All thawed out
Waste is a feature of every supply chain, and reducing it is a challenge. In the pharmaceutical world, there are typically such stringent shipping regulations that waste is inevitable. But there is a new solution for those looking to reduce waste resulting from supply chain inefficiencies.
ArcticRx has launched a shipping container that focuses on commodities at high risk for damage, which conveniently enough is a fair amount of the medical supply chain. This new product is essentially a dishwasher-size pod that can be used to transport and store materials for 21 days or more on dry ice and via other means of cooling.
The heavy-duty plastic containers can maintain temperatures as low as minus 78 degrees Celsius – critical for vaccines especially. Shane Bivens, co-founder of ArcticRX, said in a Waste 360 article, “With our unique design and thermal technology, we’ve created a way to efficiently get products to parts of the world where this has not been possible with existing logistics.” The article describes the pods as “coolers on steroids that leverage ultra-low temperatures to move products safely and with less complexity.”
Temperature checks
It’s third-quarter earnings season, another chance for companies to predict what’s to come for the rest of the year. All publicly traded companies publish their results, and a newcomer to that list is Lineage. The temperature-controlled giant that set the record for the largest initial public offering of 2024 has issued its first quarterly report since the blockbuster IPO.
Some of the highlights include a $543 million net loss, attributed to the costs of the IPO; the acquisition of ColdPoint Logistics for $223 million; and a quarterly dividend of $2.11 a share.
FreightWaves’ Todd Maiden quotes President and CEO Greg Lehmkuhl: “We are excited to report strong results for our first quarter as a public company, demonstrating our ability to perform well in various economic environments. Looking forward, we are well positioned to drive compounding growth, benefiting from our industry-leading real estate portfolio, innovative technology, and our strategic capital deployment engine.”
Food and drug
Kids’ lunchtime favorite has made its way to the NFL: Smucker’s Uncrustables, which are frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with no crust. The sandwich was created by Len Kretchman, a former wide receiver at North Dakota State University.
According to The Athletic, “NFL teams go through anywhere from 3,600 to 4,300 Uncrustables a week. When you factor in training camps and the teams that did not share their data, NFL teams easily go through at least 80,000 Uncrustables a year.”
For reference, that’s about 1,111 of the 72-count wholesale boxes.
Turns out it’s not a horrible option for players. Some nutritionists, according to The Athletic article, have said, “The bread and jelly give players quick carbohydrates. The peanut butter provides a little fat and a little protein. They’re easy to digest, convenient to eat and a comfort food that players love (though there is wide disagreement as to whether grape or strawberry is the better jelly flavor — the correct answer is strawberry).”
So, it turns out demand for Uncrustables isn’t just at back-to-school time. But I have to wonder what they’re doing in Denver to go through 700 a week.
Cold chain lanes
This week’s market under a microscope is Green Bay, Wisconsin. Reefer outbound tender volumes have taken a dive in the land of cheese as volumes fell 9.3% week over week. Taking the opposite approach were reefer outbound tender rejections. They rose sharply to 14.4%, a 510-basis-point increase w/w. Reefer rejection rates haven’t been this high since mid-October.
Spot rates could be similar to those of mid-October. However, since reefer outbound tender volumes fell so aggressively, spot rates will see little impact as there is excess capacity in the market. Heading into major food holidays, reefer capacity for food and beverage will be a little tighter compared with other industries. Those turkeys aren’t going to deliver themselves.
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Shelf life
Brazil cold chain for pharmaceutical market witnesses upsurge
Swissport launches new cargo facility at Heathrow Airport
New compostable gel pack increases sustainability for cold chain shipping
WSU-led initiative focuses on veterinary vaccines to combat food insecurity
Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com.
See you on the internet.
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