Industries · Food and beverage

Selling plastic pallets from food and beverage

Food and beverage shippers want clean, odour-free, washable pallets, and they ask about food-contact paperwork. A lot from this industry is read by cleanliness first.

Last reviewed November 12, 2026

Send a lot

A dock lane: numbered doors, floor tape, staged stacks

What food and beverage sellers have

Distributors and bottlers run open or closed deck pallets in the 56 x 44 beverage and 48 x 40 sizes. They sell when a pack changes, a plant closes a line or a bottling run ends.

Footprints and styles in food and beverage lots

Reads	Which	Why it matters
Size	56 x 44	the beverage footprint, glass and can models
Size	48 x 40	the general footprint
Size	42 x 42	common across the US
Style	hygienic food safe	cleanable, resin paperwork
Style	stackable	loaded pallets stack
Style	nestable	empties stored compactly

The food and beverage market in numbers

Food manufacturing, 2025 (BLS QCEW)
Measure	Figure
Private jobs	1,775,008
Establishments	42,763
Top states	California 166,660; Texas 112,088; Illinois 98,300; Pennsylvania 82,538; Wisconsin 81,993

Beverage manufacturing, 2025 (BLS QCEW)
Measure	Figure
Private jobs	316,938
Establishments	16,316
Top states	California 63,604; Texas 24,154; New York 13,802; Pennsylvania 13,207; Florida 12,661

Meat and poultry processing alone averaged 556,647 jobs across 4,689 establishments in 2025, with Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas and Iowa leading, so a poultry plant in Georgia and a bottler in California do not sell the same pallets.

How a food and beverage lot is read

A buyer reads a food lot for cleanliness: open or closed deck, odour, stains, residue. It is the pallet's history that counts.

For direct food contact, stricter federal requirements may call for non-blended virgin HDPE; recycled pallets often meet general FDA needs. FDA does not approve pallet models, so a buyer wants the resin and colourant documents.

What to say when you send a food and beverage lot

Where the pallets were used: dry goods, cold chain, bottling
Whether they are open or closed deck
Any resin or colour documents
Whether they have been washed

SOLD

Food and beverage pallets that are whole, unmarked and described.

RETURN

Food and beverage pallets with a pool name, a customer code or an RFID tag.

SCRAP

Food and beverage pallets with cracked, burnt or crushed decks.

Do you take pallets from a food plant?

Send the lot and say where they were used. The desk reads the grade, the marks and the history.

Do I need food-contact paperwork to sell?

Not to send the lot. If you have it, send it, because a buyer who needs it will ask.

Words you will meet

Open deck: Top deck with gaps between slats or ribs; lighter and drains.
Closed deck: Solid top deck with no gaps; keeps small items from falling through.
Compression moulding: Moulding by pressing resin in a closed mould; one of six processes in use.
Picture frame: A raised rim around the deck edge that keeps cartons from sliding off.
Lip: Raised edge on the deck, or an optional soft lip, that keeps the load in place.
Anti-slip: Textured deck or rubber grommets that reduce load slip.
Structural foam: Low-pressure moulding where a blowing agent expands the resin in the mould.
Rotational moulding: Resin heated in a rotating mould to make a hollow jointless part.
Resin identification code: Number on a plastic part for the resin, which does not itself say whether it is recyclable.
HDPE: High-density polyethylene, resin code 2. The most common resin in plastic pallets; tough and moisture resistant.
PP: Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
Racking load: Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.
Runners: Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
Cruciform base: Bottom with a cross-shaped member as well as a perimeter, for strength and automated handling.
4-way entry: Forks or a jack can enter from all four sides.
2-way entry: Forks enter from two opposite sides only.

Who asks, and what they need

Food and beverage distributors and bottlers: Clean, odour-free, washable pallets; open or closed deck; 56 x 44 beverage and 48 x 40 sizes; often asks about food-contact paperwork.
Plastic recyclers and pallet makers: Buy broken pallets by weight as HDPE or PP feedstock; want clean, sorted, separated by resin and colour.
Pharmaceutical and healthcare shippers: Hygienic pallets that can be sanitised; documents on resin and colour; PP sometimes preferred for sterilisation.

What the sources say

Private employers in the US averaged 556,647 jobs across 4,689 establishments in meat and poultry processing (NAICS 3116) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Texas (44,780), Georgia (42,030), North Carolina (35,715), Arkansas (34,773), Iowa (33,386). (data.bls.gov)
For products touching the pallet directly, stricter federal requirements may call for non-blended virgin HDPE; recycled pallets often meet general FDA needs. (nelsoncompany.com)
Private employers in the US averaged 350,886 jobs across 7,786 establishments in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing (NAICS 3254) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (42,575), New Jersey (30,062), North Carolina (26,998), New York (25,087), Illinois (24,257). (data.bls.gov)
Counties with the most private meat and poultry processing jobs (NAICS 3116) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Hall County, Georgia (11,123), Cook County, Illinois (8,367), Sussex County, Delaware (8,212), Marshall County, Alabama (7,387), Fresno County, California (6,499), Douglas County, Nebraska (6,452). (data.bls.gov)
Private employers in the US averaged 316,938 jobs across 16,316 establishments in beverage manufacturing (NAICS 3121) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (63,604), Texas (24,154), New York (13,802), Pennsylvania (13,207), Florida (12,661). (data.bls.gov)
Private employers in the US averaged 1,775,008 jobs across 42,763 establishments in food manufacturing (NAICS 311) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (166,660), Texas (112,088), Illinois (98,300), Pennsylvania (82,538), Wisconsin (81,993). (data.bls.gov)
States where food manufacturing is the largest share of private jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW): Nebraska (4.9%), Arkansas (4.7%), Iowa (4.6%), Alaska (3.4%), Wisconsin (3.2%); the national share is 1.33%. (data.bls.gov)
States where meat and poultry processing is the largest share of private jobs in 2025 (BLS QCEW): Nebraska (3.7%), Arkansas (3.1%), Iowa (2.6%), Delaware (2.4%), Mississippi (2.0%); the national share is 0.42%. (data.bls.gov)
Private employers in the US averaged 288,633 jobs across 934 establishments in motor vehicle manufacturing (NAICS 3361) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Michigan (44,870), Texas (28,069), California (27,690), Kentucky (23,308), Alabama (22,311). (data.bls.gov)
Counties with the most private motor vehicle manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3361) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (24,188), Bexar County, Texas (6,165), Cook County, Illinois (5,473), Eaton County, Michigan (4,432), Oakland County, Michigan (735), Los Angeles County, California (643). (data.bls.gov)
Rehrig Pacific's heavy-duty nestable can be made with post-consumer or post-industrial recycled material, up to 30 percent in black and up to 10 percent in colour, and is RFID compatible. (rehrigpacific.com)
Private employers in the US averaged 168,222 jobs across 2,809 establishments in dairy product manufacturing (NAICS 3115) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: Wisconsin (28,840), California (18,374), New York (11,603), Ohio (8,963), Texas (7,529). (data.bls.gov)
Private employers in the US averaged 829,364 jobs across 49,933 establishments in grocery and related product wholesale (NAICS 4244) in 2025 (BLS QCEW). States with the most jobs: California (109,827), Texas (75,474), Florida (63,967), New York (50,594), Illinois (48,629). (data.bls.gov)
Refrigerated warehouse facility counts on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS): California 106, Wisconsin 94, Georgia 62, Texas 56, Washington 52, Florida 50, Pennsylvania 38. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
Counties with the most private motor vehicle parts manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3363) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (20,888), Macomb County, Michigan (20,279), Oakland County, Michigan (16,970), Kent County, Michigan (8,688), Spartanburg County, South Carolina (6,496), Cook County, Illinois (6,273). (data.bls.gov)
Counties with the most private dairy product manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3115) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (3,238), Los Angeles County, California (3,204), Franklin County, Ohio (2,930), Tulare County, California (2,916), Dodge County, Wisconsin (2,659), Marathon County, Wisconsin (2,535). (data.bls.gov)

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Size, count, grade, branding and ZIP. Photos help, and you can reply to the first answer with them. This site states no price or pickup date.