When grocery clerks and third-party associates shop for and organize online orders, they need a pickup or delivery staging area, and that food needs to stay fresh and food-safe there — especially produce.
To improve this (almost) last link in the supply chain, PackIt, a Tenth Avenue Holdings brand, has expanded its collaboration with The Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati, to new store fronts and new regions of the U.S., according to a news release.
The collapsible, freezable, reusable PackIt Fresh EcoFreeze Totes help retailers to meet storage, pickup and delivery demands. Each tote features freezable gel built into the walls, which keeps perishables — such as fresh produce, meat and dairy — cold and food-safe for 15 hours.
“After successful pilot programs at multiple storefronts in the mid-west and western United States, the PackIt Fresh Mobile Refrigeration Solution is now being implemented at Kroger stores across Atlanta and Nashville for the first time,” PackIt founder Melissa Kieling said in the release. “We’re also seeing our solution entering additional stores in California and Arizona. Kroger clearly recognizes the improvement to product freshness and efficiencies gained by deploying our EcoFreeze totes into their retail operations.”
Ralphs, a Kroger banner, recently launched an initiative allowing customers to pick up orders in as little as an hour, and PackIt Fresh totes are serving at those stores as a single staging vehicle to collect ambient, refrigerated and frozen items.
PackIt Fresh represents PackIt’s commercial division used by grocers worldwide. In this division, EcoFreeze totes were designed to meet growing online grocery order and meal-kit delivery service needs.