Shipping barbecue across the country

[jcbigler]

I've had a few inquiries from friends and family about shipping my barbecue across the country for them to enjoy. Brisket, pork butt, ribs, etc...

I see that there are some barbecue restaurants like Franklin, and Black's in Austin, Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, and others that are using Gold Belly to ship finished barbecue.

My back of the napkin calculations put the shipping cost alone at about $400 (from Oklahoma to New York City), plus the cost of the dry ice/chill packs and the cooler and box to ship in, vacuum sealer, etc...

Franklin for instance will ship a full vacuum packed brisket for $249 including shipping. https://www.goldbelly.com/franklin-barbecue

How can they possibly be making any money at this? Is there something that I'm not seeing in terms of shipping that is not apparent? Does a vacuum sealed brisket that is fully frozen need to be shipped with dry ice? and does it need to ship over night? or will it stay cold for two day shipping, which is exponentially cheaper?

Has anyone done this and have any advice or secrets they want to share?

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

It probably would need dry ice to keep it frozen and if thats the case, overnite. Dry ice is a hazmat, which drives the shipping costs thru the roof.

 

[Sowsage]

I ship frozen sausages down to my brother in law from time to time. We have a local "going postal" place that i use. The give me a Styrofoam container in a box. I take it home and pack it with frozen sausage and some ice packs. It's a two day guarantee. Up to 20lb. Last one I sent was about $45. From Ohio to central Florida. When they arrive they are not frozen but not completely thawed out either.

 

[SmokinAl]

I don’t know how these shippers get such good prices. I order from WildForkFoods all the time, as a matter of fact I have an order coming today. They have free overnight shipping & I bought a butterball turkey for $.39 per pound. I had to buy a couple of more items to get the total to $35 for the free shipping. But they have a lot of Prime meat & fantastic pork products, sometimes cheaper than I can get them here at Walmart, and the quality is top notch!
Al