The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted all industries. The dairy industry is no exception. Just one year before the pandemic, hopeful projections predicted that one-fifth of U.S. households would be shopping for groceries online within five years.

In the last nine months of 2020, some online grocery retailers saw order volumes surge 500%, according to CNBC. Digitalcommerce360.com reports that in the United States, “68% of consumers ordered groceries online for home delivery between March and late August 2020.” McKinsey & Company projects that 45% of consumers intend to continue ordering online post-pandemic.

This dramatic growth of online grocery shopping, combined with a short-term increase in people stocking up on products, has increased pressure on the industry to keep pace with demand, minimize waste and uphold the highest quality and safety standards. Fortunately, there are tools and high-impact activities within end-of-line packaging and transport preparation that can help dairy suppliers and distributors meet these challenges.

Maintaining and ensuring dairy safety across complex global supply chains is optimized by applying technology and advanced materials strategically. Here are some best practices.

Raw and bulk ingredients

The transportation of raw and bulk ingredients is the first leg in the dairy supply chain journey. Whether for in-store, dairy processing plants or animal feed, some ingredients require special care during transport and handling.

For example, polybags, which are widely used in animal feed, tend to slip on each other when stacked. One innovative solution to avoid spillage and loss is using water-based adhesives that hold filled and stacked polybags in place during transit. These adhesives are cold applied and don’t leave a sticky residue or cause tearing during unstacking like hot-melt adhesives.

Sometimes a combination of solutions is required to achieve optimal results. For example, cold-based adhesives are widely used in conjunction with stretch film.

Ultimately, many factors contribute to dairy safety and are largely dependent on the type of dairy product, as well as the distribution channels. For example, consider the vast differences in packaging needs related to transportation of perishable versus nonperishable goods. While contamination and damage can occur at any level, optimized packaging solutions help dairy products arrive at their destinations the way they were intended — safe and secure. 

Consumer dairy products

Once the raw ingredients have traveled safely to the store shelves or the dairy processor, things get more complicated. Dairy products are high-volume consumer goods, and differing shelf-life requirements and manufacturing environments drive their distinct transportation safety demands. 

Dairy must also keep up with equally high demands, as millions of gallons of milk are sold daily in the United States alone. The difference is these products have much tighter timeframes in terms of processing, packaging and shipping to preserve shelf life.

Speed and reliability are top concerns in this environment. Any machine downtime in the palletizing zone can cause myriad problems upstream and significantly affect the product shelf life. Having a strapping or stretch solution that can withstand a dairy processing plant’s cold and challenging conditions is critical to maintaining shelf life.

Optimization for automation and shelf life

Additional opportunities exist to optimize shelf life and mitigate the management of demand spikes. For example, automated storage and retrieval systems are available to prioritize product picking by expiration date. Finding a solution suited for cold storage that automatically tracks and stores items based on shelf life and expiration is necessary to ensure dairy products are stored and transported safely.

Beyond COVID-19

Even as demand begins to normalize following the COVID-19 spike, transit packaging solutions can help improve operations and increase profit for dairy producers and manufacturers by helping to reduce spoilage, breakage and potential for mold growth, thereby increasing shelf life.

Ensuring safety and minimizing food loss work in tandem. A 2020 USDA report estimates that the total value of wasted food — in-transit, in-store and in-home — is more than $160 billion annually. It comprises 133 billion pounds (31%) of the 430 billion pounds of food produced in the United States each year.

The report highlights the role that distribution-related technology and material innovations can play in reducing total food waste.

Innovation and optimization of end-of-line packaging and logistics operations provide a critical opportunity to benefit the whole supply chain. Transit packaging specialists are well-versed in the technology and strategies to help customers effectively pack, bundle, unitize, warehouse and transport products.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted all industries. The dairy industry is no exception. Just one year before the pandemic, hopeful projections predicted that one-fifth of U.S. households would be shopping for groceries online within five years.

In the last nine months of 2020, some online grocery retailers saw order volumes surge 500%, according to CNBC. Digitalcommerce360.com reports that in the United States, “68% of consumers ordered groceries online for home delivery between March and late August 2020.” McKinsey & Company projects that 45% of consumers intend to continue ordering online post-pandemic.

This dramatic growth of online grocery shopping, combined with a short-term increase in people stocking up on products, has increased pressure on the industry to keep pace with demand, minimize waste and uphold the highest quality and safety standards. Fortunately, there are tools and high-impact activities within end-of-line packaging and transport preparation that can help dairy suppliers and distributors meet these challenges.

Maintaining and ensuring dairy safety across complex global supply chains is optimized by applying technology and advanced materials strategically. Here are some best practices.

Raw and bulk ingredients

The transportation of raw and bulk ingredients is the first leg in the dairy supply chain journey. Whether for in-store, dairy processing plants or animal feed, some ingredients require special care during transport and handling.

For example, polybags, which are widely used in animal feed, tend to slip on each other when stacked. One innovative solution to avoid spillage and loss is using water-based adhesives that hold filled and stacked polybags in place during transit. These adhesives are cold applied and don’t leave a sticky residue or cause tearing during unstacking like hot-melt adhesives.

Sometimes a combination of solutions is required to achieve optimal results. For example, cold-based adhesives are widely used in conjunction with stretch film.

Ultimately, many factors contribute to dairy safety and are largely dependent on the type of dairy product, as well as the distribution channels. For example, consider the vast differences in packaging needs related to transportation of perishable versus nonperishable goods. While contamination and damage can occur at any level, optimized packaging solutions help dairy products arrive at their destinations the way they were intended — safe and secure. 

Consumer dairy products

Once the raw ingredients have traveled safely to the store shelves or the dairy processor, things get more complicated. Dairy products are high-volume consumer goods, and differing shelf-life requirements and manufacturing environments drive their distinct transportation safety demands. 

Dairy must also keep up with equally high demands, as millions of gallons of milk are sold daily in the United States alone. The difference is these products have much tighter timeframes in terms of processing, packaging and shipping to preserve shelf life.

Speed and reliability are top concerns in this environment. Any machine downtime in the palletizing zone can cause myriad problems upstream and significantly affect the product shelf life. Having a strapping or stretch solution that can withstand a dairy processing plant’s cold and challenging conditions is critical to maintaining shelf life.

Optimization for automation and shelf life

Additional opportunities exist to optimize shelf life and mitigate the management of demand spikes. For example, automated storage and retrieval systems are available to prioritize product picking by expiration date. Finding a solution suited for cold storage that automatically tracks and stores items based on shelf life and expiration is necessary to ensure dairy products are stored and transported safely.

Beyond COVID-19

Even as demand begins to normalize following the COVID-19 spike, transit packaging solutions can help improve operations and increase profit for dairy producers and manufacturers by helping to reduce spoilage, breakage and potential for mold growth, thereby increasing shelf life.

Ensuring safety and minimizing food loss work in tandem. A 2020 USDA report estimates that the total value of wasted food — in-transit, in-store and in-home — is more than $160 billion annually. It comprises 133 billion pounds (31%) of the 430 billion pounds of food produced in the United States each year.

The report highlights the role that distribution-related technology and material innovations can play in reducing total food waste.

Innovation and optimization of end-of-line packaging and logistics operations provide a critical opportunity to benefit the whole supply chain. Transit packaging specialists are well-versed in the technology and strategies to help customers effectively pack, bundle, unitize, warehouse and transport products.