🚚 Distribution

Distribution is the path finished products take from the factory to the shop. The chain usually looks like this: factory warehouse, distribution centre, shop. At the warehouse, products are gathered into batches and loaded into trucks. A distribution centre is a big warehouse that belongs to a retail chain. Goods from many producers are brought there and then sent on to the shops. Logistics planners work out routes so products travel fast and without needless reloading.

For dairy products, the key thing in distribution is cold. Pasteurized milk, yogurts and cottage cheese travel in refrigerated trucks and are kept in cold rooms. If a product warms up on the way, it will spoil early, even if the date on the pack has not passed yet. For extended shelf life (ESL) milk, the Tetra Pak handbook says it plainly: the technology is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and such products should not be kept above 8 °C.

UHT and sterilized milk, condensed milk and milk powder can travel without cooling. So they are easier to deliver over long distances and to places with few fridges.