I am looking for advice on wine shipping boxes for a retail store I work at. Right now, we use molded fiber inserts for general shipping when temperature won’t be an issue and Styrofoam when it is. And it kills me to use the Styro. I’d love to present other options if that seems like customers would appreciate it, but I’m just not familiar with what’s out there. I’ve seen some wineries use eco-friendly packaging that does help insulate. How much do people care about the packaging wine shipments arrive in as long as the wine survives transportation? Would you pay more for eco-friendly thermo boxes? Have you used or received any eco-friendly shipping boxes that seemed to work particularly well?
Thanks! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
We get frozen meat shipped with a compostable foam. I checked to see if it is made into wine shippers, and it is. I haven’t really had a problem with cardboard wine shippers, though, as long as the shipping takes place in reasonable shipping weather. Timing is more important than packing material.
Yes to the question of willingness to pay more for eco-friendly packaging.
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Yes to paying more, but I typically just don’t have things shipped in the summer
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There’s some good talk in here
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I was just going to suggest that. Alternatives are discussed in most detail in pages 5 and 6.
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Thanks, appreciate the feedback. I’ve actually received some whiskey in the plastic/air contraption that’s pictured in the thread. It did seem quite sturdy and able to conform to a fair number of bottles. Plus it takes up less space in the landfill. Wonder if any shippers, too, want to weigh in with their thoughts?
Do you know who makes the foam? If not, do you mind letting me know who the meat shipper is? Thank you!
FWIW, some wine shops that offer both styro and pulp/fiber inserts claim that their studies show the inserts effectively insulate as well as stryo.
Never throughout a styro shipper and problem solved. They are good for more than one delivery. I have had good luck with styro and cardboard shippers over the year. Find a local shop that wants them.
I tracked down these guys in that other thread
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Yes, styrofoam is terrible and unnecessary. Ship in pulp and try to hold for cool enough weather. I know some customers will insist on shipping when it’s hot. Then I would use ice packs and insist on expedited shipping if they’re not nearby.
Never understood this shipping when it is hot. How are ice packs going to help over a few days in 100 degree weather?
I also get compostable foam inserts for meat from D’artagnan. the foam actually makes a pretty great chimney started for a grill charcoal chimney. have found several other uses for it too!
but I agree I would sell hard the idea of only shipping when you can use fiber. its the best solution plus its best for the wine. I was further convinced of this lately after seeing a bunch of posts and stuff from UPS drivers sharing the temps inside their trucks lately. 120 degrees easy in some of those!
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Hate to spoil the party, but the answer is that there is no good answer. My business switched from styrofoam to heavy cardboard. I have no ability to calculate the carbon footprint(s). The cardboard weighs far more, so who can calculate the extra fuel used in shipping vs the drawbacks of the styrofoam.
I personally never ship anything in warm weather. My shipping season within the U.S. is mid-November - mid-March. Period. The business often has to ship samples year-round. So from April - October, that means overnight. It kills me.
I no longer own the business, but will be checking out greencellfoam and (assuming it’s right) ask my successors to use it.
Thank you.
Dan Kravitz
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I don’t have wine shipped to me when it’s hot, but as a retailer, one doesn’t tend to argue with customers who will either cancel their orders or have wine shipped. That’s why I suggested ice packs AND expedited shipping. Overnight with ice packs is usually fine. The packs usually hold up well for a couple of days. 5-7 days across the country can be a much different story.
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I received a box from @ThatcherBakerBriggs and noticed that the styro was claiming to be 90% bio degradable after 4 years (I couldn’t pull the tape to see the whole statement)
Looked for the brand and didn’t come up with much info.
Has anybody heard of this styro, which would seem to be a big breakthrough. It seems physically like every other styrofoam one would have received.
We use UPS certified cardboard, one bottle damaged out of the last 400 or so deliveries.
We don’t have extreme temperatures really so unless someone is specific we continue to ship in summer but only on Mondays.
This is what almost everyone in Europe uses.