Moving food and other temperature-sensitive products from place to place always involves coordination, risk mitigation, and often strategic cold warehousing along the cold chain. Some products are more fragile than others, but most perishable products are particularly averse to the freeze-thaw cycle. Bananas, for example, will keep in a mild cold temperature range but certainly must not freeze, while ice cream standards require avoiding softening and then refreezing.
Ice Cream Standards
For food safety and tasting purposes, the International Ice Cream Association (IICA) provides widely circulated suggestions on the proper handling and storage of ice cream and related frozen desserts, to help retailers protect these tasty products.
“The temperature for ice cream products stored in your supermarket’s freezer case should be no warmer than -20°F. If they are kept at their proper temperature, they will be thoroughly frozen and feel hard to the touch.” – The IICA
How Do You Maintain Ice Cream Standards?
In order to get ice cream, frozen yogurt, popsicles, gelato, and all members of this tasty family of foods delivered to the retailer in good condition, warehousing services have stepped up to provide distribution centers able to maintain this temperature range. A facility that can maintain steady temperatures under the threshold will be able to help maximize shelf life, and therefore commercial potential, for an ice cream shipment.
What Is Heat Shock and Ice Cream Shrinkage?
Heat shock is the enemy of ice cream. In transit and in distribution warehousing stages, this product risks ice re-crystallization, lactose (milk sugar) crystallization, shifts in the size of tiny air cells, and, disturbingly, a reduction in ice cream volume, leading to a defect known as ice cream shrinkage.
In the summer months, seeking a reliable temperature-controlled environment to accommodate perishable food and beverages becomes mission-critical for ice cream, just when consumers are screaming for the best texture, food safety, and sensory experience. Minus twenty is what it takes to get the job done.
CWI Logistics Is the Expert In Ice Cream Standards
CWI Logistics has been maintaining the integrity and quality of temperature-sensitive products in Florida for nearly 6 decades. Even in a warm climate, CWI has you covered!
Reach out to us today if you need cold storage for your ice cream!