Pallets for food distributors: clean, dry, consistent, in writing.

A food site needs the same pallet every time: no loose boards, no stains, no chemical treatment, and a grade that is written down so the receiving dock does not argue. Here is what we supply, what we leave out and how the grade is held.

Get a price on food grade pallets Which pallets are safe in racking?

Or call Jayden on 0494 820 639, 7am to 5pm weekdays.

Quick answer

Which pallets suit a food distributor?

New or grade A hardwood standard 1165 pallets for ambient dry goods in racking, rackable plastic for chilled and freezer rooms, nestable plastic for wash down floors, and heat treated ISPM 15 softwood for export. Clean, dry, no chemical treatment, with the grade written on the quote and the docket and checked at your dock. Empties are collected from sixty reusable pallets in Greater Sydney, often on the delivery run.

What a food site gets

Which pallets suit a food distributor?

Area	Pallet	Why
Ambient dry goods, racked	New or grade A hardwood standard 1165	Square, rigid, every board present, no protruding nails, no contamination. Built and graded for racking and customer facing loads.
Chilled and freezer rooms	Rackable plastic 1165 x 1165 or 1200 x 1000	No timber to absorb water, washable, and rated to sit on beams. Nestable plastic for floor storage where nothing goes up.
Wash down and production areas	Plastic, nestable or rackable	Hosed down with the floor, no splinters, no loose fasteners near product.
Export loads	Heat treated and ISPM 15 marked softwood	Heat treatment rather than chemical fumigation, stamped so the timber clears quarantine at the other end.
One way outbound to retail DCs	Grade B standard, or one way where the pallet does not come back	Sound and clean for a single trip, priced for a pallet you will not see again.

What we leave out: pallets with stains or odours, repaired boards on a grade A order, chemically treated timber, and anything from a yard that handled chemicals. A food order is picked from clean stock and the grade is written on the quote and the docket.

The grade, held

How is the grade held from the quote to the dock?

01Grade on the quoteNew, A, B, C or R, with the size, the count and whether it goes into racking. No quote leaves without the grade written on it.
02Picked to the gradeA grade A order is picked from grade A stock at Prestons, not from a mixed stack with the worst ones pulled. Heat treated stock is kept separate and the stamp is checked.
03Checked at your dockThe docket carries the grade and the count. The docket carries the grade and the count, so the check happens at your dock while the truck is there, not in an argument later.
04Empties recoveredSixty or more reusable pallets anywhere in Greater Sydney is a free pickup, often on the delivery run we are already making to you. Under that, the stack is quoted as a clearance or rides back on the next delivery.

Buying pattern

How do food distributors usually buy pallets?

Standing orders. A weekly or fortnightly drop of the same grade and count, delivered inside your receiving window on a vehicle that fits the dock, with empties going back on the same truck when the count is there. A standing order is priced on the volume rather than on each drop.

Where a site runs CHEP or Loscam for outbound to the major retailers, our pallets cover the inbound, the storage and the one way lanes where a pooled pallet is wasted. The pool pallets stay out of our count and go back to the pool. Hire versus buying sets out when each one wins.

Same grade, same count, same window, every time
Heat treated stock kept separate and stamped
Plastic for wet and cold areas, rated for beams where it goes up
Empties collected on the delivery run once the stack is worth sending
Published from-prices on the prices page, standing orders priced on the volume

Getting a number

Say the area it is going into and the grade is on the quote.

Tell us ambient, chilled or wash down, racked or floor, and the weekly count. The quote names the pallet and the grade in writing, priced the same business day when you ask before 2pm, delivered from Prestons across Greater Sydney, Wollongong, the Central Coast and Newcastle.

Get a price on food grade pallets Which pallets are safe in racking?

Questions from food sites

Are your pallets food grade?

There is no single food grade standard for pallets in Australia; what a food site needs is clean, dry, untreated by chemicals and consistent. New and grade A hardwood meet that for ambient areas, rackable plastic for chilled and wet areas, and heat treated softwood for export. The grade is written on the quote and the docket.

Are the pallets heat treated?

Export stock is heat treated and ISPM 15 stamped. Domestic hardwood pallets are not treated at all, which for a food site is the point: no chemical fumigation, no residue. Say if you need the stamp on domestic stock and it is supplied from the heat treated line.

Can I get plastic pallets for the freezer?

Yes. Rackable plastic for anything that goes onto beams in the freezer or chiller, nestable plastic for floor storage. They are on the plastic pallet page with sizes and ratings.

What happens if a pallet arrives below the grade?

Flag it at the dock while the truck is there. The docket carries the grade and the count, so the check takes a minute at receipt rather than becoming an argument later.

Do you take our empties away?

Sixty or more reusable pallets in Greater Sydney is a free pickup, often on the delivery run already coming to you. Smaller stacks are quoted as a clearance or ride back on the next delivery. Pooled pallets stay out of the count and go back to the pool.

Can we set up a standing order?

Yes. Same grade, count and delivery window each week or fortnight, priced once on the volume and held. Change the count with a call the business day before the run.

Prefer to talk? Call Jayden on 0494 820 639. Prices for the standard grades are on the prices page; every type has its own page in the pallet guide.

Call 0494 820 639 Get a price