Cold Chain Gel Packs

Over 20 years as the industry leader in gel pack manufacturing

Nordic makes gel packs in six formats, from 3 oz to 96 oz, all manufactured in-house. Which one you need comes down to three things: how long the lane runs, how much room the pack-out has, and what the recipient can do with the pack once it arrives.

Nordic Ice® packs ship at volume across life sciences — specialty pharmacy, pharmaceutical and clinical programs — and for the ecommerce and industrial operations moving temperature-sensitive product alongside them. Made in our own plants for over twenty years.

What size gel pack do I need?

Size by payload mass, transit duration and ambient exposure — not by box dimensions. As a rough starting point, parcel shipments of 24–48 hours typically use 12–24 oz packs; longer or hotter lanes move to 32–48 oz, or to multiple packs distributed around the payload rather than one larger one.

Which gel pack format should I use?

Thermal performance is comparable across the range at a given weight. What separates the formats is disposal, space, condensation, automation and how well the pack holds its shape.

Format	Weights	Best for
PharmaFlat™	24–96 oz	Automated packing lines and high-volume pharmaceutical fulfillment.
Bricks	7.5–64 oz	Long transit lanes and tight pack-out tolerances — semi-rigid foam holds its shape through freeze, thaw and transit.
Standard	3–48 oz	Everyday lanes. Durable polymer ice in a puncture-resistant exterior.
Linked	6–48 oz	Programs where disposal matters — natural, biodegradable materials.
No Sweat	8–48 oz	Labels, cartons and outer packaging that moisture would ruin.
Drain Safe®	12–48 oz	Deliveries where the recipient has no practical disposal route.

Full size and case specifications

Product no.	Weight	Dimensions (in)	Packs/case	Cases/pallet
PharmaFlat™
PharmaFlat24F	24 oz	8 × 5.5	20	—
PharmaFlat32F	32 oz	8.5 × 7.5	16	—
PharmaFlat48F	48 oz	11 × 8	10	—
PharmaFlat48WF	48 oz	11.5 × 9	10	—
PharmaFlat64F	64 oz	10.5 × 8.75	8	—
PharmaFlat80F	80 oz	12.25 × 8.75	6	—
PharmaFlat96F	96 oz	13.5 × 8.75	6	—
Bricks
NB7	7.5 oz	4½ × 4 × ¾	72	50
NB15	15 oz	4½ × 4 × 1½	36	50
NB18	18 oz	8¼ × 5½ × ¾	26	50
NB23	23 oz	5 × 5 × 1¾	20	50
NB24	24 oz	6½ × 4¼ × 1½	24	50
NB31	29 oz	9 × 4 × 1½	18	50
NB56	56 oz	11¼ × 9¼ × 1	12	48
NB64	64 oz	10½ × 7 × 1¾	10	50
Standard
NI3	3 oz	3¼ × 4 × ⅝	192	50
NI4	4 oz	4 × 4 × ¾	144	50
NI6	6 oz	5½ × 4 × ¾	96	50
NI8	8 oz	6½ × 4 × ¾	72	50
NI12	12 oz	6 × 5½ × 1	48	50
NI16	16 oz	6½ × 5½ × 1	36	50
NI24	24 oz	7½ × 5½ × 1¼	24	50
NI32	32 oz	10½ × 5½ × 1¼	18	50
NI48	48 oz	10½ × 7½ × 1¼	12	50
Linked
NL6	6 oz	5½ × 4 × ¾	96	50
NL8	8 oz	6½ × 4 × ¾	72	50
NL12	12 oz	6 × 5½ × 1	48	50
NL16	16 oz	6½ × 5½ × 1	36	50
NL24	24 oz	7½ × 5½ × 1¼	24	50
NL32	32 oz	10½ × 5½ × 1¼	18	50
NL48	48 oz	10½ × 7½ × 1¼	12	50
No Sweat
NS8	8 oz	6½ × 4 × ¾	72	50
NS12	12 oz	6 × 5½ × 1	48	50
NS16	16 oz	6½ × 5½ × 1	36	50
NS24	24 oz	8 × 5½ × 1¼	24	50
NS32	32 oz	10½ × 5½ × 1¼	18	50
NS48	48 oz	10½ × 7½ × 1¼	12	50
Drain Safe®
NI12DS	12 oz	6 × 5½ × 1	48	50
NI16DS	16 oz	6½ × 5½ × 1	36	50
NI24DS	24 oz	7½ × 5½ × 1¼	24	50
NI32DS	32 oz	10½ × 5½ × 1¼	18	50
NI48DS	48 oz	10½ × 7½ × 1¼	12	50

Learn more about Nordic's gel packs

Nordic PharmaFlat™

Refrigerated

Frozen

Ideal For

Routine deliveries where reuse and disposal are inconvenient or not an option.

How should gel packs be conditioned?

Refrigerated for 2–8 °C payloads where a frozen surface would risk freezing the product; frozen for frozen payloads and long refrigerated lanes with a barrier between pack and product; ambient where the pack acts as thermal buffer and void fill.

Most Nordic Ice® gel packs can be conditioned all three ways, which is what makes them practical to standardize across a mixed shipping profile rather than stocking a different product for every lane. Conditioning is the single biggest variable in gel pack performance — more than the choice of format.

Common questions

How long do gel packs stay cold?

Duration depends on pack weight, conditioning state, payload mass, shipper construction and ambient conditions — not on the pack alone. A 24–48 hour parcel lane and a 96 hour pallet lane need different answers, which is what lab testing establishes for your specific pack-out.

Do I need validated cold chain gel packs?

Validation belongs to you and your lanes — it is specific to your product, your routes and your SOPs, and no supplier can perform it on your behalf. What you need from a supplier is design-tested performance and the data to support your own validation work.

Can I get a custom size?

Yes. Every gel pack in the range can be produced in custom sizes, and most in custom exteriors, built to your packout geometry rather than asking you to design around a stock dimension.

What is the difference between a gel pack and dry ice?

Gel packs are water-based and hold refrigerated or frozen ranges without the handling, labeling and carrier restrictions that apply to dry ice as a hazardous material. Dry ice remains the choice for deep-frozen shipments below −20 °C.

What happens to the pack after delivery

Nordic gel packs are supplied for single use. Plan the pack-out around one shipment per pack, and choose the format by what happens to it at the destination.

Nordic Drain Safe® can be emptied into a municipal wastewater or home septic system. Linked gel packs are made from natural, biodegradable materials. The wider range ships a broad mix of perishable goods alongside pharmaceutical programs.

For many shippers the disposal path now constrains the choice as tightly as the temperature range does — particularly in direct-to-patient programs, where the recipient has to deal with whatever arrives.

Request a packaging assessment

Tell us what you ship, where it goes and how long it spends in transit, and our team will recommend a gel pack size, format and pack-out built around that profile.