Handling fresh food is one of the most demanding disciplines in logistics. These products require highly specific conditions — including precise temperature ranges and humidity levels — and even small, unexpected changes can lead to rapid quality loss. Discover what enables us to successfully manage the storage and transportation of fresh food, even in the face of these challenges, without unnecessary waste or compromise.
Ensuring the right conditions for fresh food is one of the most important tasks we face in its storage and transportation. Only by maintaining optimal temperature and humidity can we preserve the freshness, appearance, taste, and nutritional value of food.
Fresh foods are very susceptible not only during transport but also during storage. Changes in temperature, humidity, light, and other conditions can quickly cause fruits and vegetables to wilt, resulting in reduced quality. It is therefore necessary to provide suitable temperature conditions as well as optimal humidity and ventilation.
In addition to a controlled environment in warehouses and during the transport of fresh food, various modern technologies and materials are used to maintain top quality. These include active packaging that actively alters the conditions in which the food is stored, or vacuum packaging, which can keep food fresh for longer.
Proper storage significantly reduces the risk of food contamination by bacteria, mold, and other harmful agents that affect their quality and safety for consumption. Dairy products and meat, for example, are particularly prone to bacterial contamination.
During storage, we ensure safety not only by strictly maintaining optimal conditions, but also by following high hygiene standards. This includes regular cleaning and disinfection of storage areas and antibacterial surfaces that come into contact with fresh food.
Food waste is not only an economic issue but also an environmental one. When food is spoiled (unnecessarily) during storage or transport, all the water and energy used to grow or produce it is wasted.
That's why, in addition to following proper storage conditions, we also implement advanced technologies such as automated storage systems and software solutions for predictive inventory management. These help us optimize storage processes, dispatch goods by expiration date, and prevent losses.
When storing fresh food, it is necessary to follow the requirements of each specific product to preserve quality, freshness, and safety. Ideal temperature, humidity level, and other requirements vary significantly by type of food—and the art of logistics lies in ensuring that each product receives the exact conditions it requires.
Each type of fresh food requires specific storage conditions. Accordingly, storage spaces are divided into several categories.
Products that do not require refrigeration but need humidity control and protection from contamination are stored in so-called dry warehouses, where the temperature is around 10–25 °C. These include canned goods, grains, and other packaged products, protected from moisture, pests, and dust.
Cool storage is used for foods requiring lower, stable temperatures around 0–10 °C but not necessarily refrigeration. This includes most fruits and vegetables or beverages.
Products requiring a continuous low temperature of 0 to 4 °C are stored in our refrigerated storage areas, where we constantly monitor ambient temperature and humidity. These products include dairy, fresh meat, and fish.
For food that needs to be stored long-term at very low temperatures, we use freezer storage. The temperature in these areas is -18 °C or lower, helping to maintain nutritional value and quality during extended storage. This includes frozen meat, fish, ready meals, and ice cream.
Besides temperature, humidity levels in storage spaces are also critical for fresh food. Both excessive and insufficient humidity can be problematic. High humidity can lead to mold and faster spoilage, while low humidity can cause food to dry out and lose freshness—as in the case of leafy greens or soft cheeses.
Hygiene is an integral part of food storage. We regularly carry out cleaning and disinfection to minimize microbial contamination risks, train our staff in food handling, and ensure compliance with all hygiene regulations. Separate storage for different food types to avoid cross-contamination is also a standard practice.
At HOPI, we use the latest technologies to store fresh food efficiently and safely. They allow us to maintain 100% food quality throughout the process and minimize losses.
Refrigerated and frozen logistics is our specialty. You can always count on us using state-of-the-art cooling technologies and solutions for temperature-sensitive foods—both in storage and in our vehicles. From pickup to final delivery, all goods remain at the exact temperature required.
Our warehouses and vehicles use advanced systems for continuous monitoring of temperature and humidity in areas with fresh food. Our fleet is equipped with advanced telematics, providing real-time temperature control. This ensures fresh delivery regardless of external conditions.
Our warehouses make extensive use of automation to increase efficiency and minimize errors in the storage process. We always have a detailed overview of stock levels, operations, and the entire supply chain, making storage planning easier and more transparent.
Distributing fresh food is a demanding process requiring precise planning and strict compliance with standards to maintain product quality and freshness. At HOPI, we focus on providing our customers with comprehensive logistics solutions to ensure fresh product delivery to end customers at optimal quality.
Fresh food logistics presents many challenges, making it a demanding discipline. Products such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, or meat are extremely sensitive to transport conditions. The main issues we face include:
In addition to requiring proper transport conditions, fresh food must also be delivered quickly compared to other products. Otherwise, spoilage can occur.
Refrigerated or frozen storage is not difficult to secure—but what if different foods need slightly different temperatures during transport? We face this daily. Our vehicles are equipped with separated compartments to transport each fresh product within its optimal temperature range.
It’s not only the products themselves, but also legislation that places demands on us. Fresh food transport is strictly regulated by legal and hygiene standards, and we carefully ensure compliance.
Another challenge is maintaining optimal temperature throughout the entire logistics process. From pickup to delivery to the end customer, the goods must remain in uninterrupted required conditions.
We achieve this through a combination of specialized refrigerated and freezer vehicles, real-time temperature monitoring, and flexible route, dispatch, and delivery scheduling.
Optimizing delivery routes and times is a crucial part of our work—not just for fresh food. It helps us reduce fuel consumption and emissions while ensuring fast delivery and minimal quality loss. This enables just-in-time delivery, meaning products arrive exactly when needed—key for retailers and restaurants.
To make fresh food storage and transport as efficient as possible—and maintain freshness throughout—we use a range of modern technologies and innovative approaches.
Advanced systems and artificial intelligence are increasingly involved in fresh food logistics. With powerful analytics, they can predict demand, plan inventory, and optimize the entire logistics process.
Predictive models are a key part of logistics that allow us to foresee potential threats or problems before they arise and address them proactively. The system can alert us to potential temperature condition violations, so we can fix issues before they occur.
With process parallelism—carrying out several logistics steps at once—we can work faster, more efficiently, and at lower costs. For instance, we can simultaneously sort goods, inspect quality, assign storage locations, and prepare shipping documents, saving a lot of time.
Our commitment to eco-friendly practices is also reflected in fresh food logistics. For years we have been reducing CO2 emissions per ton-kilometer, and with great success. We achieve this through regular maintenance and renewal of our fleet.
We also implement eco-conscious solutions in our fresh food warehouses. For example, we install photovoltaic power plants on warehouse roofs to provide much of the energy used in our buildings and implement circular economy solutions.
Not every logistics company can effectively handle storage and transport of fresh food—especially those sensitive to moisture and temperature—which is another reason to partner with us. Thanks to our efficient processes, we minimize waste and costs, delivering fresh food to consumers in top quality.
Our experience comes from working with various food and retail chains that required storage and distribution of fresh products. With each, we combine cutting-edge technologies and years of logistics expertise to deliver perfect results. In our fresh food logistics solutions, these three aspects are especially key:
Finally, here are some key tips for smaller businesses working with fresh food. The key to success is: