Written for supermarket category managers, private-label and controlled-brand managers, and QSR or foodservice buyers. Shiiv Imports Pty Ltd trades as Shiiv Imports. We are a sourcing agent, importer and private-label builder, not a manufacturer. The partner plant owns the production freeze and the plant cold store. We help keep the commercial file, the transit set point and the warehouse receipt rule aligned with the brief, beside the remaining shelf life rule and the Certificate of Analysis and spec pack. Public email sales@shiv-impex.com. The desks are in Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, Ahmedabad and Texas, USA.
Why cold chain sits on the ranging file
Frozen chips, vegetables, ready meals, pastry and protein cross more temperature handovers than an ambient carton. A ranging desk that only locks pack size and price, and leaves set point and handover evidence vague, will meet the first claim when a pallet arrives soft, ice-glazed beyond spec, or with a logger gap that no one can explain. Cold chain integrity is not a slogan on a quality page. It is the ability to say, for a defined lot, what temperature band was agreed, who held the goods at each step, and what evidence sits on file if the warehouse rejects the load.
Australian and New Zealand buyers usually expect a written set point for the reefer or controlled transit, a continuous or interval temperature record for the ocean or air leg where the program requires it, and a receipt rule at the DC or cold store that matches remaining shelf life and product class. Put that expectation in the brief before artwork and the first purchase order, not after the reefer doors open.
What to lock before the first PO
Lock these fields so the plant, forwarder and warehouse can agree:
- Product class and target storage temperature (for example minus 18 degrees Celsius for many frozen grocery lines, or the band the specification states).
- Allowable deviation and how long a short excursion may last before the lot is held for review.
- Reefer or controlled-transit set point and who monitors it in transit.
- Whether a data logger or carrier temperature report is required, where it is placed, and who downloads it at discharge.
- Cold-store handovers at origin and destination, including how long the goods may sit on the dock.
- Pack configuration and pallet wrap so airflow and frost risk stay inside the specification.
- How the Certificate of Analysis, date marks and lot language stay aligned with the same SKU, including the remaining-shelf-life receipt rule.
A set point that exists only in a forwarder email, and never in the PO or the quality annex, is not enough for a ranging file. The same band should appear where the buyer warehouse will check it at receipt.
Handovers that break the chain
Common break points on imported frozen grocery:
- Plant freezer to packing area, when packing is not temperature-controlled.
- Packing to the export cold store, when staging runs long.
- Stuffing the reefer, when doors stay open or the unit is not pre-cooled.
- Discharge, when the container waits for a slot.
- Transfer to the buyer's cold store, when the trailer set point is wrong or undocumented.
Agree in writing who owns each handover, how long staging may last, and what happens if the logger or carrier report shows an excursion. For dual-sourced lines, each plant needs its own cold-store discipline and its own certificate scope. Do not assume a second plant inherits the first plant's logger practice.
Retail and foodservice packs that share a recipe can still need different carton and pallet rules if pack sizes and DC put-away differ.
Temperature evidence, not a verbal assurance
A verbal "we keep it cold" does not prove the chain held. Buyers should ask what record travels with the consignment, who reads it at discharge, and how a hold is triggered. Useful evidence often includes a reefer download or carrier temperature report, a logger file with start and end times tied to the lot or container number, and a warehouse receipt check that records product temperature or rejects against the written rule.
Agree who decides a hold, who notifies the plant and the category desk, how replacement stock is authorised, and how leftover shelf or kitchen stock is handled if a later complaint points back to transit. Private-label and controlled-brand programs should treat artwork, lot coding, date marks and the cold-chain annex as one file.
Plant food-safety certificates belong to the factory and to the scope on the certificate. Shiiv Imports holds ISO 9001 for sourcing, supplier selection and the file. ISO 9001 is not a plant food-safety certificate. We work with factories that hold GFSI-benchmarked certifications where the program requires it. Where a partner factory holds HACCP, or a GFSI-benchmarked scheme, that certificate belongs to that site and scope. The quality page sets out how the file is held. We do not name major-chain private-label clients.
Lead time and the freeze calendar
Cold chain sits inside lead time. Production freeze, packing slot, export cold-store booking, reefer allocation and destination cold-store capacity all consume calendar days before the first warehouse drop. When factory shutdowns or peak reefer demand tighten capacity, the set point file still has to travel with the PO. See sample to first PO and the factory shutdown calendar.
Send product, pack, channel, target storage temperature and the draft receipt rule with a sourcing brief, or a private-label brief when the artwork is yours. We reply the same business day on how the file is shared under NDA.
Before you range
- Written storage temperature and allowable deviation for the SKU.
- Reefer or controlled-transit set point named on the PO or quality annex.
- Logger or carrier temperature evidence required where the program asks for it, with placement and download owner.
- Origin and destination handover limits documented.
- Date marks and remaining-shelf-life receipt rule agreed in writing.
- Spec pack and CoA language aligned on product identity and lot.
- Dual-source second plant, if any, has its own cold-chain file and certificate scope.
- After-hours contacts for plant, importer and buyer quality desk.
Questions buyers ask
What temperature should frozen imported grocery travel at?
Most frozen grocery programs specify a target around minus 18 degrees Celsius, or the band written in the product specification. Lock the band and the allowable deviation in the brief; do not rely on a generic "keep frozen" line.
Who owns the logger or reefer download on an import path?
Agree the owner in the brief. Often the forwarder or carrier supplies the reefer report, and the importer or buyer quality desk downloads and files a logger if one was placed. The factory owns plant cold-store records.
Does Shiiv's ISO 9001 cover cold chain at the plant?
No. Shiiv holds ISO 9001 for sourcing and the file. Plant cold stores and food-safety certificates such as HACCP or a GFSI-benchmarked scheme belong to the factory and the scope on that certificate.
Can ambient and frozen lines share one receipt rule?
Usually not. Ambient and frozen products differ on set point, evidence and reject criteria. Write a receipt rule per product class, and keep remaining shelf life in the same annex.
Shiiv Imports Insights. Shiiv Imports Pty Ltd (ABN 15 158 243 442 / ACN 158 243 442). Trading name Shiiv Imports. Public email sales@shiv-impex.com. Cities: Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, Ahmedabad, Texas, USA. Temperature control and food safety duties for Australian food businesses sit under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and state and territory food Acts; buyers should confirm the rules that apply to their channel.