An unbroken cold chain from our SQF Level 2 certified warehouse in Carson, CA to any island — with refrigerated delivery at the far end, not just a container at the port.
✓ SQF Level 2 Certified Warehouse ✓ Dry / Chilled / Frozen Under One Roof ✓ Twice-Weekly Sailings to Hawaii ✓ Refrigerated Warehousing on Oahu ✓ Final-Mile Delivery on All Islands
Who We Ship For
Two Sides of the Same Shipment
Most food never makes it past the West Coast on its own. Mainland brands and producers typically deliver within the continental U.S. and stop there — which leaves the island business to organize everything from that point forward. GFS covers that gap from both directions.
Mainland food brands & producers
Deliver to our Carson warehouse and we take it from there. Your product stays at temp and lands on-island in the condition you shipped it.
Hawaii retailers, distributors, grocers & restaurant groups
Point your Mainland vendors to us. We receive from all of them, hold at the right temperature, consolidate, and deliver to your door on any island.
The Cold Chain
An Unbroken Cold Chain, Carson to Curbside
A cold chain is only as strong as its weakest handoff. Most Hawaii freight programs break at one of two points: the dock in Carson, CA, or the port on arrival. Ours doesn’t break at either.
1
Receiving at Carson, CA
Your vendors deliver to our SQF Level 2 certified warehouse. Product moves from truck to the correct temperature zone immediately — no staging on a hot dock.
2
Temperature-Controlled Storage
Dry, chilled, and frozen zones under one roof. We hold your product at its correct temperature while the rest of the load builds — for as long as the program needs.
3
Container Loading
Reefer containers are pre-cooled and loaded to protect airflow and set-point integrity, not just cube. Loading a reefer well is a different skill than loading a dry box, and it’s where shelf life is won or lost.
4
Ocean Transit
Roughly 6 days to Oahu, 10–14 days to the Outer Islands — on every sailing, with departures twice a week.
5
Arrival & Oahu FCS
Refrigerated containers are drayed to our Oahu FCS and moved straight into refrigerated warehousing — not left on a chassis waiting for a consignee to call back.
6
Final-Mile Delivery
We contact your consignee, schedule the delivery, and move it with refrigerated trucking. Final-mile capability on all islands; Outer Island reefer freight normally transships through Oahu.
Ocean Freight
Temperature-Controlled Ocean Freight — Full or Partial Container
Not every food program fills a container, and waiting until it does costs you shelf life.
- LCL (Less-than-Container Load) — share space in a chilled or frozen consolidation. Ship the volume you actually have, on a weekly rhythm, without paying for empty cube.
- FCL (Full Container Load) — your own dry, chilled, or frozen container when volume justifies it.
- Temperature-Controlled Transloads — shipping truckload quantities? We transfer product from trailer to container inside the correct temperature zone, with no break in the chain.
- Zone Skipping — frequent small-parcel shippers can consolidate with GFS for one move across the Pacific, then distribute locally — cutting the per-parcel cost of reaching the Islands.
Building a container out of multiple vendors’ shipments? That’s our consolidation program — see Freight Consolidation to Hawaii & the Pacific.
Air Freight
Air Freight for Time-Critical Food
Sometimes ocean transit is simply too slow — a short-shelf-life item, a promotion date, a gap on the shelf that can’t wait six days. GFS manages air freight to the Islands through established carrier partnerships, with temperature protection built for flight.
Insulated Linerstemperature-stable transit
Dry Icefor frozen product
Gel Packsfor chilled product
We prep, pack, and tender the shipment, and coordinate the move to the airport. For most customers this is the exception rather than the program — but when it’s needed, it’s needed the same day.
The Mainland End
SQF Level 2 Certified Warehousing in Carson, CA
Our Carson facility sits minutes from the Port of Los Angeles and close to LAX — which means short drays, fewer touches, and less time between your product and its temperature zone.
- SQF Level 2 certified — food-grade handling
- Quad-temp — dry, chilled, and frozen capacity under one roof
- Capacity for up to 80 containers a week — to Hawaii, all temps — scale that gives our customers rate leverage and schedule reliability
- Multi-vendor receiving — for island businesses consolidating Mainland suppliers
Why GFS
Built for Food, Not Just Freight
SQF Level 2certified food-grade handling from receiving through loading
All tempsdry, chilled, and frozen in a single program
Cold storage on Oahucontainers come off the chassis and into refrigeration
Every islandrefrigerated final-mile delivery, not just port drop
Let’s Talk About Your Product
Every food program has its own temperature, its own shelf life, and its own rhythm. Tell us what you’re shipping and where it’s going, and we’ll tell you how we’d move it.
Contact Our Food Logistics Team
Tell us what you’re shipping and where it’s headed — we’ll come back with options.