An Evaluation of Five Systems for Handling Frozen Food from Processor to Wholesale Warehouse

Excerpts from the report: Very little research has been conducted to evaluate the ever-enlarging and complex marketing system for frozen food. Today there are many ways of handling and marketing frozen food through the distribution network, and some may be more efficient and less costly than others. The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze five systems for handling frozen food products between processing plants and wholesale warehouses. These systems include products (1) handstacked in trailers at the processing plant and unloaded by hand onto pallets at the wholesale warehouse; (2) palletized, moved directly from freezer storage by forklift truck, placed in the trailer at the processing plant, and unloaded at the warehouse; (3) clamp-loaded, removed from freezer storage pallets by forklift truck with clamp attachment, loaded in the trailer at the processing plant, and unloaded by hand onto pallets at the warehouse; (4) clamp-loaded, removed from freezer storage pallets by forklift truck with clamp attachment and clamp-unloaded onto pallets at the warehouse; and (5) slipsheeted, removed from freezer storage pallets by forklift truck with clamp attachment, placed on slipsheets, loaded into the trailer at the processing plant, and unloaded onto pallets at the warehouse. Costs of five systems for handling frozen food were developed. A system included (1) product assembly, checking, and loading transport vehicles at the processing plant, (2) transporting, and (3) unloading, checking, and storage at the wholesale warehouse. Models were constructed to reflect costs for transporting frozen food products between southern Florida and Washington, D.C., a distance of approximately 1,200 miles.