Depending on the type of product that you sell, you may need to keep your packaging cool. This is particularly common among food, beverages, and pharmaceutical items, but other products may also need to avoid extreme heat. For most items, keeping the packaging cool will determine if the item makes it to the customer in good condition. Heat can make something unsafe to consume or change the product’s original shape and design.
Opt for Insulation
The most common option to keep your packaging cool will be to include insulation in part of your packaging. The insulation should keep hot air out and cold air in. You can find product packaging with built-in insulation or add another layer of material between the product and the packaging.
Depending on the sensitivity of your product, you may even be able to skip the insulation on the packaging itself. Instead, make sure you ship the stacks of products in an insulated box. That method will only work well if you use refrigerated shipping, or the product needs to stay at room temperature, not cold.
Foil Linings
One of the more popular types of insulation for product packaging is the foil, which can either line boxes or come in the form of bubble bags. Consider this option if your items need to stay just above freezing temperatures. You can even supplement the foil linings with cool or gel packs in the shipping containers.
Polystyrene Boxes
You can also opt for polystyrene boxes, which do a great job of keeping the cold in. Combine them with gel packs if your items need to stay frozen throughout the shipping process.
Styrofoam
Another option is to use Styrofoam in your product packaging, either for the box itself or in smaller pieces. Styrofoam does an excellent job at keeping items cold, and you should be able to find it very easily, including in your size and thickness. The range of thicknesses also means that Styrofoam can be as efficient as you need it to be at keeping items cold.
If you do not want a full Styrofoam box, you can also get it in sheets. These are available to fit boxes that are already a standard size, or you can get customized Styrofoam sheets. They will be more affordable than an entire Styrofoam box since there is less of the material. To make up for the higher price, full Styrofoam boxes tend to do a better job at keeping items cool. You may also want to opt for Styrofoam sheets instead of boxes, so you do not have to compromise in terms of the box design.
Insulation Liners With Air
There are also air-filled liners that provide insulation in boxes. Because these liners are filled with air, they are lightweight, so they do not significantly increase the cost of shipping. They are also fairly easy to use, and they let you convert any box into an insulated one.
Cooling Agents
You will also likely need to include some sort of cooling agent with your product packaging, at least in the larger boxes that ship several products. Options for this include dry ice and ice packs. Alternatively, you can just opt for climate-controlled shipping.
