Anybody ship meat?

[Abouttime]

Does anyone have any experience/knowledge with selling their home grown meat out of their area? USPS, FedX or carrier? What is the best way to package it-best place to purchase materials, etc.

Thanks

[MorrisonCorner]

I'd go directly to the professionals for this information. Contact FedX, UPS, and DHL and find out what their requirements are. I'd also do a search for Dry Ice in my immediate area and talk to the people who sell dry ice.

You're looking at foam packaging, dry ice, plastic bags to hold the ice, freezer packs, and a cardboard box capable of holding it all without wiggle room. Depending on how big you plan on being you'll want to get those boxes custom printed. Depending on what you plan to offer you may need several sizes.

I'd suggest, if you're starting out, that you find a supplier and order a sample pack of several different foam boxes. Then try to fill them to see what they'll hold. How much or how little do you need to put in there?

With dry ice you can, I suspect, ship pretty much anywhere overnight air in the lower 48, but I assume most shippers have tested this by placing a box in an 80 degree room and timing how long it takes for things to start defrosting.

Or, you could try contacting food shippers like Home Cooking to see if they'll share information.

[Ken in Maine]

I don't think you can ship with dry ice through UPS... FedEx etc. Safety and handling issue I believe.


Cold packs and premium shipping rates seem to be the way to go.

[uncle Will in In.]

Might have to be Gov. inspected and stamped meat to transported. ??

[Ken in Maine]

We have a "red meat and poultry" license from the state of Maine. As well as a mobile vendors license so we can sell at Farmer's Markets. We are also required to have our animals processed, at a minimum, at a state inspected facility but if we want to ship it out of state it must be processed at a USDA inspected facility.

Of course little by little these regulations are going to be more heavily enforced to protect the quality of the meat being produced and sold. It is not difficult to get a license mostly requires paying a fee (of course) and a very simple inspection.

[homebirtha]

I know there are companies that specialize in that kind of shipping. A few have contacted us to try and sell us their services.

You will probably want to ship the items in styrofoam coolers with either dry ice or something called ultra-freezing, where the meat is frozen to something like -100. I believe you can ship dry ice, but you have to mark it as hazardous material and pay extra. It gets really complicated.

Plus you'll need to look into the laws for your state vs. federal laws about selling meat, what licenses you'll need, etc. We had a restaurant on the West Coast that wanted to buy chickens from us weekly. It would have been a nice little income for us, but the regulations were way too difficult to make it worthwhile.

[Abouttime]

Thanks for the thoughts and info-I don't handle any processing myself-it's all processed at a USDA inspected facility. I am trying to find the best materials at the best price to get the products to their destination.

[tamsam]

We just recieved a pie and ice cream delivered by ups an it was in a styro foam ice chest about the size of a 12 pack cooler. It was wrapped and sealed in what looked like heat shrink plastic. It had dry ice in it and was not marked in any way. just glad we opened it when it came and it was all frozen solid. The ice cream wasn't even soft. Good luck in what you decide. Sam

[Trixie]

I am very interested in this as we are planning to ship some meat to NJ for our daughter and son in law.

Some have said UPS is the best, although we haven't actually contacted them about it as we are not in East Texas where the meat is - but will be in about a week.

Has anyone shipped other than commercial meat?

[texican]

What kind of meat are you thinking about? I would assume it'd be a rare kind, or a high value added product, for the shipping and handling and govt. red tape would more'n likely cost more than the meat itself.

Having said that, heard on Paul Harvey today, where some Coloradoans were selling their snow on ebay... for ~30$...

[kasilofhome]

Yes, we do. Salmon is shipped every summer. It is shipped from Alaska to New York. It is very costly.
NO DRY ICE.
The fish is processed, frozen flat, and then packed in stryrofoam containers, the foam containers come with a plastic bag that the foam container goes in and the that goes into a waxed box prelabled with info for the shipper.

Fed ex is great. Sign up with them and do all the labling and arrangements via the computer and save 15%

Tracking is very important and they have a great system.
Last year a box from AK left a small airport at 10:00am AK time(I deliver straight to the airport- cheaper than pick up and I already know when the plane will be there for Fedex. no long waits)
The box got to the door man in New york at 9:00am New york time. note that there is a 4 hour time zone change. so it only took 20 hours. As always the fish was rock hard. What is special about this shippment is that the person (ok it was my sister so special treatment) only order 1 pound of fish. I did double it as that is not much frozen mass to keep it frozen and I was worried as she would be serving it raw for a party.

I hope that this helps. the box kits cost about 12 to 14 dollars each shipping cost vary I infor people that the min shipping cost are about 50 per box for 20 pounds or less I do not over charge that is a good figure. 80 pounds of fish cost about $120 in shipping alone. most of the shippments for me are to New york.

[Jena]

I worked with someone who ships alot of meat.

It was not a viable option for me because....I could not get dry ice within 100 miles of home and the containers to store dry ice are extremely expensive.

If something goes wrong with the packing or shipping, you have one very unhappy customer who just spent a ton of money to get a worthless package. An expensive customer service dilemma.

Second Day Fed Ex is what they use. They charge for the cooler box, the dry ice or gel packs and the shipping. It is very expensive, often more than the meat itself.

I just didn't have the time or resources to deal with this. They have worked out their system after years of trial and error. Expensive trial and error.

Jena

[kasilofhome]

Maybe it is because anything I ship has to go by plane that the use of Dry Ice is not allowed.

I was told that it needs to be declared on the shipping box and that special handling is required. Something about a Hazard.

Twice at the Fedex shipping office I have waited in line to hear someone get all upset to learn that the fish that they caught can NOT be shipped as planned due to the dry ice use in packing.
Before anyone spends anytime searching for dry ice (funny thing is it is very easy to get here) that they do check with the carrier if DRY ICE can go.

Since 1991 I HAVE been shipping fish. First to family and then to others.
There is very little that I know about on most of these threads but this is a subject that I do know about first hand.

I would honestly say that just about every commercial fisherman (and that is the Number job here) ships out fish just as I learned from them. The only person on our road ships out so much fish that the Fedex truck comes at least once a day to her house. This is big business here in Kasilof, Alaska. I am talking tons of fish.

[tamsam]

The box we got was not marked but the package of dry ice inside was marked "danger dry ice". The only marking outside was our address and the return address. And I must say we saved the cooler as it is really thick and sturdy. Sam

[kasilofhome]

The use of Dry Ice MUST be declared for shipping on airplanes.
In this day of age when airlines do open packages and since the sender must be listed and since it has gotten even tougher to go thru airline security it is a real risk. Remember Costly fines and Penalties for NOT declaring

Note each year there are articals in the Anchorage Daily news (esp in the editorial section) relating how People never got the fish that they shipped with their luggage while traveling in Alaska. Some have had the boxes opened they claim and the dry ice they packed they claim has been removed. People may get away with it but I firmly believe that it needs to be checked and if the carrier requires that it be "declaired" and then if it cost more to transport as "a hazzard material" so be it.

I would like it if any one knows (cause I will be the first to admit I am being a real sheeple over the dry ice) why is it "hazzardous" It truly does not make sence to me I just do what I need to to get the fish out the door.