Through a wide network of distribution hubs and carrier partnerships, as well as the development of proprietary route-planning and storage software, Edison, New Jersey, U.S.A.-headquartered e-commerce logistics firm ColdTrack has built up robust capabilities to ensure perishable products like seafood can get to nearly any possible consumer in the U.S. within two days of an order’s placement.
Originally founded as NutriFresh in 2014, the firm started as a contract manufacturer and HPP processor. However, it started thinking about shifting its focus just before the Covid-19 pandemic, taking a strategic gamble that direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales would soon take off.
“Pre-Covid, the company looked into where market trends were going, and they made a really nice bet that cold and frozen direct-to-consumer fulfillment was going to pick up,” ColdTrack Chief Revenue Officer Warner Siebert told SeafoodSource. “Then Covid happened, and the company just took off.”
Once the groundwork had been fully laid, the company rebranded in 2023, changing its name to ColdTrack. The rebrand aimed to better highlight its shifting focus toward becoming a leader in e-commerce fulfillment and cold chain logistics.
Now, ColdTrack acts as a one-stop shop for food and drink companies seeking a third-party logistics (3PL) partner, taking many of the complex tasks associated with fulfilling e-commerce orders out of the hands of companies like meal kit firms or seafood brands looking to grow their direct-to-consumer sales.
“Effectively, Coldtrack allows e-commerce brands to be sales and marketing engines and we are the operational arm,” Siebert said. “Clients have said to us, ‘Wow, now we can just focus on the thing we do best which is sourcing food and driving traffic to our website.’”
Unlike traditional cold chain operators, ColdTrack’s priority lies with e-commerce fulfillment, with cold storage as a complementary offering, rather than the other way around.
The company owns storage and distribution centers in New Jersey, Indiana, and California.
Companies aiming to grow their customer base nationwide can keep their products in those strategically located centers, and once a customer places an order, ColdTrack helps determine the optimal route – from both a time and cost efficiency standpoint – a product can take to get to an individual end consumer. The company then utilizes its carrier relationships with local and regional carriers to fulfill orders.
“Our software identifies not only the right carrier but also the right service type. For instance, if a product is one-day ground-eligible, we can have it shipped ground versus shipping it overnight and costing more,” Siebert said.
Daniel Cooke, the vice president of marketing and demand generation at ColdTrack, explained that the firm’s goal is to go largely undetected throughout the entire shipping process, acting as a behind-the-scenes partner and allowing brands to receive the praise of a smooth delivery, rather than ColdTrack.
“We are representing a brand’s final touchpoint before their product arrives at a customer’s doorstep. Fingers crossed, when a customer gets an unboxing experience, they’ll sing the praises of the brand, whereas the underlying support that made it happen comes from us,” Cooke said.
For seafood firms in particular, Cooke acknowledged that most companies are aiming to develop retail or wholesale relationships but said that establishing an omnichannel presence, which includes direct-to-consumer e-commerce capabilities, is becoming increasingly attractive.
Siebert said that as companies decide to build up their capabilities, ColdTrack has services to meet their needs – no matter the step a brand happens to be on its growth journey.
“We work with brands that ship millions of boxes a year, and we work with other brands getting off the ground and only shipping 50 to 100 boxes a year,” Siebert said. “They can just start by capitalizing on our favorable shipping rates, and we can even help brands source gel packs or dry ice. When you’re ready to outsource, they can come to any one of our facilities and have that be the first facility they’re shipping nationwide. Then they can expand to a second site and so on. We can take a brand from zero to 10,000 shipments a week all within our network.”
