Sunbasket solving for convenience while keeping food safety at the forefront

Mike Wargocki, SVP of Operations, at Sunbasket

Today’s consumer is looking for healthy convenient meal choices that fit their busy lives.  Whether that hectic schedule includes a commute into an office or working from home in a time of video conferences, it seems like there is always less and less time for planning, shopping, and cooking meals.  So, if they aren’t looking to go out to eat every night, but want variety and creativity in their meals, what can they do?  That is where the meal kit and ready meal industry sprung up to fill that gap.  It presents a great option that can reach every doorstep in the US, but with that convenience, comes the responsibility for the brands and consumers to ensure not only an amazing culinary experience, but a safe one as well.

So how do we ensure that the customers are getting their food delivered safely?  The final mile delivery carriers are handling food and non-food products at the same time, so the responsibility for making sure the temperatures are maintained currently falls on the manufacturers. The first step to achieving this involves testing various types of insulation; from bubble mailers to denim liners. There’s a delicate balance between providing the ultimate temperature control situation and sending so much ice and insulation to the customers that they have a challenge managing those materials in their household compost, recycling, and trash.  You also have to find a solution that doesn’t cost so much the customer cannot afford to buy and ship the product.

“At Sunbasket we have looked at a variety of insulation and ice combinations and built a delivery temperature matrix, which we use to control all shipments leaving each week.  We have tested our different delivery combinations.”

At Sunbasket we have looked at a variety of insulation and ice combinations and built a delivery temperature matrix, which we use to control all shipments leaving each week.  

We have tested our different delivery combinations: from same day to 2 days, on refrigerated trucks or ambient ones, or using national carriers or local ones. By testing the timelines and running at all of the temperatures and temperature changes that those situations could present, we can accurately build the shipping matrix that controls our deliveries. We match that matrix up to the weather forecasts for each zip-code our orders are shipping to and assign unique ice and insulation combinations to each order.  This process is designed to ensure that the food has the best possible chance of getting to the customer’s doorstep at or below the desired temperature.  This process took years to refine and requires months of testing before bringing on new ice or insulation solutions.  But when the alternative is potentially getting people sick, it’s worth the extra effort. 

It's great to be a part of a company that acknowledges our challenges in this arena and is putting forward its best effort to maximize the food safety of our supply chain.  For more information on Sunbasket and or sustainability efforts, please visit our webpage: https://www.Sunbasket.com;  https://www.Sunbasket.com/organic; https://www.Sunbasket.com/recycle