Packing Frozen Food: Six Things to Get Right Before Warehouse Drop-off

Whether frozen goods arrive in good condition is mostly decided before they reach the warehouse. Your job is to freeze them through, portion them, label them clearly and deliver them to our Taoyuan warehouse at the agreed time; the EPS boxes and coolant for the air leg are handled by us. This guide covers your half - because if that half goes wrong, no amount of coolant afterwards will fix it.

In this guide

• Why is everything decided before drop-off?
• How frozen is frozen enough?
• How should you portion the goods?
• What packaging and labelling is needed?
• When is the best time to drop off?
• What cannot be shipped even frozen?
• Frequently asked questions

Why is everything decided before drop-off?

Because temperature can only be maintained, not recovered. The goal of a cold chain is that goods never thaw - not that they get frozen along the way. Freezing them is a job for blast-freezing equipment at a food plant, not a logistics warehouse.

We do not accept ambient or partially thawed goods for freezing at the warehouse. This is physics rather than policy: if the core temperature has not come down before the goods go into an EPS box, the coolant inside only holds the temperature it is given, and the shipment warms steadily for the rest of the journey. On arrival the outside may still feel solid while the core has thawed and refrozen - texture suffers, juices are lost, bacterial counts rise, and the recipient only finds out when they open it.

So the sequence is: you freeze it through, you deliver it, we handle insulation and shipping. You own the first stage, and the first stage is the one that cannot be undone.

How frozen is frozen enough?

The test is core temperature, not whether the surface feels hard.

A home freezer usually runs around -18C, but that is the setting for an empty cabinet. Common misjudgements:

• Freezing straight after cooking: residual heat remains in the centre while the outer layer ices over and insulates it, so the middle takes days
• Filling the freezer in one go: the heat load exceeds what the compressor can handle, the whole cabinet warms, and everything ends up half frozen
• Assuming hard means done: two centimetres of surface ice feels solid while the core may still be at -2C

In practice: freeze in batches, lay items flat, allow at least 24 hours. Blocks thicker than five centimetres, or whole pots of soup, need longer. If you are short on time, cut thick pieces smaller and portion liquids into shallow trays - more surface area means much faster freezing.

If you are a food business with blast-freezing equipment, better still: a faster core drop means smaller ice crystals and a noticeable difference in texture after thawing.

How should you portion the goods?

Portioning is not about convenience, it is about limiting losses. One large bag means the recipient has to thaw the lot to use any of it, and refreezing the remainder is a second thaw cycle. Portion by meal, and opening one pack leaves the rest untouched.

Some principles:

• Portion by what gets used at once, not by equal weight
• Leave expansion room for liquids such as soups and thick meat broths - water expands as it freezes and overfilled bags split
• Vacuum seal, or press the air out: trapped air is the main cause of freezer burn, leaving dry white patches
• Double bag: inner bag sealed, outer bag for leaks. This matters most for sauces, where one split pack contaminates the whole box
• Keep shapes regular: flat packs stack better and are far less likely to be crushed in transit

Freeze portions lying flat before stacking them. Stacking while the bags are still soft leaves distorted shapes that freeze into one solid mass you cannot separate later.

What packaging and labelling is needed?

For the trip to the warehouse, packaging needs to be cold-tolerant, leak-proof and legible.

Materials

Ordinary food bags turn brittle at -18C and split on impact. Use freezer-rated zip bags or vacuum bags. Cardboard boxes and paper bags should not touch frozen goods directly - frost makes paper damp and it collapses under stacking.

Labelling is the step most often skipped

On every pack, using a waterproof label or permanent marker:

• Item name, specific rather than generic - "frozen pork buns", not "food"
• Quantity or weight
• Production or freezing date

Clear naming is not only for the recipient. The declared description is the first thing that decides whether customs inspects a shipment, and vague wording is the most common trigger - see which parcels get inspected.

Outer box

The outer box only needs to protect the goods as far as the warehouse. You do not need to supply EPS boxes - insulation and coolant for the air leg are configured by us, sized from total flight and ground handling hours rather than by adding extra ice. If you already have suitable insulated boxes you would like to reuse, confirm with us before shipping.

When is the best time to drop off?

The stretch between your freezer and our frozen storage is the most fragile part of the whole journey, because nothing is actively cooling - the goods coast on their own cold.

Practical advice:

• Deliver the same day; do not load the car the night before
• Use an insulated bag or box with ice packs even for a thirty-minute drive
• Avoid the middle of the day in summer
• Call ahead so you are not waiting outside the warehouse

Transport within Taiwan is arranged by you. Refrigerated trucking in Taiwan is not included in this service; we can arrange collection separately at additional cost, which is worth considering for larger volumes or longer distances - the warming risk on a long drive in an ordinary vehicle is real.

For lane specifications, transit times and rates, see frozen air freight from Taiwan to Malaysia. For the difference between chilled and frozen, see the three temperature bands explained.

What cannot be shipped even frozen?

Frozen cooked foods and meat products all travel: bao buns, sausages, meat thick soup, frozen meat of all kinds, plus frozen baked goods, noodle products and hotpot ingredients. Betel nut ships too - low temperature is what preserves it, so it arrives in far better condition than by ambient shipping.

A few categories cannot be accepted even solidly frozen:

For other restrictions see the prohibited items list.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Is a home freezer good enough?

Yes, with enough time and in batches. The limitation is not temperature but heat load - filling the cabinet at once warms the whole thing and leaves everything half frozen. Load in batches, lay flat, allow 24 hours or more.

Q: Do I need to supply EPS boxes and coolant?

No. Insulation for the air leg is handled by us. You freeze the goods through, portion and label them, and use packaging that will survive the trip to the warehouse. If you already have insulated boxes to reuse, confirm with us first.

Q: Is vacuum sealing essential?

Not essential, but strongly recommended. Trapped air causes freezer burn, leaving dry white patches and noticeably worse texture. Without a vacuum sealer, pressing the bag flat to expel air before sealing gets most of the benefit.

Q: Can I add ice or dry ice myself?

Check with us before doing so. Coolant is configured to a set method, and items added independently can affect how the shipment is handled on the air leg.

Q: Will liquid items leak in transit?

Once solidly frozen they cannot flow, so freezing through is itself the first defence. Still double bag and leave expansion room - water expands as it freezes and overfilled packs split.

Q: Can I get a temperature log for the journey?

Yes, but the logger has to go in at packing time, so tell us before shipping. It cannot be added afterwards.

Six steps and nothing goes wrong: freeze through, portion, remove air, label, protective outer box, same-day drop-off. The first four decide product quality; the last two decide whether it reaches the warehouse intact. To check whether your goods and volume suit this lane, see routes and rates or contact us.