Dry Ice For Food Shipping

Companies ship food on dry ice primarily because its extremely low temperature of around -78.5 degrees Celsius (-109.3 degrees Fahrenheit) ensures critical temperature stability for perishable goods. This is especially vital during home delivery scenarios where unexpected delays, like customers not answering the door, could leave packages exposed to the sun for hours; dry ice provides a robust buffer against spoilage.

Furthermore, using dry ice allows for lighter packaging compared to alternatives like gel packs, phase-changing materials, or water ice, which translates to significant advantages. For instance, salmon exporters can now include more product in each shipment by using less weight for cooling, directly increasing profitability. Beyond its effectiveness, dry ice is also a sustainable solution as it’s produced from recycled CO2.

Finally, it’s a clean and cost-effective method, eliminating concerns about spillage since it sublimates directly into a gas, leaving no water or messy residue behind.

Frozen Foods: This is the most obvious category and includes items like ice cream, frozen meats (beef, poultry, pork), seafood, frozen meals, and desserts. Dry ice ensures these products stay at their optimal frozen temperature, preventing thawing and spoilage.

Seafood: Fresh and frozen seafood, such as fish fillets, shrimp, crab, and lobster, benefit greatly from the consistent and very cold temperatures provided by dry ice, maintaining their quality and preventing bacterial growth.

Meat and Poultry: Whether raw or processed, keeping meat and poultry at a consistently cold temperature is crucial for food safety. Dry ice is ideal for shipping steaks, roasts, sausages, and whole chickens or turkeys.

Dairy Products: While some dairy products can be shipped with gel packs for shorter durations, items that need to remain frozen, like some cheeses or specialty dairy desserts, are well-suited for dry ice.

Prepared Meals and Baked Goods: Certain perishable prepared meals and delicate baked goods that are frozen before shipping to maintain their structure and freshness can be effectively shipped with dry ice. Examples include frozen cakes, pies, and some pastries.

Specialty and Gourmet Foods: High-value perishable items like caviar, foie gras, and certain artisanal cheeses often require the temperature control that dry ice provides to ensure they arrive in perfect condition.

Perishable Samples: In some cases, food samples for testing or quality control that need to remain frozen are also shipped using dry ice.

To initiate on-site dry ice production, you will generally require access to a local source of liquid CO₂ and an on-site storage tank. A stable base, provided by a reinforced concrete foundation, is needed for the equipment, which is connected to the CO₂ reservoir via insulated piping. The Cold Jet dry ice production system should be located in a protected area with sufficient space.

Operation of this system necessitates a three-phase electrical power supply and a compressed air line. Safety is paramount, requiring adequate artificial ventilation within the production facility and a CO₂ PPM monitor. Lastly, insulated containers are necessary for the effective storage of dry ice, minimizing its natural sublimation.

Selecting the optimal dry ice pelletizer for your operations hinges on both your required production volume and available floor space. Cold Jet offers a range of machines capable of producing from 176 lbs (80 kg) of dry ice per hour up to 1653 lbs (750 kg) per hour. For facilities with limited space, Cold Jet provides pre-configured dry ice production hubs designed for easy plug-and-play integration. Furthermore, automated dry ice production solutions are available to streamline your specific operational needs.

When it comes to in-house dry ice generation, Cold Jet equipment has the lowest carbon footprint and uses the least energy per pound or kilo. Our machines are incredibly responsive with hardly any downtime, which means you get the lowest cost for every pound or kilo of dry ice you produce.