Growing Demand for Direct-To-Consumer Frozen Foods

When expanding operations into the e-commerce space, frozen food manufacturers can benefit from working with direct-to-consumer (DTC) distributors to manage their third-party logistics (3PL) needs, including inventory handling, pack-outs and shipping.

While DTC services offer convenient solutions for food manufacturers, they aren’t without challenges. This guide explores the growing demand for DTC frozen foods, the roadblocks associated with this fulfillment process and solutions to help combat them.

The Rise of Direct-to-Consumer Frozen Foods

With the DTC frozen foods business model, companies sell their products directly to customers through their online stores or platforms, rather than traditional grocery stores and supermarkets. Several factors drive the growing popularity of direct-to-consumer frozen food shipping:

Convenience: Consumers can enjoy the convenience and efficiency of frozen foods delivered right to their doorsteps. This is especially relevant for people with busy schedules and lifestyles who often seek easy-to-prepare meal solutions. Frozen foods offer a fast, seamless way to prepare meals without compromising nutrition and quality.
Nutritious options: There’s a growing demand for healthier frozen food products, such as plant-based and organic options. Many food manufacturers prioritize health and wellness in their products, catering to these demands.
Customization and variety: Brands that offer DTC frozen foods typically offer a wide variety of products, which consumers can customize to their dietary preferences and needs.

5 Unique Challenges of E-Commerce Cold Chain

DTC frozen food shipping and temperature-controlled order fulfillment come with several challenges.

1. Maintaining Product Quality and Integrity

The frozen food industry must maintain high quality standards during storage and transportation, but many obstacles emerge throughout the process. Proper climate control is paramount, as temperature fluctuations in delivery vehicles and storage facilities can degrade product quality, cause spoilage and present potential health risks for consumers.

Frozen food logistics involves keeping products at the correct temperatures and safe for consumption. This drives the need for advanced cold storage and transportation solutions, such as temperature-controlled packaging, insulated boxes and thermal liners.

2. Customer Satisfaction

In our fast-paced digital age, consumers expect both speed and quality. The stakes are even higher for items requiring cold chain management — a spoiled product can lead to an unhappy customer and potentially harm the brand’s reputation.

Consumers are well aware that items requiring cold storage are time- and temperature-sensitive, and they want the freshest ingredients possible. As such, the longer it takes to receive their order, the more their satisfaction declines. The cold chain logistics sector has adapted its processes to meet these expectations by designing high-throughput facilities and establishing partnerships for optimized delivery .

3. Sustainability

Between energy consumption, refrigerant use, packaging waste and other factors, cold chain practices are highly energy-intensive. The industry is under increasing pressure to adopt more sustainable processes and reduce its environmental impact. Many companies are implementing eco-friendly solutions like energy-efficient refrigeration systems, reusable packaging solutions and carbon-neutral transportation methods.

4. Last-Mile Delivery

The last mile is the final stage of the delivery process, where the product moves from the distribution center to the end user’s home. It’s often the most challenging and expensive phase of the cold chain. Transit delays, traffic congestion and exposure to ambient temperatures can compromise product quality and delivery speed.

Refrigerants like dry ice and cold packs may only last a day or two in transportation, so time is of the essence to avoid product loss. Solutions like specialized packaging, refrigerated vehicles and optimized delivery routes can help with more efficient last-mile delivery.

Future Trends in DTC Frozen Food Distribution

The following e-commerce cold chain solutions can help both parties — frozen food manufacturers and the DTC distributors they partner with — overcome the above challenges, reshaping the industry in numerous ways.

Advancing Technology

Technology advancements are revolutionizing cold chain logistics by enhancing temperature control, traceability and efficiency. Some examples include:

Predictive analytics to forecast demand and optimize inventory levels.
Smart pack-outs leveraging a multitude of datapoints including local weather to determine if extra ice is needed if temperatures during the transit route exceed certain thresholds
Sortation robotics which use automation to assemble multi-SKU boxes

By incorporating a technology- and data-driven approach, DTC companies can detect potential issues in the supply chain, taking proactive measures to prevent product spoilage and loss.

Partner With RealCold for DTC Frozen Food Fulfillment

Many food manufacturers are partnering with cold chain 3PL providers to handle their cold storage, transportation and delivery needs. These partnerships can provide faster, more convenient order fulfillment.

RealCold is your go-to partner for frozen food logistics. We oversee the entire process, including handling frozen and refrigerated goods, cold storage in our modern temperature-controlled facilities, and e-commerce fulfillment and DTC services. Rather than relying on outdated infrastructure, we address the above challenges with innovative cold chain solutions and technologies.

We pride ourselves on a diverse range of services that prioritize quality, safety and customer success. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for your business or request a quote.

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