Risks of Improper Packaging:

The type of packaging used in cold storage is equally important. Incorrect or poor packaging can allow air and moisture to come into contact with food, accelerating spoilage. It can also expose products to unwanted odors and cross-contamination, compromising their food safety.

4. Loss of Nutrients and Sensory Quality:

Prolonged time in cold storage can result in loss of essential nutrients and sensory quality of products. This can negatively impact consumer satisfaction and perception of food.

5. Food Waste:

When the above challenges are not properly managed, the most worrying result is food waste. Products that do not meet quality or food safety standards must be discarded, which represents significant economic and environmental losses.

Cold Storage Wood Packaging Solution

Wooden packaging is a widely recommended option in the food industry. One of the properties of wood is its ability to preserve the flavor and texture of products.

In addition, wood is resistant to ambient temperatures thanks to its density and hygroscopic capacity, that is, it prevents the generation of microorganisms. Added to this is the temperature control that can be achieved thanks to the chemical composition of the material.

Another important quality is how practical it is to transport this material, as it offers the option of being molded into different presentations. For all these reasons, wood has been used for centuries in the storage and transportation of perishable foods.

Innovative technologies for the storage of perishable products

The constant demand for food products in the current era has led to the search for alternatives for preservation. It is cold storage technology that has evolved the most, since it is the technique with the greatest positive results.

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be a very useful tool in the storage of fresh products. It consists of connecting software to food to observe its physical changes. This type of technology allows trained employees to remove foods that are not in their optimal state, thus preventing further food damage.

Now, the RFID tec It is of great importance in the cold chain. Cold chain is understood as the production-storage-distribution process of food products. In this process, RFID technology helps keep track of food, through radio frequency, which avoids losing sight of the product. Through RFID, the food is monitored at all times.

Maintain freshness in cold stores

Ensure accurate temperature management

Temperature variation is a serious problem when trying to preserve food. It is essential that the refrigeration system has no faults, as any slight change could cause the appearance of microorganisms. Wooden packaging offers environmental stability if the climate control system fails, which will allow any imperfections to be resolved without damaging the food.

As for climate control systems, air modulators are a good option. This type of automated system prevents any human error, since it works under an established schedule. It also offers the possibility of tracking from any smart device.

Quality assurance during transportation

Moving is just as important as storage; since, if this is not done properly, the product will also suffer irreparable damage. Although the properties of wood in storage have been mentioned, its use in transportation also stands out. Wood is capable of absorbing any vibration energy and expanding, so the product will not suffer any damage.

The benefits that wood offers in food transportation are due to its chemical composition. The presence of procyanidin, a compound capable of inhibiting bacterial growth, has been found in different trees. For this reason, it is ideal for keeping food stored for transportation in good condition.

On the other hand, it is well known that when transporting a product it can be damaged by three factors: impact, friction, union. In most cases, the vibration caused by transportation causes these three factors. As mentioned above, wood is capable of reducing vibration, and boxes can be reinforced to prevent total movement of food.

The role of technology in the preservation of perishable products

The preservation of perishable foods has been a concern since commerce began to be relevant in society. Each technique created to store food has served so that today we have high-end technology to facilitate the process.

As basic measures to ensure the cold chain, there is temperature regulation and monitoring. Therefore, it is advisable to use thermostats that are responsible for maintaining the place at the appropriate temperature. A good option would be to purchase a digital cooling thermostat, as it allows you to save energy and monitor the temperature remotely.

Another technological alternative is AI, since work is currently being done to predict the quality of food. That is, through this monitoring, the status of food can be known from its storage to its export.

Having storage, monitoring and transportation tools guarantees an increase in profits for any business. It is worth mentioning that correct packaging also influences the product to reach its destination intact.

As mentioned above, wood is one of the best packaging materials. Tests have shown that it prevents bacterial growth unlike plastic containers.

Don't forget the importance of maintaining the cold chain

Finally, the importance of wood in the entire cold chain process can be noted. No matter how much technology advances, the wood packaging system is so efficient that it will never become obsolete.

Today there are companies focused on offering the best food storage and transportation service in a sustainable way. One of the best proposals for sustainable wood packaging is DMD. This company has more than 23 years of experience and is backed by thousands of satisfied customers and trained staff, thus guaranteeing that the product arrives in the best possible condition.