Anyone ever ship duck eggs for eating? Help needed!

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

We have an opportunity to sell duck eggs to a restaurant. The only problem is that we have to ship them. They don't fit in regular chicken egg cartons, and we will need gel packs to keep them cold. We've shipped many chicken and even some duck eggs for hatching, but never for eating. Anyone know where to buy the proper supplies at a decent price? We already have packing peanuts and bubblewrap. Any other suggestions?

 

[Duck_feeder]

You can buy egg cartons that are large enough for duck eggs

Found these by googling:
http://www.eggcartons.com/product-e...k_Paper_Egg_Carton_Jumbo_Super_Jumbo_EGPJSJBL
http://www.eggcartons.com/product-e...led_Pulp_Duck_Turkey_Egg_Tray_20_Egg_ETPSJ_20

 

[1lpoock]

The only thing is that duck eggs shipped in an egg carton break really easily, even if they are padded. I would wrap them all in bubble wrap then put them In a small styrofoam container ( the kind that refrigerated medicine comes in ) with ice packs. They make those containers in different sizes.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

That's what I'm afraid of - eggs in cartons do tend to break, which is why when we ship eggs for hatching, we wrap each egg in bubblewrap. I can't imagine a restaurant unwrapping each egg

But I also can't picture the containers medicine comes in. Have never seen that.

 

[tia]

I have received eggs in a great big foam square with cylinder shapes cut through it. They stick one egg in each cylinder and it is held in their by the foam because the foam is a little narrower. Then they put a bubble wrap in a box, set the foam square in, and then but another bubble wrap on top. It would probably be pretty expensive to send eggs for eating that way. I don't know if you could put more than one egg in the cylinder maybe if you spaced them far enough apart. The eggs that I have received that way have never been broken.

 

[10ducks]

There's a site called duckeggs.com that sells eggs (at exorbitant prices) by mail. Here's a link to their packaging page; it looks like what tia was describing:
http://www.duckeggs.com/duck_egg_packaging.html

I recently opened a new HP printer cartridge at work, and it came in this bag made of inflated air tubes. The one for the cartridge is the perfect size for an egg carton, and I successfully shipped a dozen eggs across several states in it (inside the same printer cartridge box). I had trouble finding it on the web but finally found their site: http://aierpag.com/EN/product3.html
I don't know how hard it would be to get a hold of a small supply of these. It's hard to tell from the illustrations on the site, but they are reusable.

Uline.com also has a large selection of packaging supplies; it's worth a look. The minimum orders are pretty big, though.

Good luck!

 

[tia]

That is it exactly. I got eggs from them one time. I believe the my eggs from Metzer came with the same kind of packing.

 

[redhen]

I wouldnt think that you'd need the ice packs to keep them cold...
just when you collect them...dont store them in the fridge....keep them on the counter..(they are safe on the counter for a long while..espically this time of year.....)..then when you ship them they are fine to stay at room/shipping temp....
THEN..when the person gets them in the mail...they can put them in the fridge..

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Thanks for the visuals! They are using foam to package the eggs. I had purchased some for shipping quail eggs and it did work very well - forgot all about that! I just checked their website http://www.redoakgamebirds.com/ and they don't carry the duck egg size but I'll keep looking.

Redhen - because the eggs are going to a restaurant, we have to abide by the Ohio Dept of Agriculture regulations which states that the eggs have to be refrigerated. We will also have to wash them immediately. I wonder if local shipping places (Mailboxes Etc.) carry the gel packs? I'd hate to order a large quantity and then find that this is too much trouble. I'd better do my homework.

 

[Amiga]

What about dry ice? I don't have a grand plan, just know that some perishable food items I have received were packed with dry ice.

Enjoy the adventure!