Your box has arrived — wonderful. Here's a one‑minute check that confirms everything's perfect and tells you exactly what to do in the rare case it isn't. Spoiler: cool‑to‑the‑touch is the goal, and partly melted ice packs are a good sign, not a bad one.
The 60‑second check.
- Touch the meat through the packaging. It should feel cold, like it's just come from the fridge (around 2°C). Cold to the touch = perfect. It does not need to be frozen — our fresh meats travel chilled, not frozen, unless the product is specifically sold frozen.
- Look at the ice packs. Partly or fully melted ice packs are completely normal and a sign the system worked — they're designed to absorb heat as they melt, keeping your meat cold. Melted packs do not mean your meat is warm.
- Glance at colour and give it air if needed. Darker vacuum‑packed beef is normal and blooms back to red (why); a sharp initial smell clears within minutes (why).
If everything's cold to the touch, you're all set — refrigerate or freeze on the day for later. Nothing to worry about.
If something feels genuinely warm: set that item aside, don't cook or eat it, and contact us straight away. We'll trace it and make it right for you.
Why this works. From the moment your box is sealed, your meats are held at roughly 2°C in temperature‑controlled, fully recyclable packaging — engineered to stay cold throughout overnight transit and beyond. (How our packaging works.) The ice packs melting is the science doing exactly its job.
FAQs
- My ice packs arrived fully melted — is my order ruined? Almost certainly not. Melting is how they keep your meat cold; do the touch test — if the meat is cold, it's fine.
- My meat isn't frozen solid — is that wrong? No — our fresh range is delivered chilled (~2°C), not frozen. Only items sold as frozen arrive frozen.
- It arrived a little soft / "thawed." If a frozen‑sold item has partly softened but is still cold to the touch, cook it within 24 hours and don't refreeze raw. If it's warm, set it aside and contact us.
- How long can the box sit before I check it? It's built to hold its chill well beyond delivery — 58+ hours — but unpack and refrigerate as soon as you reasonably can.