Shipping Vitamins and Supplements: What You Need to Know About Nutraceuticals
Nutraceuticals is an umbrella term for products derived from food sources and used as an alternative to pharmaceuticals to promote health benefits. Whether vitamins, supplements or beverages, the nutraceuticals industry is a rapidly growing market. In 2022, it was estimated that the nutraceuticals market was worth USD 420 billion, and that figure is expected to grow at an over 4.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the coming decade.
A booming industry like this requires reliable and safe distribution chains to keep up with demand and maintain a competitive advantage. Many factors go into safely shipping vitamins and supplements; we explore what stringent steps must be taken to maintain a safe and efficient supply chain.
What Type of Products Are Nutraceuticals?
Nutraceuticals are increasingly popular amongst consumers as people take more interest in wellness products. According to research, contributing factors to this popularity are a growing geriatric population, the rising costs of healthcare, and a move towards healthier lifestyle choices. The COVID-19 pandemic did nothing to slow this popularity, and demand for health supplements has soared in recent years. The benefits and uses of nutraceuticals are multifold. So, what products count as nutraceuticals?
Nutraceuticals cast a wide net. The term refers to dietary supplements such as protein powder, frequently used for muscle gain, recovery, and other benefits. Collagen, whether in powder or tablet form, is a nutraceutical, as are energy bars, dietary fiber supplements, gummies, and herbal products like Echinea. Vitamin and mineral supplements are also nutraceuticals, as are prebiotics and probiotics.
Fortified nutraceuticals are foods processed with added nutrients. This group commonly includes oats and cereals containing added vitamins and minerals and flour with added folic acid. Other dry goods, such as pasta and grains, are often on this list.
Shipping Nutraceuticals Safely
Nutraceuticals are consumables designed to provide medical benefits to customers. So the safe shipping of vitamins and supplements is essential to avoid medical risks, loss of product, and extra costs. Consider these crucial factors to ensure a safe and efficient shipment of nutraceuticals:
- The products are sensitive to the environment and temperature. Nutraceuticals should be kept in a temperature-controlled environment during transport and warehouse staging to avoid damage. Different products might require ambient (40°F–90°F) or mid-temperature (60°F–70°F) environments for warehousing and transportation. Orders shipping via parcel carriers might require products to be shipped in insulated containers or insulated packaging along with gel packs to maintain temperature depending on the time of year, geography, and delivery schedule.
- On-time delivery is a must for high-demand, sensitive products. A nutraceuticals distribution solution should have an excellent on-time fulfillment record so clients can be confident that their goods will arrive on schedule and intact.
- Less-than-truckload (LTL) shipment flexibility allows clients to efficiently and cost-effectively ship one or two pallets of their product. And sharing the load with others using LTL shipping to the same destination further reduces costs.
- In cases where order sizes are too small for LTL, nutraceutical companies may ship parcel direct to retail outlets for orders of loose cases. Direct-to-consumer orders (B2C) are shipped parcel or overnight — a service often handled by 3PL companies operating as B2C distribution centers.
- Streamlined cross-docking can also assist in a rapid and smooth turnaround, reducing product dwell times, handling and improving product freshness.
Shipping Vitamins and Supplements: How Atlanta Bonded Warehouse Can Help
Atlanta Bonded Warehouses and its partner Colonial Cartage offer clients a fleet of company-owned assets that regularly service 26 states. Our freight consolidation solutions allow customers to transport smaller loads at lower costs, sharing the load with other clients with goods going to the same destination. Our parcel service volume has all the major parcel carriers picking up daily or multiple times daily.
Atlanta Bonded Warehouse has 70 years of experience offering warehousing solutions for various industries, including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food and food-grade products, and consumer packaged goods (CPGs). We manage 6.5 million square feet of space across fifteen facilities in five states.
Our warehousing solutions are seamlessly integrated with our transportation services. Our experienced cross-docking systems and short-term racked storage and/or staging areas for our cross-docking clients protect products from damage due to multiple internal handlings.
If you’re looking for the most cost-effective, reliable, and on-time distribution services for shipping vitamins and supplements, contact us today and speak to one of our logistics experts to find the best solution for your needs.