A recent rise in food recalls had led to increasing scrutiny on preventing foodborne pathogens in meat and poultry products. To help ensure product safety and quality, meat and poultry processors can take steps to optimize their cold storage, logistics and transportation efforts.

Cold storage

Small meat and poultry processors in particular may struggle to balance their facility space between production and storage. Because of this, small processors are often looking to maximize their investment in refrigerated and frozen storage capacity. Charles Betts, national sales manager for Interstate Cold Storage, noted how essential this balancing act is. “Production makes money, and storage costs money,” Betts said.

To optimize the facility space, Betts said small producers can utilize third-party cold storage to store product offsite.

To optimize the production space, Betts recommends investing in a high-quality cold storage system on site. “These units are weather resistant, standalone systems and the longevity of the product, as well as cooling efficiency costs are the two main factors to consider when making a purchase,” Betts said.

During storage, processors must consider not only how their product will be stored, but how it will be loaded into the walk-in. “That information is vital,” said Polar King Regional Sales Manager Dan Parsenow. “You want to buy a unit you can grow into, but you don’t want it too big that you are conditioning extra space. Will the product be coming in frozen or are you needing to freeze it in the walk-in?”

To protect the cold chain, processors can tailor their handling efforts. Parsenow recommends handling the product as little as possible to keep temperature consistent. “For distribution, product should be transferred via a refrigerated truck or trailer with cold sticks or temperature monitoring/recording.”

Ensuring product safety and quality is essential. To do so, meat and poultry processors can utilize temperature monitoring and automatic recording, as well as redundant refrigeration, Parsenow said. Betts noted that multiroom facilities can provide an added benefit for processors, since products can be stored together at a consistent preset temperature. “The cold chain’s two most critical control points are temperature and efficiency in handling,” Betts said.

Betts noted how essential it is to move finished goods from the production area to a separate area—this is vital to pathogen mitigation. “Just like the production lines should be segregated by ingredients used on that line, finished goods need to be put in the finished area as efficiently as possible,” Betts said.

Logistics, transportation

Often dealing with tightened wallets in today’s economic climate, meat and poultry processors need to make sure any investment has a strong return on investment. When considering an investment in logistics solutions or services, small processors especially need to keep a close eye on ROI.

“When evaluating the ROI of logistics solutions, the challenge is to capture indirect impacts in addition to direct,” said Hillary McCutcheon, chief marketing officer of PLA. “For example, simply comparing the up-front cost of solutions can lead to an inaccurate view of ROI if the impact on labor, space utilization, transportation, and process efficiency aren’t captured.”

To maximize a logistics investment, meat processors should seek out a solutions provider who understands both direct and indirect ROI.

Joel Gard, CEO of Sheer Logistics, recommends small meat processors optimize a logistics investment by partnering with a transportation-focused 3PL or a 4PL/Managed Transportation Services provider that offers a SaaS-based Transportation Management System.

“With the support of a logistics service provider, processors can benefit from consolidating shipments, negotiating better carrier rates, and leveraging data analytics to reduce transportation costs and increase visibility, which is crucial for efficiently managing perishables,” Gard said.

Sheer corporate office. Courtesy of Sheer Logistics

Just like cold storage, third-party services for logistics are becoming an increasingly attractive option to meat processors. 3PLs and 4PLs can help processors not only deal with labor shortages, but control costs as well. “Outsourcing logistics helps processors maintain efficient operations without increasing in-house staffing, allowing them to scale more flexibly in response to fluctuating labor conditions and demand surges,” Gard said.

Flexibility is essential in today’s food production industry. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly common in logistics services, as it allows operators the flexibility to adapt to an extremely dynamic industry.

AI-driven insights are clearly benefiting the supply chain, streamlining data for businesses and improving demand forecasting, as well as inventory management, McCutcheon said. “This allows for better planning, reducing risk that minor disruptions or changes in demand will result in costly production or distribution issues,” McCutcheon said.