Fresh blueberries are very delicate and can easily be damaged during harvesting, packaging and shipping. They must be handled carefully and kept at cool temperatures to keep them from spoiling before they get to supermarkets. If blueberries are not kept cool and dry, mold can develop on them in less than 12 hours!

As soon as blueberries are picked they are packaged in pint-sized plastic "clam shell" containers or baskets and wrapped in clear plastic wrap, then transported to cooling facilities. Packaging and transport to the cooling facility happens within four hours of harvest to help prevent spoilage.

Plastic blueberry containers are packed in boxes called flats, which typically hold 12 pints per flat. Flats are often stacked six to a layer, on a shipping pallet. A pallet of blueberries typically holds 96 flats (1,152 pints) with a total weight of approximately 1,200 pounds! The pallets are loaded by forklift onto trucks for shipping to supermarkets around the country.