When it comes to Canadian GDP, the importance of the trucking industry can’t be overstated.
- In Canada alone, the trucking industry employs more than 250,000 drivers and 400,000 employees while the entire industry itself is worth more than $65 billion.
- Statistics from 2012 show that about 90 percent of Canada’s consumer products and foodstuffs are shipped by truck. In fact, two-thirds of trade between Canada and the United States is done by truck.
- When it comes to food, the food and beverage industry is Canada’s second largest manufacturing industry in terms of value of production. In 2014 alone, shipments of food and beverage were worth more than $100 billion.
- What’s more, the food and beverage processing industry represents about 17 percent of total manufacturing shipments and two percent for the GDP.
With the food and beverage industry being so important in Canada and with a lot of product being moved, there are a lot of benefits in using warehousing for food storing.
But using warehousing for food storing must be done correctly. While warehouses are ideal for storing large amounts of food and supplies, companies using warehousing for food storing must follow proper guidelines to keep food and beverages fresh.
Companies using warehousing for food storing have several options when it comes to selecting a food grade warehouse. There are dry storage warehouses, refrigerated or chilled storage facilities and frozen/cold warehouses. For whichever type of warehouse is used, the main goal is to keep whatever is stored inside up to health and sanitation standards.
As useful as warehousing for food storing is, inspections have to be done to make sure some or all of the following issues aren’t present:
- Roof leaks, foundation leaks and wall leaks
- Holes in windows or in window frames
- Chemicals or pesticides
- Evidence of rodents
- Weeds, puddles or trash around the outside of the warehouse
When it comes to storing foods, following these basic principles will help protect a warehouse from damage and food contamination:
- Scheduling: To keep food fresh and free of contamination, a warehouse has to be cleaned and kept neat all the time. What’s more, documentation is needed to keep a cleaning record that’s readily available for viewing.
- Training: For those working a food warehouse, training should be provided to insure for proper hygiene protocol, quality awareness and crisis management.
- Keeping track: Since food storage warehouses are chock full of food, inventory needs to be moved in and out on a “first in, first out” system. With that in mind, there has to be a system to be able to trace what goes in and out by barcodes and product dates.
- Keeping out pests: To maintain food quality and proper health standards, there needs to be routine pest checks and those have to be reported. If pests do become a problem, then the proper measures need to be taken to eliminate from the premises.
Using warehouses for food storing can be very useful, especially for trucking companies involved in the hauling of food and beverage throughout Canada and the United States. Taking proper steps to ensure the quality and health standards of the food while also keeping track of the inventory should help companies improve their business practices as well as their logistics.