How to Pack and Ship Cookies (2024)

Flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, eggs, chocolate chips, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. When combined, all of those ingredients create a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Simple and straightforward.

However, the ingredients that make up a successful dessert business are a little more complicated. There are many different moving parts that make a confectionery business what it is. If you’re an ecommerce brand who bakes and ships cookies, you’re probably familiar with these woes.

While cookies come in many varieties, the process for shipping them is relatively the same. Whether you’re shipping chocolate chip, shortbread, oatmeal raisin, white chocolate macadamia nut, or some other delicious homemade speciality, you’ve likely faced the challenge of packing them up and shipping them off.

To help you navigate that challenge, ShipBob has prepared these tips to ensure your next confectionary care package or delicious dozen of cookies arrives at its destination in one piece.

Tips for packaging cookies to keep fresh when shipping

“That’s the way the cookie crumbles” is a common idiom that is used when something bad has happened but you must accept the outcome. However, that old adage doesn’t have to apply to shipping cookies. With these tips, you’ll be able to ensure your cookies remain intact during shipping.

Don’t pack them too tight

To make sure your cookies don’t get damaged in transit, be sure to give the treats some space in their package. Choosing a box that is too small is a common packing mistake that can be easily fixed. Gauge the size of the product and choose an appropriately sized box filled with supportive material to create the best packing solution for your cookies.

Use packing materials to prevent cookies from moving around too much

Whether the cookies you’re shipping are in a container wrapped in paper or confined to a box within the mailer, be sure to use supportive packing. Bubble wrap, tissue, newspaper, and other dunnage will provide a cushion for the cookies you’re shipping. This way, your cookies will not be jostled or crumbled during transit.

Consider wrapping individually to maintain consistency of cookies

If you’re sending homemade sweet treats as part of a care package or sharing cookies that didn’t come in a prepackaged container, consider wrapping the cookies in Saran wrap, wax paper, or aluminum foil to make sure the cookies stay fresh and keep their shape.

Other alternatives include placing the cookies in tins, airtight packaging like tupperware, or sealed ziptight bags. By placing the wrapped cookies in an airtight container within the box, you’ll ensure they arrive in perfect condition.

Other shipping best practices when sending cookies in the mail

Freshness, quality, consistency, and timeliness are all factors that are top of mind when sending off a box of cookies to an eagerly awaiting recipient. Use these guidelines to ensure the cookies you’re sending are as fresh and delicious when they’re being unboxed as they were coming straight out of the oven.

Select a fast shipping service (overnight or express is ideal!)

It’s plain and simple: fast shipping = fresher cookies.

To ensure your recipient gets the best cookies possible, choose the most efficient shipping option. If you’re not sure which carrier to use to get your cookies from point A to point B, take a look into different shipping carriers to compare which one would be the best for your needs.

While large ground carriers are always an option, a regional carrier might be the best fit to deliver your cookies. Regional carriers tend to be faster, more flexible, and able to provide more customized shipping options.

Consider shipping your cookies earlier in the week and prior to holidays so they aren’t stuck in transit for extended periods of time. The industry recommended transit time for perishable items is 30 hours or less.

Make sure there are no restrictions around sending food through a carrier

Major carriers (FedEx, USPS, and UPS) allow for baked goods to be shipped rather easily throughout the United States.

Depending on where you’re sending your package, you might be required to declare baked goods before shipping them off. Shipping cookies internationally requires customs forms, taxes, and duties. If you’re sending cookies abroad, be sure the ingredients are compliant with local regulations and ordinances.

Get a tracking number to provide to your recipient

Since cookies have a relatively short shelf life, being able to track a package full of baked goods is important. Tracking the cookies while in transit or being notified when they’ve been delivered is useful information for these edible treats.

If you know the person receiving the cookies you’re shipping, you can even make sure the recipient will be available to receive them so they don’t sit outside and risk melting, freezing, theft, etc.

Choose the right shipping option

Cookies and other desserts are perfect as holiday treats, birthday gifts, or ways to celebrate a special event. If you’re in a rush or have a deadline before a specific occasion, you may want to opt for expedited shipping.

With the holiday season right around the corner, plan ahead and allow plenty of time for your package to arrive. Carriers tend to be overloaded around Christmas and other milestones, which means shipping delays could occur.

If you’re a business owner looking for a way to offer fast shipping, look no further than our affordable 2-day shipping guide. This resource outlines benefits, FAQs, and ways to get started.

Selling cookies online? ShipBob can help with that

If you’re balancing your time between baking cookies and shipping them, ShipBob can help with your food fulfillment. Food retailers of all sorts — everyone from organic product providers to those who offer non-perishable items — can save time on fulfillment by using ShipBob’s network and technology.

By connecting your online store with ShipBob, you’re able to manage customer orders, oversee your online catalog, distribute inventory throughout the country to cut back on transit times, and more. That means more time back in the kitchen or managing other aspects of your baking business.

Fulfilling food and beverage items requires special care. There are various challenges business owners have to account for when outsourcing their food-based business to a logistics partner for fulfillment. Damaged orders, expiration dates, and fast shipping are top of mind concerns for brands who ship edible products.

ShipBob has taken specific measures to ensure food and beverage fulfillment goes smoothly. With ShipBob’s technology and global fulfillment centers, business owners can stay on top of inventory by checking stock in real time, implement 2-day shipping to get customers their cookies and treats even faster, and take comfort in knowing their 3PL partner holds a Certificate of FDA Registration.

Customer Testimonials

One of the biggest DTC pet brands, PetLab Co, relies on ShipBob to fulfill more than 30,000 orders per week. In fact, ShipBob’s ability to service both D2C and B2B has enabled them to build more consistent procedures and practices across their different sales channels.

Along with Chewy, they are fulfilling orders through Amazon, as they are the two biggest online pet sales channels in the US. To do this, they utilize ShipBob’s EDI solution that is connected to their 3rd party EDI platform SPS Commerce for Chewy orders, and when they don’t ship directly to Amazon, they rely on ShipBob’s direct integration with Amazon for FBA orders. They are even exploring additional channels that ShipBob supports, such as Walmart.com.

“Being an omnichannel brand is critical for us, so we can reach more pet lovers from more places. We’re glad that ShipBob helps us keep up with demand from all the places we reach our customers.”

Stephanie Lee, COO at PetLab Co.