How Lineage’s food processing services prepare your products for production, retail and distribution

Developed with subject matter expertise from Tim Blazek, Head of Business Development, who provided insights into Lineage’s food processing services and customer needs.

Food products traverse several steps between arriving at a warehouse and leaving for their next destination. Whether it’s bulk protein that needs to be boxed, frozen ingredients that need tempering or packaged products that need to become variety trays for a club-store order, the food processing side of the cold chain spans many different services.

When those steps happen at separate locations, each move adds transportation, handling and another schedule to coordinate. The more fragmented a supply chain becomes, the more exposed it is to potential risk. Bringing food processing together with the rest of your supply chain can simplify operations, adding a layer of protection against potential disruptions.

Lineage’s food processing services connect product boxing, defrosting and tempering, repacking, vegetable mixing and bagging and specialized processing services with cold storage and distribution. This helps you build a stronger, more connected supply chain for your food processing operations.

Product boxing and segregation help prepare bulk protein for later production

For protein producers, boxing is an essential part of a larger process that helps prepare inventory for future production. Bulk protein can arrive in large containers known as combo bins, move into refrigerated holding and then enter a boxing area where teams separate and pack the product.

Beef trim, for example, can be packed into boxes that move into blast freezing and frozen storage. When it’s time to move, tempering and outbound shipment can be coordinated around the next production step. Connecting those steps under one roof simplifies product movement through your supply chain and reduces handoffs that take extra time and labor.

Defrosting and tempering services prepare frozen products for further processing

Frozen inventory often needs to reach a specified temperature before further processing. Lineage offers defrosting and tempering services, including water defrosting and air tempering where available, to help bring your products to the appropriate temperature before the next processing step.

Finding the right approach depends on the product, its required condition and the facility’s capabilities. But with defrosting and tempering services available in the same location as frozen and refrigerated storage, you won’t have to seek out a third-party vendor or add an extra move to your supply chain. Lineage can help you streamline your food processing supply chain under one roof.

Repacking and club-store preparation help turn existing inventory into the pack your customers need

Retail and direct-to-consumer orders may call for different product combinations than the cases you already have in storage. Lineage’s repacking services can bring your packaged products together into variety trays and prepare your pallets for club-store requirements.

Cases containing separate product varieties can be opened, and their packaged contents combined into a single tray configuration. Those trays can then be arranged on pallets, held in storage and shipped when needed.

With repacking and cold storage available together in many Lineage facilities, this work can happen alongside your inventory. These integrated services can help remove the need for an extra trip to a separate repacking provider and the return trip to storage before distribution.

Vegetable mixing and bagging combines your veggies into ready-to-ship blends

Lineage also offers vegetable mixing and bagging at select facilities. These services bring vegetable products together into customized blends and pack formats for the next stage of your supply chain.

Depending on the operation, vegetable processing can connect with freezing, storage and outbound distribution. Your product specifications and destination help determine which combination of services are the right fit for your individual supply chain.

Extend your product’s shelf life with high-pressure processing

High-pressure processing, or HPP, uses pressure transmitted through water to treat food for harmful microbes while maintaining the overall look, taste and nutritional value of the food product. For suitable products, it can help reduce certain harmful and spoilage microorganisms and extend shelf life. The product type, packaging and processing requirements all matter when deciding if HPP is right for you.

HPP is available at select Lineage facilities and connects directly with cold storage and distribution services. This integration can help you avoid the need to move products between a third-party processor and your storage provider, keeping everything in the same network and, in some cases, the same building.

X-ray inspection supports targeted product checks when needed

X-ray inspection is another specialized food processing service offered by Lineage. It can help identify certain foreign materials in food products to help protect end consumers. X-ray inspection services provide precise insight into your products so you can identify the specific affected items.

Lineage offers X-ray inspection only at select facilities. Inspection suitability and detection capabilities depend on the product, packaging, material of concern and available equipment. The team can assess your requirements and identify an appropriate location.

Keep food processing connected to your whole cold chain

Lineage connects food processing with a global network of cold storage, transportation and distribution solutions so you can plan each step within one network. Your products may need tempering, a unique pack format or specialized processing or inspection. Coordinating that work across separate providers can increase the risk of disruptions and delays. Lineage helps connect those processing services with the storage and distribution services that support them.

When capabilities are available together, combining services can reduce unnecessary transfers and simplify coordination. You spend less time managing separate providers and more time keeping your supply chain moving. The result is a cold chain where processing, storage and distribution work together around your products, your production schedule and the commitments you make to your customers.