Good Red Rhubarb Jam Deserves a Safe Journey

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Getting Our Jam to You Safely: Testing Our Shipping Packaging

Making jam is only part of the job. We carefully select our ingredients, prepare the fruit, cook the jam, and fill each jar. At that point, it may seem like the work is finished. But there is one more important step: Getting the jam safely to you. That is why we are currently testing and building prototypes for the packaging we will use to ship our jam.

Jars Need Protection

A glass jar may feel sturdy when you pick it up from a shelf. Shipping is a different story. Packages can be exposed to bumps, vibration, drops, and the movement that naturally occurs during transportation. They may also be placed alongside or underneath other packages. The last thing we want is for a jar to arrive damaged. We put a great deal of care into making the jam, so we want to make sure it reaches you in good condition.

Packaging Isn't Just About Making It Look Nice

It would be easy to simply use a large amount of new packaging material. But that is not necessarily the best solution. We want the packaging to be strong enough to protect the jars without creating unnecessary cost or waste. So we are testing different ways to secure the jars inside the package and absorb the impact they may experience during shipping.

The first step in making our jar packaging.

There is another part of our packaging approach that is important to us:

Reusing Cardboard Inside the Package

We want to keep packaging costs as low as reasonably possible. For the outer packaging, we plan to use sturdy shipping materials suitable for parcel delivery, such as Japan Post's Yu-Pack shipping envelopes. Inside the package, however, we are taking a different approach. Instead of purchasing brand-new cardboard specifically for every shipment, we may reuse clean, undamaged cardboard from other packaging as protective material to help cushion and secure the jars. The reused cardboard will not come into direct contact with the jars or the food.

Testing a prototype made from reused cardboard.

And yes, that means it may not always look perfect. You may even see printing or logos from another company on a piece of cardboard inside your package. We could certainly make everything look cleaner and more uniform by buying brand-new packaging materials. But if a piece of used cardboard can safely do the job, we would rather give it another purpose than discard it simply because it is not pretty.

The Jam Is the Important Part

We are careful not to compromise the safety of the product. The outer package needs to be sturdy, and the jars need to be properly secured inside. At the same time, we do not believe every piece of packaging needs to be brand new or beautifully printed. Keeping packaging costs under control allows us to put more of our resources into what really matters: the jam itself. So if you receive an AcreSeason package and find a piece of cardboard inside with someone else's printing on it, don't worry. The packaging may be reused. The jam is the real thing.

Making, Testing, Improving

Our packaging is still in the prototype stage. We will test different materials and designs, see how well they protect the jars, make improvements, and test them again. It may not be the most glamorous part of making jam, but we think it matters. For us, making a good product means more than simply making something delicious. It also means finding a responsible way to get that product safely from our hands to yours. We will continue testing and refining our packaging as we prepare AcreSeason for shipping. Good jam deserves a safe journey.

A Little Help from You

We hope you will understand that our approach to packaging is also part of our effort to keep our costs under control. If you don't mind receiving a package that isn't perfectly polished on the inside, you'll be helping us reduce unnecessary packaging expenses and waste. That means we can put more of our resources into the things that matter most: good ingredients, careful preparation, and the jam itself. So, if you see a reused piece of cardboard or an old shipping box inside your package, we hope you'll see it not as something lacking, but as a small way of helping us keep AcreSeason simple, practical, and focused on making good jam.

Thank you for helping us keep unnecessary costs and waste to a minimum.