Insulated Shipping and Understanding Raw Cultured Vegetables

Standard Insulated Shipping: $9.95 (Already automatically included in the ship cost for all orders containing raw cultured vegetables)
Foam: 1" thick
Ice Packs: Variable based on quantity of items and shipping temperatures
Details: Ideal for moderate shipping temperatures and/or shorter delivery distances (1-4 days)

Premium Insulated Shipping: $35.00
Foam: 4" thick
Ice Packs: Variable based on quantity of items and shipping temperatures
Details: Ideal for hot temperatures and longer delivery distances (3-7 days)

All orders with raw cultured vegetables including sauerkraut, kim chi, salsa, pickles and ketchup will automatically ship with our Standard 1” styrofoam and ice insulation so you do not need to add it to your cart if your order already contains any of these foods, however if you would like to upgrade to the Premium 4” insulation you can add it to your cart above before checking out.* Due to the live nature of the probiotics, leakage of juice is still possible even with insulation, but it does NOT indicate spoilage and we still fully expect the veggies to be beneficial to eat after a 3 day transit with insulation. Insulation will always minimize leakage, but not always eliminate it completely.

Nut and seed butter, chocolate, oil and tea will NOT automatically be insulated with styrofoam and ice. If you would like to add insulation to your order of nut/seed butter, chocolate, oil or tea, you can add it to your cart above. We recommend refrigeration of these foods to retain as much freshness as possible over time, but not to prevent immediate spoilage. The nut/seed butter, oil or chocolate would have to get over approximately 115˚ inside the jar to be hotter than the temperature at which they are processed so we do not expect even warm weather to harm them in any way, but of course you do have the option to add insulation if you choose.

*Some larger orders may not fit into the largest box size we can use with USPS Priority Mail, especially if you choose to add the 4” insulation, so we will contact you and let you know what your options are in that scenario.

Understanding raw cultured vegetables

The culturing or fermentation process that occurs with Raw Cultured Vegetables is a natural method of food preservation. This means that they can be safely unrefrigerated for a short period of time (such as 1-7 days in transit). As the temperature rises, the probiotics in the Raw Cultured Vegetables become more active and begin consuming the starch in the vegetables at a faster rate. They release effervescence as part of their metabolic process (this is the zing you sometimes you feel on your tongue when eating Raw Cultured Vegetables). The effervescence can push the juice up causing it to leak out of the jar, it can make the lid puffy and it can even make the vegetables expand out of the jar when you open it. We call this process "expansion," and it does result in Raw Cultured Vegetables that are more potent with probiotics, but may have a shorter shelf life. How much shorter the shelf life will be depends on the transit time and temperatures to which they are subjected. The longer and hotter the transit, the shorter the shelf life will be. They are still beneficial to eat until the probiotics have consumed all the available starch in the veggies at which point they will no longer taste palatable, and may be browning/discolored. This usually takes about 2 weeks at temperatures less than 77˚. Our labels state that Raw Cultured Vegetables should be refrigerated unless in transit for less than 9 days at less than 74˚ (or 77˚ depending on which flavor you have). Insulated packaging is a simple way to protect raw cultured vegetables from heat or freeze related changes that may occur while in transit, so that is why all orders with raw cultured vegetables will automatically be insulated.