Hydropac, a leading innovator in temperature-controlled packaging, has launched a new and improved water-based ice pack range. HydroFreeze is designed to boost cold chain efficiency across sectors. The product launch marks a significant upgrade in Hydropac’s ice pack offering, cementing its commitment to helping brands protect chilled and frozen product quality, improve operations, and meet growing sustainability expectations.

How Does the New HydroFreeze Ice Pack Outperform Past Generations?

Compared to HydroFreeze+ (gel-based ice pack):

• 18.75% faster to freeze. This quicker freezing time brings significant energy savings and the new Hydrofreeze ice packs allow quicker pack preparation, which is especially critical for peak periods or same-day dispatch.
• Increase in performance. This can be defined as a 5.2% slower thaw time which adds important additional passive protection, mitigating cold chain breaks caused by traffic, misroutes, or handover delays that can lead to product rejection or recalls.
• Maintains stable phase change at -21°C, offering extended cold chain protection.

The water-based solution performs as effectively as gel, while reducing waste and allowing easier disposal. Water based ice packs also require less CO₂ to produce than their gel equivalents.

Compared to the original HydroFreeze (water-based ice pack):

• 51% faster to freeze. If a DTC meal delivery company typically conditions 1,000 coolant packs overnight, with the new HydroFreeze ice packs, they can freeze the same volume in 6 hours instead of 12, freeing up freezer space for other stock and enabling same-day conditioning in response to last-minute orders.
• 110% longer thaw protection. This offers double the freezing duration of the previous generation of HydroFreeze.
• Freeze-down temperature reduced from -30°C to -25°C. This means suppliers can switch to standard commercial freezing units, reducing the need for ultra-low-temperature infrastructure, saving capital investment and cutting CO₂ emissions from lower energy use.
• 34% reduction in freeze down time, leading to significant energy and working capital savings.

“Whether you're shipping pharmaceuticals, perishables, or consumer goods, the new HydroFreeze ice pack range offers better control of your cold chain,” said Colin Rowland, Managing Director at Hydropac. “It helps brands, packers and logistics teams meet increasing demands from operational efficiency to sustainability targets.”

With stronger performance, improved efficiency, and better sustainability credentials, this next generation of HydroFreeze ice packs is designed to keep products safe, stable, and consistently protected throughout the cold chain, helping brands preserve freshness, reduce waste, and build smarter operations.