In the recent years, reefer containers have made it easy to store and transport perishables. In fact, bananas are the most widely reefer-transported commodity in the world. Reefers essentially are shipping containers with internal refrigeration and ventilation units. The temperature inside a reefer can be adjusted from about -25 to 25 degrees. If you want to know 10 common uses of a reefer before you buy shipping container, read on.
1. Transporting dairy products
Dairy products are extensively transported across Australia. Products like cheese and butter require a definite temperature and reefer containers come to the rescue. They are loaded onto trucks and trains and sent to different places. When solidified or pasteurized, they can even be shipped outside the country.
2. Transporting vegetables and fruits
Certain fruit varieties, for instance, table grapes, deteriorate easily. Reefer containers are most commonly used for transporting these. Generally transported by land and sea, in emergency situations, they may also be shipped through air. Bananas, as mentioned above, are a major commodity, and a single reefer vessel can ship as many as 15,000 boxes of the fruit.
3. Storing and transporting pharmaceuticals
The ventilation and refrigeration provided by reefer containers have made transportation of medicines over long distances. Reefers also allow massive consignments to be sent, since transportation via air doesn’t allow that. If you need a compact storage facility for pharmaceuticals, get a 20ft shipping container.
4. Transporting seafood
Seafood shipping is another area where reefers have had a major role to play. They make up just a little less than 20% of the total items being shipped today. If you have a restaurant or butchery, you can buy shipping container that provides refrigeration.
5. Sending flower shipments
Reefer containers are successfully used to transport flowers across the world, with all their fragrance and freshness intact. Florists in Australia regularly buy shipping containers to keep their flowers fresh. Advancement in refrigeration and ventilation also prevents mould and bacteria from damaging them.
6. Moving movie props safely
This is a recent application of reefer containers. Shipping containers needn’t be used only to transport perishables since they offer temperature control. You can use a 20ft or even a 40 ft shipping container to preserve expensive and delicate equipment while working in harsh conditions.
7. Storing expensive alcoholic beverages
Shipping and storing wine used to be a major challenge in the past. The quality of this drink depends on the conditions and hence specialised reefers are used to transport it to long distances.
8. Disaster management shipping
Without reefer containers, delivering emergency aid in disaster-hit places would have been much harder. They can deliver a wide range of perishables and prevent any spoilage from atmospheric conditions.
9. Transportation during defence operations
In civil war zones and military operations, cost-effective transportation of food and medicine is highly important. Militaries use high quality reefers that offer protection from inclement weather, electromagnetic interference and other elements.
10. Transporting poultry and meat
Meat needs to be kept chilled between 0 to -2 degrees or frozen at -18 degrees or less. Reefer containers also facilitate the circulation of temperature-controlled air. Owing to reefers, in the last fifty years, the global consumption of poultry and meat has quadrupled. When you buy shipping container for a butcher’s shop, ensure if it is suitable for both frozen and chilled storage.
