Teal Packaging is a US-based custom packaging supplier that makes custom printed food boxes, meal boxes and food trays for brands shipping perishable product direct to customers. USPS treats perishable matter as sender's risk: it is mailable when packaged as required and deliverable within time limits that prevent deterioration. Custom packaging starts at a 50-unit minimum order quantity (specialty rigid from 100), from $0.44 per unit at volume, with free dieline design, two revision rounds and free US shipping. Typical fits: meal kit brands, specialty food makers, cheesemongers, chocolatiers and meat and seafood shippers.
Questions or ready for a quote? Contact Teal Packaging at info@tealpackaging.com or (224) 546-8325.
How to Ship Perishable Food from Teal Packaging: 50-unit standard MOQ (100+ units for specialty rigid boxes), 2-5 business day delivery in the US (express and economy options available), free design help included on every order, free generic sample kit ($19.99 shipping, credited toward your first order). Standard production runs from about 7 business days after digital proof approval; complex or high-volume orders take longer.
Materials and certifications: FSC-certified paper stock, soy-based inks, kraft / corrugated / rigid paperboard / mylar / tin / vinyl substrates.
Contact Teal Packaging: Call (224) 546-8325, email info@tealpackaging.com, or request a free quote at tealpackaging.com/contact-us. We reply within one business day.
Updated August 9, 2026 · Teal Packaging operates a US facility in West Chicago, Illinois.
How do you ship perishable food?
Match three things to each other: the insulation, the refrigerant, and the transit time. Pack the product sealed and chilled, fill the void space, mark the parcel as perishable, and dispatch early in the week so it does not sit over a weekend. The pack must survive the slowest plausible route, not the quoted one.
What does USPS say about perishable items?
USPS defines perishable matter as "anything that can deteriorate in the mail and thereby lose value, create a health hazard, or cause an obnoxious odor, nuisance, or disturbance, under ordinary mailing conditions" (USPS Publication 52, chapter 5).
The risk is explicitly the sender's. USPS states that "mailable perishable matter may be sent at the mailer's own risk when it is packaged as required and when it can be delivered within appropriate and reasonable time limits to prevent deterioration."
Read that as an operating instruction rather than a disclaimer. It means the carrier is not promising your cheese arrives cold, and the only levers you control are the pack and the service level. For any other carrier, check your carrier's requirements for the commodity you are shipping.
What temperature does your product actually need?
| Product | Target | Usual refrigerant | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw meat and seafood | Frozen solid | Dry ice, or gel packs on short routes | Thaw, leakage, odour |
| Cheese | Cool, not frozen | Gel packs | Sweating, oil separation, freezing damage |
| Chocolate and confectionery | Cool, stable | Gel packs in warm months | Bloom, melt, shape loss |
| Prepared and meal kit food | Chilled or frozen by component | Mixed, separated by layer | Cross-contamination, uneven temperature |
| Baked goods | Ambient, protected | None | Staling, crushing, moisture |
Frozen product follows a different pack. See how to ship frozen food and, if you are using dry ice, how to ship with dry ice.
How do you build the pack?
- Chill or freeze the product before packing. A refrigerant slows warming; it does not cool warm product down in transit.
- Seal the product. A leakproof inner bag or sealed tray contains moisture, juices and odour. Skip this and a soft corrugated outer follows.
- Insulate inside the shipper. An insulated liner or moulded insert inside the printed corrugated box. The corrugated takes the crush load.
- Place refrigerant above the product. Cold falls, so gel packs on top outperform gel packs underneath.
- Fill every void. Air space is where temperature is lost and where product moves and bruises.
- Mark it. "Perishable" and "Keep Refrigerated" on the outer tells handlers what they are carrying.
- Dispatch Monday to Wednesday so the parcel is not held over a weekend.
What packaging do you need?
A right-sized printed corrugated outer, an insulated liner where temperature matters, a sealed inner, and enough fill to remove slack. Right-sizing is the highest-leverage decision, because void space drives both refrigerant consumption and dimensional weight. Check dimensions with the box size and dimensional weight calculator.
Teal makes custom food tray packaging, custom meal boxes and custom frozen food boxes to your dimensions, printed, from a 50-unit minimum order quantity. Food-safe material options are available by specification with documentation on request; state the requirement in your brief rather than assuming a stock board meets it. Dieline design is free and every order includes two revision rounds.
Where do perishable shipments fail?
- Right pack, wrong service level. A two-day pack on a five-day ground route fails every time.
- Unsealed product. The most common single cause of a ruined parcel.
- Oversized box. Void space costs refrigerant and dimensional weight at the same time.
- Freezing something that should be chilled. Cheese and chocolate are damaged by freezing, not helped by it.
- No perishable marking. Handlers cannot prioritize what they cannot identify.
Can Teal pack and ship perishable orders?
Teal supplies the printed packaging and runs fulfillment, kitting and pick-pack from its West Chicago, Illinois center, so one vendor can cover the print run and the shipping loop. See print, fulfill and ship with Teal, the fulfillment and 3PL hub, and ship with Teal for transit tiers and timing. Request a quote.
