Storing goods against heat, cold and damp: simple rules

July. The storeroom sits under a tin roof, the air inside is stifling and hotter than outside. A week later the chocolate has melted and set again, cosmetic creams have separated and packs have stuck together. In winter, in an unheated room, juice in glass bottles freezes and cracks. Losses like these are not theft, but they do not show in sales either: they quietly merge into the shortage. In the table the goods are still there, though in reality they cannot be sold. Storage conditions are part of keeping your records in order.

Which goods are most vulnerable

Heat, cold and damp affect different goods differently:

• From heat: chocolate and sweets, cosmetics, oils and fats, medicines, plastic toys, glue, batteries.
• From cold: liquids in glass, drinks and juices, creams and gels, some paints and glues. Electronics brought from the cold into a warm room can also get damp.
• From damp: flour, sugar, salt, cardboard packaging, dry mixes, paper goods, fabric and metal items, which rust.

Spoilage often goes unnoticed: goods look whole outside while the quality inside has changed, and customers come back with complaints. So set aside the 15 to 20 most sensitive items in your shop. You do not need to watch everything equally.

Copy the conditions from the pack into your table

The manufacturer usually prints storage conditions on the pack: "store in a dry place", "not above 25 degrees", "do not freeze". Most people never read them. Add a "Storage conditions" column to your table and copy these instructions in for sensitive goods. Then even a new employee knows where to put an item, and you can check every batch from the supplier against the conditions.

Simple measures

You do not need costly equipment. The following is often enough:

1. Buy a thermometer and a humidity meter (hygrometer). They are cheap. Hang them at shelf height, nearer the middle of the room than by a wall.
2. For a week, note the readings in the morning, at midday and in the evening. You will see at which hours the room is hottest or dampest.
3. In summer move sensitive goods lower down, away from the roof, to the coolest spot. Cover the window with a curtain or film, air the room at night and, if you can, add a fan or an air conditioner.
4. In winter keep goods away from the cold wall and floor, on boards or a pallet. Do not leave liquids in glass in an unheated room.
5. Against damp, do not put goods straight on the floor. Set them on boards, 10 cm from the wall, and check in spring whether the roof drips.

The most sensitive goods are sometimes better kept in the shop itself, on a cool shelf, rather than in the storeroom. Do not stand goods by the door or in direct sun either: those are the hottest spots.

A short check before the season

At the start of spring and autumn, walk round the storeroom for ten minutes and look at:

• whether the roof or walls leak or crack;
• whether the floor is dry and nothing lies directly on it;
• whether windows and doors close properly and there are signs of rodents;
• whether the thermometer and humidity meter work;
• whether sensitive goods are in the right place for the coming season.

Write down each fault you find and decide who will fix it and by when. A short check like this prevents big losses.

The effect on your records

An illustrative example: in one hot week 24 creams spoil, 35,000 so'm each, 840,000 so'm in all. If the spoiled cream still shows in the table as "in stock", at the count it will appear as a shortage and you will waste time hunting for thieves. The right way is to set the spoiled goods apart at once, write them off with an act and record the reason as "heat".

If you set the weekly temperature notes beside the written-off goods, the link becomes visible: in which weeks, and at what temperature, the losses occurred. Next summer you can rely on that data and move the goods in advance.

Conclusion

Heat, cold and damp take away no less of your stock than theft does, but they are much easier to manage. A thermometer, the conditions from the pack, the right place and a seasonal move prevent most losses. If goods in your storeroom are kept in disorder and the counts show gaps of unknown cause, the AniqHisob team can run a stock count, help introduce location storage and restore your records.