Aussie Select, purveyors of premium lamb charcuterie, including lamb ham and lamb pastrami, exemplifies this dedication. However, being America's first widely available ready-to-eat lamb company does not come without challenges. 

"Bringing a new category to market is laden with complexities,” explained Jaclyn Oyola, Chief Executive Officer of Aussie Select. “The most important of all is delivering the product in the best condition for maximum eating enjoyment." 

This relentless focus on quality extends throughout their entire operation, from sourcing premium Australian lamb to ensuring perfect delivery conditions for their specialty products.

But, for a startup bringing novel products to market, maintaining this level of quality comes with significant financial risks. 

For growing businesses like Aussie Select, protecting their bottom line is vital. While established corporations can often absorb losses, small and medium-sized businesses face disproportionate risks, and simply relying on standard shipping coverage with a carrier is generally not enough to bridge the gap. 

Complicating the process further, Aussie Select works with a third-party shipping and warehousing provider, making it challenging to affirm when a value was declared for standard shipping coverage. 

Each time Aussie Select wanted to declare a value for an order, the team had to submit a request. "Before working with InsureShield, shipping was a gamble," Jaclyn notes. "There was no ability other than manually making a phone call or putting a note in the system and hoping that the warehouse picker saw it to add coverage to our shipments. And so oftentimes it went overlooked or didn't get handled."

Even when the value was declared, there were gaps, especially for perishable items, and they had to manage potential for denied claims. Each lost shipment meant lost revenue and wasted materials, and the manual process of filing claims consumed valuable time that could have been spent on growing the business.

The team knew there had to be a better solution. When they brought this issue to their UPS account representative, it was recommended they look into InsureShield® shipping insurance, as it offers comprehensive coverage that underpins every shipment, regardless of carrier or transportation mode.

The Aussie Select team was able to transition to InsureShield shipping insurance almost immediately due to the seamless onboarding process. "Implementation was very easy," says Jaclyn. "A few forms, some questions that we had to answer about the value of the shipments sent on a monthly and an annualized basis, and everything turned on."

The streamlined claims process through the online portal means the company can quickly recover from shipping incidents without disrupting its cash flow. 

"Filing claims is seamless. A couple of pieces of paperwork and backup information and I want to say that we receive our payout checks within two weeks," Jaclyn explains. Most importantly, the coverage extends beyond just the product value. "It covers the materials, the labor, the time, the gel packs, the dry ice, it's the shipping plus plus." 

This experience once again confirmed the value that InsureShield shipping insurance provides. Jaclyn noted that, in hindsight, she wishes they had used their InsureShield shipping insurance policy instead, as she knows it would have been handled much more quickly and with fewer questions.

This comprehensive protection gives Aussie Select the confidence to focus on growth rather than worrying about shipping losses. 

"If there is a problem and we lose product through shipping, it's not a problem that stays in my mind very long," says Jaclyn. "I just say to my colleague, file an insurance claim and I know that I can move on."

For innovative food startups like Aussie Select, having the right shipping protection is about having the confidence to grow, knowing your bottom line is protected.