Fruit gift baskets are also baskets of opportunities and profitability. For thriving businesses that sell these (whether on a regular or seasonal basis), they are able to maintain healthy margins as well as gain the trust of their customers.
However, it’s also a business full of challenges from how they received the fruits to how they delivered the basket (including the marketing, packaging and making sure each fruit is delivered and stored properly and it is of acceptable quality). Several variables are at play here including the reliability of the suppliers and even the state of the national economy. Good thing is if you pull it off successfully, you and your customers will feel the delight as each order becomes nice and smooth.
About acceptable quality
Pulling it off successfully heavily depends on the quality of the fruits as they are received by the customer. But what does it mean to be of acceptable quality?
We can think of quality as the actual performance minus the expectations. In other words, if performance falls short of what the customers expect, they will perceive the product as of low quality. This also means if the expectations are too high, meeting the performance requirements could be a huge challenge.
It’s common now that the expectations and standards are a lot higher than before. After all, customers have unlimited options and they’re constantly bombarded by ads and conflicting opinions. If a business fails to meet the expectations, there are several others that can fill the gap. As a result, it’s important to know exactly what those expectations are as well as focus on things that affect performance (and hence the quality of the final product).
What affects performance by the way? It’s about focusing on what happens behind the scenes. For example, are the fruits stored under safe temperature and humidity levels? Storage and delivery can take several hours and even several days. Significant microbial and enzymatic actions can happen during that time which can affect the fruits’ taste and appearance. It’s especially the case with organic produce where the fruits have a very short shelf life. A few hours when the banana or orange is exposed outside the safe temperature level and the fruits might turn brown or have that bitter and unpleasant taste. After all, ripe fruits are meant to be consumed as soon as possible so that the seeds will be ready to germinate and spread. That’s because many plants and trees have evolved to bear sweet and attractive fruits so that animals can consume them and hence release the seeds somewhere else. This is nature’s way of making organisms thrive and spread through different locations and hence ease up the competition (i.e. dispersal means less competition for space and nutrients).
We humans are good at using nature’s principles to benefit ourselves. We have learned how to slow down microbial and biochemical reactions by controlling temperature levels. With tight temperature control, we are able to prolong the shelf life of natural products as well as maintain their quality levels.
That has been our specialty here at COOLTRANS since 1997. For many businesses that sell fruit gift baskets as well as the suppliers, we’ve become a valuable ally in making sure fruits are being delivered under safe temperature levels. We ensure tight temperature control from point A to point B and that the shipment arrives on time as stated in the agreement. We have a backup fleet and tracking systems to prevent delays. Contact us today and let’s discuss your refrigerated delivery requirements.
