Delivery and Storage Options

Delivery- How to move your product and freezers.

If you are just beginning to investigate a Happy & Healthy franchise, you probably have many questions.  I’m sure among your greatest concerns is the transport of your product from point A to point B.

Will you have to invest in a delivery vehicle?

Will you have to trade in your mid-size car?

NO! In fact don’t even think about it!  Nearly every distributor in our family started out in business with the vehicle they already had, in many cases, a car.  And if you were to ask our franchisees, they would tell you as we always say, “It is better to have something to deliver to, than something to deliver in.” (In other words, if you have limited capital, and who doesn't, it would be wiser to invest in freezers selling product for you then in a delivery vehicle to deliver to a small number of accounts.)  Make a delivery vehicle your 2-year goal. Make a successful business with great freezer and conventional accounts your first priority.

These are subjects that we discuss in full at our Workshop.

(The Workshop is a 3-hour presentation in which we go over all of the details and answer all of your questions regarding the business.  We discuss pertinent information such as market areas, number of franchisees in a given area, location picks process, delivery options, cold storages, finances, overhead costs, freezer equipment, Fruitfull® and additional products available.  We even discuss why this business may not be the right business for you!  The Workshop is designed to provide you with all the information necessary to help you make an informed business decision regarding the investment opportunity and daily operation of a Fruitfull® franchise.)

But in the meantime we would like to illustrate some of the items we discuss at the workshop and some of the many, many options available to choose from in the world of delivery and storage options.

If I use a car, then how will I keep my product frozen during transportation?

As you will learn in the Workshop, Fruitfull® frozen fruit bars do not have to be kept as cold as ice cream.  Under normal circumstances, if you are going within a hour or an 1½ of the cold storage, you most likely don't need dry ice, only a cooler is fine.  You just put them in your car and go....But if you are out all day, there are many options to assist in maintaining the product integrity.

Briefly:

Dry Ice and a Cooler

Dry Ice- That’s right, it’s not just for great side effects at concerts, it actually keeps things frozen! The amount of dry ice that you will need depends on external factors like temperature, length of time, amount of deliveries and space in your cooler.  The more space and the more times you open the freezer, the faster the dry ice will melt. 

Caution- Dry Ice is EXTREMELY COLD and you must exercise caution when handling.  You will learn more about this at your workshop in the Workshop Manual.

Cooler- A 128 quart cooler holds 16 boxes of product and a 162 quart cooler holds 20 boxes of product.  It will depend upon your trunk space or room in the backseat which cooler you will be able to fit in your car.  Also, two small coolers can be used if your car cannot accommodate the larger size.  Do Not remove bars from the boxes, it may save you room, but you do not want dry ice directly on the bars and you are selling them by the box. Finally, by keeping them in the box, you help to keep the cold inside.

Cold Plates - There are various items that franchisees use to carry their product for longer periods of time in their cars that normally fit in your truck.  There are special insulation devises and also cold plates which are frozen at night and do not require electricity.  You will learn more about these options when speaking to our franchisees and attending a Workshop.  Click on the link here to Dole Refrigeration Company to view general cold plate information (what they call hold over cartridges).

What about Freezer Delivery? - Obviously, there will be some things that you cannot fit in your car (unless your car happens to be a SUV or Pick-up).  For your initial freezer deliveries, you can either borrow a vehicle or rent a van for the weekend. You group your deliveries initially to do several in a day and the marketing consultant does one with you also.

Next Step

Okay, now let's assume that you have an SUV or a Van or plan to invest in one down the road.  We actually recommend that you not invest more than $5,000 on a used vehicle.  You will have many more options for keeping the product cold at that point and obviously delivering freezers is a snap.
 

Here is one of our Happy & Healthy freezers loaded in the cargo area of a SUV.  Secure it tight and you're ready to deliver product and freezer to a new account!

To keep your product cold, there are many options.  Most franchisees put a big white chest freezer (or several) in their van or truck (SUV).  They can drive it for extended times without it being plugged in, as long as they had it plugged in overnight.  The majority of franchisees, however, choose to use an inverter or generator to insure product quality.  Please look at the pictures that follow.

Delivery options for growing businesses continued to be a hot topic at H&H conventions.  Various slide in freezer boxes can convert a pick-up truck for example.

So franchisees generally run their business initially using their current family vehicle.  Then as the business grows, "the business buys them a bigger vehicle."  Usually after the car if it was used initially, a franchisee will use an SUV or van to run their business.  The next step is to get a different type of van, more suitable to make high volume deliveries.  Finally franchisees will move into the "ice cream type truck" with a reefer as shown in some of the pictures above.  However, many franchisees prefer to operate in the step "in between" indefinitely because they enjoy the "different type of van, more suitable to make high volume deliveries."  For those franchisees, the Sprinter Cargo Van is a huge favorite. 

Here is another delivery van example.