How to Ship Avocados
There are several challenges in the shipping industry — especially when you’re dealing with perishable shipments. Shipping food is difficult because it’s more sensitive to extreme temperatures, moisture, and physical damage. When you’re shipping fruits, vegetables, and other foods, you need to make sure your shipment is properly protected from the elements.
If you’ve had trouble shipping avocados, you’re not alone. Avocados and other fruits are notoriously difficult to ship because they can spoil easily when they’re exposed to the elements. You also have to protect your avocados from getting crushed by other cargo, which can be a challenge with pallet or container shipping.
Fortunately, EPGNA is committed to providing solutions to all your shipping problems. Whether you’re loading up a shipping container for overseas shipping or a pallet on a truck, we have a lineup of products to protect your crucial cargo. Learn more about how EPGNA shipping solutions can help you ship your cargo safely and protect your bottom line.
Can You Safely Ship Avocados?
Food is difficult to ship — especially when you’re shipping it a long distance. That being said, you can absolutely ship avocados if you protect them properly. Tons of avocados are shipped all over the world each year, giving people everywhere easy access to this delicious fruit.
The key to shipping avocados is protecting them from the elements. Moisture can cause serious issues when you’re shipping avocados, and extreme temperatures can speed up the spoiling process. Using protective liners, blankets, or pallet covers can protect against moisture and extreme temperatures, but it’s also important to pack your avocados properly.
We’ll talk more about how to ship avocados near the end of this guide.
Avocado Shipping Risks
There are several risks to consider when you’re shipping avocados — or any food product, for that matter. It’s important to understand what can go wrong with an avocado shipment, which includes learning how to prevent each of these risks. You can find out more below.
Contamination
Contamination is one of the biggest risks when you’re shipping any type of food. There are a lot of steps throughout the shipping process, and food shipments can get contaminated at any point. Covering your avocados with our Temcore liner or pallet cover allows you to protect against contamination whether your shipment is on a truck, in a cargo container, or waiting to be picked up from a warehouse.
Contamination is a major issue for food suppliers. Contaminated food can cost you a lot of money and make your customers sick, so protecting your avocado shipments is crucial.
Spoiling
Food can spoil faster than you might expect — especially when it’s exposed to extreme temperatures or moisture. Picking your avocados at the right time is important, but it’s even more important to use insulation to protect your shipment. Extreme heat can cause your avocado shipment to spoil before it reaches its destination, and the same goes for moisture. In fact, the FDA has recommended against storing avocados in water because the moisture can cause Listeria to seep through the skin of the avocado and into the edible flesh.
Physical Damage
It’s tough to ship fragile items, and avocados — and food in general — are particularly fragile. You don’t need any special liners to protect your avocados from physical damage, but you do need to make sure you’re packing them securely in a sturdy container. Anything that gets stacked on your avocados can put pressure on them, causing them to bruise over time. You can also damage avocados if you leave too much room in the container and allow them to move around too much. We’ll go into more detail about how you can protect your avocado shipment from the elements as well as physical damage.
What to Consider When You Ship Avocados
It’s not rocket science, but shipping avocados does take some careful consideration. Being proactive is the best way to make sure your avocados arrive in one piece, and that means taking everything into account. From temperature to moisture, there are several factors to consider when you’re shipping avocados.
Temperature
Avocados — like most fruits and vegetables — are strongly affected by extreme temperatures. When you’re shipping avocados a long distance, changing weather means they may be exposed to extreme temperatures. Our Temcore thermal blankets and pallet covers allow you to protect against extreme temperatures, which keeps your avocados from spoiling prematurely. Ideally, you want your avocados to stay at a temperature of 40 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit during the shipping process.
Moisture
We mentioned earlier how moisture can cause Listeria to permeate the skin of an avocado and contaminate the inside, and that’s definitely something you want to avoid. Using insulation to protect your cargo helps keep some of the moisture out, but it’s also important to pack your avocados the right way from the beginning. Your avocados need to be packed in special containers that are designed for refrigerated fruits and vegetables. These trays allow air to circulate through your avocado shipment, which helps maintain lower temperatures and protect against moisture.
Packing Materials
There are several things to consider when you’re choosing packing materials for an avocado shipment. We just mentioned how you need to use fruit crates or cartons to protect your avocados from moisture and extreme temperatures. If you’re using any packing materials to protect against physical damage, they need to be food-safe. Biodegradable packing materials are a great choice if you want to protect the environment and your avocado shipment. We’ll talk more about some of the packing materials you can use to protect your avocados in the how-to section below.
Container Contents
When you’re shipping food in a shipping container, that food shouldn’t be shipped alongside chemicals or other potential contaminants. You want your avocados to be shipped with other food-safe shipments. A refrigerated shipping container is the ideal solution, but those aren’t available in many parts of the world. Our Temcore liners can help you protect your avocado shipment from contamination, but you should still check to make sure your avocados aren’t being shipped with anything that could contaminate them.
Shipping Time
Avocados are a lot harder to ship long distances, so shipping time is a big factor to consider. If you’re shipping avocados across the world, you should ship them early on in the ripening process and use a refrigerated container to keep them from getting spoiled. If you’re shipping avocados a short distance with a shipping container, they shouldn’t spoil as long as you use an insulated cover or liner. You can even use our Temcore pallet covers if you’re just shipping avocados from one state to another within the United States.
Shipping Method
The shipping method you choose has a significant effect on the overall shipping process and what you need to do to protect your shipment. If you’re shipping avocados on a pallet, they need to be packed in crates and properly secured to keep the pallet from tipping over. If you’re shipping avocados using a shipping container, you need protection for the entire container. You also have to factor in the estimated time based on the shipping method you choose. The more money you’re willing to spend on expedited shipping, the faster your shipment may arrive.
How to Prepare an Avocado Shipment
Now that you know about the risks and everything that goes into shipping avocados, let’s talk about the important part — how to prepare your shipment. Start by picking your avocados and refrigerating them as soon as possible to keep them fresh for shipping. Once you’ve sorted through your avocados and refrigerated them, you can prepare your shipment.
Pack Crates
Start by packing all your avocados into fruit crates that allow them to breathe a bit. You can use packing materials between the crates to keep them from putting pressure on the avocados. Be careful not to damage the avocados while packing them in crates.
Build and Secure Pallets
Once you’ve got your crates loaded up, you can build a pallet and wrap it up. This keeps your pallet from tipping over and makes it easier to install a Temcore pallet cover. If you’re shipping avocados via truck, you can throw on your pallet cover and call it a day.
Load and Protect the Shipping Container
If you’re shipping avocados via shipping container, you can put Temcore blankets on top of your shipment and use a Temcore liner to protect your shipping container. These blankets and liners are reusable, so make sure you clean them up and store them somewhere safe for your next shipment.
Secure Your Next Avocado Shipment With Temcore Products
There are several obstacles to consider when shipping avocados, and the risk of spoiling or contamination is higher than you might think. Fortunately, EPGNA offers solutions to some of the most challenging shipping problems. Our Temcore liners, blankets, and pallet covers allow you to protect your shipment against extreme temperatures, which keeps your avocados from spoiling.
If you’re having a difficult time safely shipping avocados, EPGNA can help. Contact us today to learn more about our Temcore line of products and how you can safely ship food using container liners.
Sandra Malouf is the President of Eurolog Packing Group and has spent her career focused on Industrial Packaging. With a proven track record of helping businesses avoid supply chain disruptions, Sandra’s visionary leadership elevates the industry. She’s committed to developing sustainable practices and continues to shape the future of industrial packaging by listening to the customer and offering unique solutions applicable to various industries across the world. The company’s main focus is temperature stabilization and moisture damage prevention in exports affected by extreme variations in global temperatures.
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