[I apologize for the long post in advance.] I tried it all this year. Styrofoam socks. Bubble wrap. Individual wrapping. Segregated tray like what they use for peaches. Styrofoam netting sleeves like they use for asian pears.
A lot of my experiments shipping this year were based on pictures and posts I saw on this forum about people receiving pawpaws from online orders.
I think the best is still crumbled newspaper layering + individual wrapped each one with newspaper + lose lasagna layering. This is to maximize the number of pawpaw you can ship at one time and minimize any damage that might occur during shipping. I can ship roughly ~5 pounds in probably ~12x10x8 box this way (I don’t remember the exact dimensions of the boxes I used).
I have tried ethylene absorber. It doesn’t matter much. Actually, I shouldn’t say that. It doesn’t matter much in such a enclosed space where all of them are individually packed because they end up being each in their own localized contained in a sense. Newspaper is permeable and the cracks and space in the crumpled newspaper do let gas exchange happen. It doesn’t help much is what I mean. The two times I tried.
If you were to pack each individually with less permeable material (styrofoam sleeve or bubblewrap) and use one ethylene absorber per pawpaw that might work. The down side with this is that you’re using a lot of ethylene absorbers and it’s just another cost.
Ethylene isn’t the only issue. We’re still talking about pawpaw shipping between basically August through October. Even here, where I am, where we get fall before almost everyone else growing pawpaws, it’s can be still warm till Halloween. If it’s warm outside, it’s warm inside, where the package is getting processed and in the shipping van. I could send it refrigerated shipping, but that’s insanely expensive even choosing the slow service.
To completely remove ethylene and heat as issues (without refrigerated shipping), you could use a styrofoam cooler box, pack with ice packs, individually wrap each pawpaw and include ethylene absorbers in each wrapped pawpaw. You could probably get away with 2 or maybe even 3 day shipping this way. That’s about 60% of the cost of overnight shipping. The problem is that now the packing material is substantially increased due to the styrofoam and I’m shipping you 2 pounds of pawpaw instead of 5. Or I’ve needed to use a larger box, meaning more expensive cost. So you’re end up getting maybe 20-30% of shipping savings for 50% less pawpaw.
In the end, there is no substitute for time. Overnight shipping is the way to go. I will couch this with you can pick hardened pawpaw and time it right for slower shipping, but you’re rolling the dice on counter-ripening unless you are really experienced at picking pawpaws (which I am not). Plus, there is still no substitute for a tree ripened pawpaw. It’s like any other fruit in that respect. You’re not really evaluating the “correct flavor profile.”
There is another caveat for this. It has to be overnight shipping THAT night it was picked. With a late drop off at 8-9PM at the shipping hub, the pawpaw needs only to travel 10-16 hours in a box max. With tree ripe pawpaw, you’re gambling too much with waiting a day or two. An enclosed space, shipping on warm days, you need to get it from point A to point B as fast as possible. I’d probably put a few holes in the box for aeration actually. That is another way to go instead of adding the cost of ethylene absorbers. The people on the back half of my shipping experiments benefited more from the experience of the first half. They typically arrived if not all green but still mostly green and still firm.
If anyone wants pawpaws next year from me, I would suggest contacting me in June and July. I will just make it a standing order. It has to be that way to do it as tree ripened pawpaw. We are thinning next year so they will be larger.
Posts (mostly bad experiences on shipping):
Red Ferm Farm - smashed fruit and blacked, this was ground shipping from what I can tell from shipping cost ($15 bucks shipping up to 15 pounds sounds like priority mail flat rate), they no longer sell fruit via mail
Integration Acres - Look at that big aerated shipping box and how many pawpaw got through Use of bubblewrap in shipment the year prior.
Earthly - individually packed, somewhat segregated shipping These are from Deep Run pawpaw orchard in Maryland. Jim Davis is an expert in picking them early to handle better before they are tree-ripe. Even so, I don’t think that reflects a true taste, maybe 80-90% of it. I don’t know if that is why @Vincent_8B Susquehanna looks pale. variable experience from @murky