In the world of beverages, creating a delicious product is only half the battle. Once you’ve triumphed with a top-tier recipe, it’s time to map out your shipping strategy to transport your product to your customer efficiently..
By itself, just the transportation of perishable goods is a massive logistical challenge. But when shipping liquids, the distribution calculus goes far beyond simply moving a product from A to B—brands must also ensure that it travels that distance in a timely manner, is sent to the right destination and in the proper quantity, and arrives without being damaged or spoiled.
Put simply, top-notch packing and shipping operations are essential to an alcoholic beverage maker’s long-term success. Today, we will show you how to ship beverages the right way.
How To Ship Cold Beverages: The Steps Involved
What happens after a can is filled with a beverage product? How do alcohol shipments work?
That’s when the work truly begins. Even for small batches of a singular product, shipping alcoholic beverages can be complicated and involve many moving parts. But the juggling act becomes more convoluted as you add in other factors, such as:
- Multiple products
- Larger batch sizes
- Varying package shapes, sizes, and weights
- Interstate commerce laws
There are so many details and factors to consider, and what follows is about what the process typically involves and the steps our team takes to manage it all.
Step #1: Sleeving and Labeling
After a can has been filled up with the desired cocktail, seltzer, or energy drink, it will then undergo a lengthy quality check process before packaging. Typically there are dozens of high-tech machines involved with the sleeving and labeling process, including but not limited to:
- Rinse tunnel – After a can has been filled and seamed, a rinse tunnel cleans excess product from the outside of the can to prevent beverage residue or stickiness.
- Warmer – Aluminum can warmers heat the container to sanitize the cans and ensure that labels and sleeves properly stick to the outside.
- Pasteurizers – Pasteurizing a can will help kill microbes within the can, which improves its potential distribution range and prevents spoilage.
- Blowers – Blowers remove water spots and help prevent corrosion and bacterial growth on both cans and their packaging.
- Shrink sleeve machines – Once a can has fully undergone the sanitation process, it’s ready to be dressed up. Shrink sleeving makes it possible to produce high-quality, 360-degree, graphics imaging across a range of different sized products.
- Labelers – The alternative method some beverage companies opt for are clear labels that are stuck to the can and then heated to make them look printed.
Wildpack Beverage ensures that your cans are clean and look their best by employing top-of-the-line, in-house, sleeving and label application.
Step #2: Packing Out
After a can completes the sleeving or labeling process, it then needs to be packed out before it’s shipped. For this, proper packing and palletizing is an essential part of enhancing your shipping process. This creates numerous benefits, such as:
- Optimizing freight class and reducing shipping costs by maximizing available space on a pallet and in a truck.
- Making pallets easier for carriers to move and ship, which prevents additional handling fees.
- Reducing freight claims by securing and protecting the product before, during, and after transit.
- Upholding the brand’s reputation by ensuring that product quality remains the same regardless of the distance it must travel.
So, how does the team at Wildpack Beverage ensure that our client’s cans are professionally prepared for shipment?
We spare no expense when it comes to the packing out phase. Our process involves several protective measures, including:
- PakTech carriers – These plastic carriers ensure that a grouping of cans can be easily transported and then carried by consumers. By linking cans together, PakTech creates additional stability for the rest of the pallet.
- Case trays – Corrugated trays make it easier to stack and transport beverages. Our standard recyclable tray can hold up to 24 standard aluminum cans.
- Shrink-wrapping – A product batch will undergo a long journey before it ever hits the shelves or customers’ doorsteps. Shrink-wrapping the case trays and the pallets further ensures that the product is secure and stable during transit. This is done by covering the trays or pallets with a polymer plastic film and heating it so that it tightly covers the cans.
- Corner boards – Pallet corner boards and edge protectors provide high-strength, moisture-resistant framing to the entire pallet. This also adds stacking and vertical strength, which improves the pallet’s overall structural integrity.
- Pallet protectors – Finally, for even greater security and additional protection from heat and cold, we put insulated protectors over the entire pallet to provide temperature control against extreme heat and cold.
Step #3: Shipping and Logistics
Once your product is ready for shipment, your next task is to set your outbound freight strategy. In that regard, there are four elements to consider and plan for.
#1 Booking Freight
To ensure consistent deliveries and reduce the cost of shipments, beverage brands must strategically partner with carriers. In that regard, it’s important to consider the two primary types of booking structures that freight brokerages operate under:
- Outbound region – Brokerages that utilize an outbound state model primarily pick up loads in a specific region or state and then deliver the products to a different region or state.
- Inbound region – Inbound state models focus on booking loads that are coming into a specific state or region from other states.
Working with an expert booker like Wildpack makes it possible to get discounted shipping rates and ensures that freight traffic and flow are maximized. We have established relationships with carriers across the country and are strategically located in California, Nevada, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, and Georgia.
#2 Freight Logistics
When it comes to working with carriers, beverage brands have several shipping options at their disposal. What they select will depend on several factors, including their location, budget, delivery destinations, and the shipment’s size, type, and price. Types of freight options include:
- Truckload (TL) – If you have enough product to fill out a truck—typically, that means more than 10 pallets—you can charter the entire truckload. This is ideal for heavy loads going long distances. As the only customer, it’s the fastest way to get items delivered since there are no stops or transfers. The only stops that occur would be those required by a driver’s Hours of Service regulations. TL carriers typically specialize in moving a specific type of cargo, which ensures proper handling.
- Less than truckload (LTL) – LTL is the preferred method for smaller beverage brands who need to move 1-6 pallets at a given time, seeing as you only need to pay a rate for the percentage of the space you require. LTL rates are determined by a shipment’s classification, distance traveled, weight, and mass. While this is a cheaper shipping method, it’s also a slower and less secure process since your product may need to be transferred from truck to truck en route to its destination.
- Intermodal freight – Will your beverage be sold overseas or need to go a great distance? If so, intermodal freight involves two or more modes of transportation, including rail, cargo ship, air freight, or truck. Typically, the product must first be shipped by truck or rail to the port or airport. Then, once it has completed the next leg of its voyage via water or air, it must then be taken via truck or rail to its final destination.
- FOB – Using a “Free on board” model, the buyer accepts ownership of the products purchased and agrees to handle the logistics, liability, and costs associated with shipping the product.
#3 Freight Classifications
One of the factors that impacts the cost of shipping is the product’s freight classification, also known as its National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC). Most canned alcoholic products will be given a CLASS 65, NMFC 111470.
This type of product is typically unpopular with carriers because they tend to be low-cost, bulky, heavy, and prone to spoilage or damage. As a result, if you do not have an established relationship with a carrier or a booker, you will likely get charged a higher rate.
#4 Direct to Consumer
In the past, most canned beverages were delivered to groceries or wholesalers. But there’s been a rise in direct-to-consumer (D2C) alcoholic beverage sales that was accelerated by the pandemic. In 2020, beverage alcohol eCommerce value grew by 42% to reach $24 billion.
But with this changing business model comes additional considerations for shipping. Different states have varying rules and regulations in place. Currently, Alabama, Mississippi, and Utah prohibit any type of alcohol shipping. Similarly, Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, and Rhode Island restrict shipment to on-premise purchases.
That said, in the states where D2C shipping is allowed, you must take the following actions to comply with federal regulations:
- Use a common carrier to handle delivery, such as FedEx or UPS
- Follow their specific freight instructions
- Obtain the destination state’s direct-shipping license
- Pay tax in the destination state
Professional Packout and Shipping with Wildpack Beverage
Ensuring your product ships securely and efficiently has the potential to optimize your operations as well as your sales. That’s why shipping best practice involves partnering with a full-service team of beverage experts, like the team at Wildpack.
When you partner with us, you have the opportunity to expand your production with above-and-beyond product shipment and top-of-the-line equipment like pallet protectors, shrink wrap, and secure strapping.
The result?
Faster turnarounds and more reliable deliveries for less cost.
Whether you need to ship your aluminum cans within the country or internationally, our dedicated shipping and receiving staff has the tools, technologies, and proficiency to ensure that your product is delivered safely—wherever it needs to go.
Sources:
Bev Industry. Customized Beverage Needs Heighten Demand for Co-Packers. https://www.bevindustry.com/articles/91670-customized-beverage-needs-heighten-demand-for-co-packers
IWSR. Beverage Alcohol Commerce Value Grows by 42% In 2020, to Reach Us$24 Billion. https://www.theiwsr.com/beverage-alcohol-ecommerce-value-grows-by-42-in-2020-to-reach-us24-billion/
IT Tech Reports. DTC Shipping 101: A Survival Guide for the Beverage Alcohol Industry. https://ittechreports.com/whitepapers/DTC%20Shipping%20101.A%20survival%20guide%20for%20the%20beverage%20alcohol%20industry%20(3).pdf
