Latest in Cold Chain Research
Celebrate World Compost Day with Ecochill
This Sunday, May 29th, on World Compost Day, aka “Learn About Compost Day,” we at The Illuminate Group highlight the green facts about our 100% compostable cooler to replace Styrofoam – The Ecochill Thermal Packaging Solution. While going green has been geared towards...
Making Earth Day Every Day
The widespread theme for Earth Day 2022 is to "Invest in our Planet," and when it comes to sustainability, there are many ways companies can be more Eco-conscious. Investing in our planet requires a fundamental change to...
Testing Ecochill Insulation for Home Composting
Ecochill quickly and easily transforms from a full product to dirt in a home composter. Summary Ecochill compostable coolers are environmentally friendly insulations for the thermal protection of temperature-sensitive products during parcel shipping. Ecochill is made...
Cost Savings and Added Adaptability When Converting from Next-day Air to 2nd Day Parcel Shipments
Temperature-sensitive medications and perishable products have specific requirements for temperature control during shipping. Certain pharmaceuticals lose their effectiveness with as little as two degrees of temperature variation. Fresh foods like...
Is your thermal packaging really green?
Green thermal packaging must have a minimal carbon footprint, conserve water and energy and not persist in the environment after disposal. Designers of green, or sustainable, products must have a complete understanding of the materials that comprise them.
Recycling is no longer the answer to cleaning up our world
Only 34% of American households recycle, and many of those don't recycle all that they could. It's sobering to realize that 91% of plastics have never been recycled, and our ability to recycle paper is shrinking dramatically. There's an obvious need to search for...
Safely Mail Fresh Pet Food and Medicine
Fresh pet food is perishable and requires strict temperature control to ensure the safety of our fur babies Every year, $75 billion is spent on pet food and medication. Of that staggering total, nearly half is of the organic or health-conscious variety. Out of that,...
The High Canadian Arctic – The World’s Most Challenging Cold Chain
Melissa in Grise Fiord, Nunavut, Canada at 3:00 PM in -68°F weather We took the farm to fork cold chain distribution process to a whole new level when we went to Watsonville, CA to visit a strawberry farm to analyze and improve the harvest and precooling process. As...
Understanding the Most Common Problems in Pharmaceutical Mail Order Shipments
Mail order pharmaceutical sales are the largest growing segment in the drug retail industry, with over 240 million prescriptions per year [1]. In 2010, approximately $182 billion dollars worth of pharmaceuticals required the maintenance of a specific...
Understanding the Crucial Variables When Evaluating a Pre-Qualified vs. Customized Shipping Solution for Temperature Sensitive Products
By simply understanding a few key variables that go into the design testing and real life practices of temperature sensitive shipping containers, it is possible to determine if a pre-qualified shipper or a customized solution would be best based on risk, cost, and...