Tyler Wiard serves as director of strategic partnerships at Candor Expedite, where he is leading the launch of Candor Food Chain, combining the company’s national shipping services with a fully reusable cold packaging solution that allows pallet and box-sized frozen and refrigerated shipments to go by regular transport and stay frozen or refrigerated for up to nine days.

By consolidating deliveries of perishable and dry goods in one truck that supports three different temperatures —frozen refrigerated and ambient — food manufacturers, distributors and retailers can eliminate the costs of multiple deliveries across the United States.

Prior to joining Candor in 2019, Wiard spent a decade managing warehouse, operations and traffic coordination for Kerry Ingredients. He brings a unique client perspective having worked on the shipper side during what he describes as “the wild west” when it came to having transparency into shipments and poorly treated drivers. He has deep expertise on the operations side including analytical skills, transportation management, inventory control, supply chain management and demand forecasting.

How, in your opinion, has the cold chain evolved over the last 10 years? What has been the greatest impact on cold food distribution?

Cold chain is one of the fastest-growing sectors in supply chain logistics. Since 2019, frozen food sales have increased by 34%. Globally, they are projected to grow from $242.3 billion in 2021 to $647.4 billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 15.1%.

The use of automation in logistics (especially warehouses and transportation) helps offset labor shortages and automate monotonous tasks. Only recently has new technology been introduced that offers a way to maintain frozen and refrigerated temperatures consistently and over a long period to avoid spoilage. Candor’s Food Chain is the first company to introduce a fully reusable cold packaging solution that allows pallet and box-sized frozen and refrigerated shipments to go by regular transport and stay frozen or refrigerated for up to nine days.

Cold chain custody is becoming more of a top priority for brands. Cold chain logistics is heavily regulated, but it usually falls on shippers and consignees to self-police the regulations. Nevertheless, it’s essential to the mitigation of reputational risk that all players in the cold chain—shippers, carriers and consignees—hold each other accountable.

The entire supply chain (including the cold chain) has been steadily moving toward more sustainable practices including using renewable energy sources; sustainable and reusable packaging; electrifying fleets and more. There is more government regulation around this area in the past few years and it will continue to grow. Also, consumers are demanding that brands be more sustainable and it will be a key point of competitive differentiation.

Packaging is evolving to meet increased sustainability pledges by brands; and just this year with Candor Food Chain offered packaging (both boxes and pallets) that can maintain consistent temperatures allowing companies to ship tri-temp (refrigerated, frozen and dry) across the country. This new packaging is also fully reusable.

Governments have been imposing stricter regulations on supply chains due to globalization and an increase in food safety and pharma counterfeit incidents. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a whole new layer of complexity especially shipping vaccines that require a strict temperature in order to be effective.

Clients expect distributors to put processes in place to trace temperature control, prevent cross-contamination, and reduce their carbon emissions; all very expensive to be compliant. Consumers also demand better quality and safe food products. The continued demand for fresh, organic, and prepared foods adds to the growth of the cold chain.

The need for constant refrigeration from source to final destination adds to the costs of shipping goods in the cold chain. According to DAT Freight & Analytics, the spot rate national average for refrigerated (aka reefer) trucks is $3.10 per mile.

Economics, cold chain custody and sustainability are the biggest factors as they have a trickle-down effect on everything else.

How has your company adapted to changing demands from partners/suppliers/customers surrounding environmental impact and sustainability initiatives?

Sustainability has evolved significantly over the past ten years. More companies are creating aggressive sustainability initiatives, in part from their own respective customer demand. There has been significant pressure to find a way to package products more efficiently and transport them with a limited carbon footprint.

We also listened to our customers – some major retail brands — who were searching for a better alternative to shipping their refrigerated and frozen foods. As a result, we built Candor Food Chain, the first and exclusive U.S. company to introduce a fully reusable cold packaging solution that allows pallet and box-sized frozen and refrigerated shipments to go by regular transport and stay frozen or refrigerated for up to nine days. This technology is a partnership with Cool Chain, a European technology provider that has been successfully working with pharmaceutical companies for over a decade.

Six ways we are addressing sustainability:

1. Candor Food Chain is a TRI-TEMP solution. By consolidating the delivery of perishable and dry goods in one truck that supports three different temperatures —frozen refrigerated and ambient — food manufacturers, distributors and retailers can eliminate the costs of multiple deliveries across the United State
2. Food Chain’s technology sets a new bar for temperature-controlled and accountable shipping. Temperatures range from 10 degrees through 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. No dry ice. Specific size boxes or pallets can hold temperature for four days on the small boxes – to nine days for a pallet.
4. In addition to reducing carbon and refrigerant emissions, the boxes are fully reusable and contain no harmful toxins. Nor does it require extra insulation and cardboard which often gets discarded; and dry ice which can emit a dangerous carbon dioxide gas as it melts.
5. All boxes/pallets are 100% reusable: From start to finish, Candor Food Chain covers all bases for the shipper/consignee – from pick-up to delivery, followed by a stringent cleaning and conditioning.
6. Shippers can use any mode of transportation – including: local distribution centers to stores; regional and OTR capabilities.

How has your company implemented technology and how does it benefit the cold supply chain?

Candor Food Chain has a unique, sophisticated technology that brings full transparency to shipping — especially for food safety and quality teams. This includes temperature readings and GPS tracking with live feeds on the products’ temperature and location for each pallet and full transparency for all stakeholders in the product’s journey.

What is the greatest area of concern for cold food distributors? What is the greatest opportunity?

Distributors are most concerned about cost, sustainability, and food safety.

Shippers are often creating excessive orders because they don’t have the resources to consolidate.

Companies are increasingly aware of their impact on the environment and are also responding to their customer’s demands for more sustainability. Many have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint or become carbon neutral.

Companies are protecting their brands as much as possible. The reputational risk of having a product unsafe for consumption is a big factor today, not to mention someone could be hurt which is unacceptable. Social media has a big impact. Any incident of malpractice can go viral and destroy a company.

The greatest opportunity is giving clients a cost effective solution to shipping all modes of transportation. A tri-temp solution allows clients to more efficiently move their freight while allowing them to consolidate any range of temperature requirements. It’s a guarantee of safety!

How do you see the cold foods distribution business models changing over the next decade? How do you see the overall cold/frozen food logistics system evolving?

Business leaders have changed their view of – “This is how it always has been” to — “How can I change the way we are shipping to be safer and more efficient?” There are not only food safety bodies such as SQF, but companies are auditing their own suppliers more than ever.

Over the last several years, companies have experienced pressure by their consumers to distribute safe/affordable products. This will only increase in the next decade and cold chain custody accountability will become an even greater priority for brands. Cold chain logistics is heavily regulated, but it usually falls on shippers and consignees to self-police the regulations. Nevertheless, it’s essential to the mitigation of reputational risk that all players in the cold chain—shippers, carriers and consignees—hold each other accountable.

Competition is fierce during this economic downturn, which provides an opening for companies to raise expectations of their providers and partners.

• For shippers: “If you want our products, then we require assurances that they’ll be transported, stored and distributed according to our refrigeration guidelines.”
• For carriers: “If you want us to transport your products, then we expect detailed refrigeration guidelines and cold chain custody compliance from the time we deliver the product.”
• For consignees: “If you want us to sell/distribute your product, then it must arrive under the promised refrigerated guidelines alongside a cold chain custody audit trail.”

As much as we predict technology to address many of the industry’s challenges, there will always be a need for the human/tech ratio.