shipping Delivering and mailing sauce in the frigid north

K8bit

K8bit

Hello,  I searched the forum and could not find and answer to this question. 
 
I have been slowly growing a little sauce operation up here in the Canadian Prairies. With Covid, there are very few in person markets happening, which was my original plan for sales. Instead we are offering contactless local delivery and orders via mail, which has been going swimmingly.  BUT,  dread winter will be upon us soon with potential temperature drops to lower than -40, and I am concerned about the potential for rapidly freezing sauces leading to exploded bottles if left in mailboxes for too long.   I believe we can arrange delivery times with our local customers to ensure this does not happen, but I am concerned about orders sent via mail that may sit in mailboxes for an entire day.     
 
Has anyone had any experience with this uniquely northern problem?  Would "do not freeze" stickers on the mail packages actually prevent the package from being left out in the cold?  
 
We ship via Canada Post and I believe they do have the option to select "pick up at the post office".  I was thinking of just doing this for the deep winter months, but I am sure some customers won't want to deal with the hassle.
 
Am I just being paranoid?
 
Thanks!
 
 
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I'm in the north and west of Minnesota, and we too experience where Fahrenheit & Celsius collide, -40. And I have had the same fears, but have yet to have anything freeze to exploding in the mailbox. The "handling" part of shipping & handling should include an insulative layer in the box, especially when glass is concerned. I do not know if a "protect from freezing" sticker would help or not, but I assume you'd replace product broken in transit, yes? It's all part of the cost of doing business.
 
Maybe to help you be more sure of the effect, why don't you take a bottle of product, placed in the box you intend, and simply set it out on a 40-below night (or just in your deep freeze, if it's cold enough) and check it the next day? you may be surprised how stout those little sauce bottles can be...Yes, I've seen plastic burst, but never glass.
 
Good luck!
 
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My advice would be don't stress it but be prepared to replace on the off chance of failure. If it seems to happen a lot change your strategy then.
 
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K8bit, there's some inside jokes going on, so please don't add more salt!  :lol:
 
I've had one that was sent to Pennsylvania in January arrive frozen and several bottles shattered.  Don't know if it was left on the porch in the morning for the recipient to find in the evening....no idea the timing of the delivery. 
 
I've sent quite a few in January (before the USA Superbowl in early February) when doing a sale promo.  Shipping to all over the USA and I live in a Frozen zone, with snow for 4-5 months, inland Washington state...the dry/cold side of the state.  :lol: 
 
Part of it comes down to the postal storage system.  I have wondered if the first package was loaded into the delivery truck, which sat outside overnight???Dunno~~~ 
 
Just try it and if it isn't working out, kindly ask them to wait for warmer weather (and maybe throw in some kind of a little bonus for their patience) or look at other options. 
 
Good Luck!  Good to hear you're finding ways to make it happen.  Totally sucky time to be starting a biz which relies on market sales and such.  Hang In There!
 
:welcome: to THP!
salsalady
 
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salsalady said:
K8bit, there's some inside jokes going on, so please don't add more salt!  :lol:
 
I've had one that was sent to Pennsylvania in January arrive frozen and several bottles shattered.  Don't know if it was left on the porch in the morning for the recipient to find in the evening....no idea the timing of the delivery. 
 
I've sent quite a few in January (before the USA Superbowl in early February) when doing a sale promo.  Shipping to all over the USA and I live in a Frozen zone, with snow for 4-5 months, inland Washington state...the dry/cold side of the state.  :lol:
 
Part of it comes down to the postal storage system.  I have wondered if the first package was loaded into the delivery truck, which sat outside overnight???Dunno~~~ 
 
Just try it and if it isn't working out, kindly ask them to wait for warmer weather (and maybe throw in some kind of a little bonus for their patience) or look at other options. 
 
Good Luck!  Good to hear you're finding ways to make it happen.  Totally sucky time to be starting a biz which relies on market sales and such.  Hang In There!
 
:welcome: to THP!
salsalady
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Thanks, You are all delightful.  :)
I've cracked a version "hotter sauce" in our shipping terms and have joked about making a winter "ice melter" salt and vodka based hot sauce (barf).   I am likely overthinking it, but it just gets so murderously cold here.  I once threw a test bottle into my freezer and it popped the lids after a couple days (ok maybe after a day, I didn't check in between... real scientific like  ;) ).
 
Thanks Salsalady,  It's been a fun ride so far, even with the current state of things. No markets has given me a lot of saved up ideas for when we finally do get to have sales again.   
 
Hope everyone else is weathering the lockdown storm OK.   
 
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