Anyone who is importing huge amounts of goods will often have nowhere permanent to store them. Indeed, this can actually cost the company money since they will not be able to take advantage of the economies of scale. However, there are third-party companies which take on this kind of work and have purpose-built buildings to take care of any kind of load whether it is of a perishable nature or not. Try looking up contract warehouse or 3PL on the internet to see the kind of facilities that are available.

Indeed, where perishable goods are concerned, these companies really come to the fore. They not only strip down the loads into more manageable sizes, they also repackage them at the same time putting them into branded boxes that the buyer wants them to be shipped on in. They can then be sent, in refrigerated trucks if necessary, to further holding points around the company or delivered right to the customer wherever they may be.

The amount of staffing levels and organization which goes into this kind of operation is phenomenal. Once the goods are received, and this could be from one side of the country to the other, the goods are immediately put into the right temperature to stop them from deteriorating. Fresh produce in particular needs extra special handling since the losses incurred by having the load condemned are astronomical. Indeed, this does neither company any good in terms of reputation either since the customers will never know if they are getting the goods on time or not.

If the goods are a little sensitive, like fresh chickens or turkeys for example, care has to be taken not to let them cross contaminate other foods. Their body fluids and drips will surely cause other produce to go bad and this could be harmful to the consumer if the contamination is not spotted. Salmonella reared its ugly head some years ago and anyone selling fowl were left with the birds on their shelves since no one wanted to get sick.

Although this kind of event is quite rare, it does happen occasionally so the company which is holding the product has to be completely straight about the quality of the goods while they are in their care. Some unscrupulous dealers have been known to freeze the birds, let them thaw partially and then freeze again which is a very dangerous thing to do. Therefore, it is important to build up some trust with those who are taking on this kind of work.

Finally, if the goods are coming in from other countries, the importer may want to repackage them in branded boxes from his company. These third-party companies will be able to provide, through sister companies, the exact size of carton or box to fit the products in singles or in multiples. On the sides will be all the details that the importer wants everyone to see and this then is a great way to advertise the goods while they are in transit.