Shipping Baked Goods From Canada To The U.S.

If you’re a Canadian business with fresh food just out of the oven, you’ve probably considered shipping those baked goods from Canada to the U.S. But maybe this is your first experience with trying to undertake such an endeavor. 

The good news is shipping baked goods from Canada to the U.S. is pretty straightforward as long as you have a good logistics partner to help with the process and make quality goods with ingredients approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

So with the following tips, shipping food should be simple and stress-free so you can concentrate on what’s in the oven instead of what’s on the truck.

Can You Send Food In The Mail?

Sending baked goods from Canada to the U.S. can be achieved through the mail if you’re a smaller or specialty baked goods business, or even an individual sending homemade goods to a friend or relative in America.

The only restricted items inside or on top of the baked products coming from Canada for sale are those with meat or stuffed with eggs. But if the meat or eggs can be proven to come from a safe source, it is ok to sell those items. 

In fact, a very popular Asian baked good known as Mooncakes can’t ship to the U.S. from China — a large producer of the good — if it has meat or eggs but Mooncakes made in Canada with meat and eggs are permitted to be sold in America as long as the meat or eggs can be proven to be of Canadian origin.

If you plan on sending baked goods bought from a store or homemade treats, you want to do so in an airtight container and also consider making sure the container is not able to be easily crushed or popped open.

If it is an item like bread that is already in its own airtight bag, then it might be good to pack it into a box where the bread can’t move around and has protection on its top.

For a home-baked good like cookies, a tip is to freeze the cookies inside freezer bags and then package them so they will thaw out during the shipping process and stay fresh a little longer.

U.S. Food Import Restrictions

There are a few things to consider before importing your Canadian baked goods into the U.S., but overall the process is simple in comparison to other goods.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency puts no restrictions on baked goods entering the United States from any non-banned country, which Canada is not. The only possibility where a baked good wouldn’t immediately clear customs is if the product in question had meat in it.

America has no restrictions on baked goods entering the United States but the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requires certain information to be included on the packaging to be able to be sold in America. Labeling information in English (or Spanish in Puerto Rico) is required as is a list of ingredients. The FDA, however, does not approve the individual food labels before food is sold. 

Something implemented recently is Prior Notice, where all food for humans and animals that is imported into the United States is registered to the CBP through the Automated Broker Interface of the Automated Commercial Environment (ABI/ACE), which then shares the information with the FDA. Homemade baked goods are exempt from this.

When filing prior notice, you will be asked to provide the following:

• The identity of the article, which includes the FDA product code (if known), common name, trade or brand name, quantity, etc.
• The manufacturer, shipper, or growers’ name and address, email address, telephone and fax number (if known),
• The country from which the article originates and is shipped or mailed.

The FDA also mandates that any food imported by the U.S. has to meet the same laws and regulations as food produced in America. Another part of any food that needs to be approved by the FDA is food additives and color additives. The organization doesn’t test the food itself but employs experts to verify the results from the food company’s own findings.

Transporting Baked Goods

Most baked goods are very fragile and can be ruined quite easily. Even if the product is just a little smashed or broken apart and it is still technically edible, it might not be fit to be sold at a retail level, or will need to be sold at a discount and possibly unprofitable.

So it’s imperative that proper care is taken and a partner who can be trusted to get the goods there undamaged is utilized. Also baked goods generally do not need refrigeration, even if the products are made with eggs or milk.

Very fresh baked goods with no preservatives are going to naturally have a shorter shelf life than commercially produced bread, which can be on the shelves for up to a week before it would go bad. In contrast, fresh bakery bread will last about 2-3 days if not frozen.

Baked goods are also best transported in an enclosed vehicle, so there’s less chance of the items being affected by weather, especially humidity or really dry heat — which might not actually damage the bread but can affect its freshness or taste.

Shipping Baked Goods With R+L Global Logistics

Whether you need to ship a pallet of baked goods or an entire truck, R+L Global Logistics makes sure shipping baked goods from Canada to the U.S. takes place in a fast manner to ensure the freshness of the product for your consumers. We also can help you with shipping from Canda to U.S. for repair and have resources in such border states as North Dakota and in cities like Port Huron, Mi. 

With a 99.5% on-time rate and complete logistics support from picking up and managing the baked goods to getting them to the final destination, R+L Global Logistics also offers white-glove service and even reverse logistics to provide support at each turn.

Call 855-915-0573 today to see how R+L Global Logistics can get your Canadian baked goods to America in a short and sweet manner.