Fill and Freeze ice packs

Fill and freeze ice packs represent one of the most cost-effective refrigerant solutions in the cold chain packaging toolkit. Shipped flat and empty, these packs are filled with tap water by the end user and placed in a standard freezer — eliminating the shipping weight, volume, and cost associated with pre-filled gel packs while delivering comparable cooling performance once frozen. For businesses looking to minimise their cold chain refrigerant cost without sacrificing performance, fill and freeze packs offer a compelling value proposition.

The operational model is straightforward. Packs arrive at your facility as lightweight, flat, uninflated packages — dramatically reducing freight costs and storage space requirements compared to pre-filled alternatives. Before a packing session, operators fill each pack to the marked fill line with water, seal it using the integrated closure, and place the packs in the freezer. After the required freezing time (typically 8 to 12 hours), the packs are ready to deploy in your insulated packaging.

Meal prep delivery companies and meal kit cold chain businesses find fill and freeze packs particularly attractive for managing refrigerant inventory during demand fluctuations. Because unfilled packs can be stored efficiently in large quantities, operators can scale up their cold chain capacity quickly during promotional periods or seasonal demand peaks without the logistics challenge of storing large volumes of pre-frozen gel packs.

The grocery delivery sector uses fill and freeze packs extensively, particularly for operations that pack orders in-store or at a local fulfilment centre where freezer capacity is available. A supermarket distribution team packing click-and-collect orders or home delivery bags benefits from the flexibility of filling packs to order, ensuring optimal frozen state at dispatch.

Cheese and chocolate delivery businesses can use fill and freeze packs as a lightweight, low-cost refrigerant for ambient-to-chilled temperature maintenance, particularly for shorter transit windows. These work especially well inside our Temp Guard Eco Safe carton liners or Temp Shield mailers for direct-to-consumer gourmet food shipments. Dry Chill’s fill and freeze packs are manufactured with food-grade, BPA-free materials and are available in multiple sizes. Explore the full refrigerant range.