Cold chain fulfillment provider Grip has appointed industry veteran John Hummel as President of Grip Fulfillment, entrusting him with the leadership of the company’s nationwide fulfillment operations as demand for direct-to-consumer refrigerated and frozen deliveries continues to grow.
Hummel brings nearly four decades of experience in temperature-controlled logistics. Most recently, he served as President of Burris Logistics’ Custom Distribution division, where he managed five refrigerated and frozen distribution centers along with eight direct-to-consumer fulfillment facilities.
Earlier in his career, he led the Central/Southeast Region at United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), overseeing eight distribution centers responsible for more than $6 billion in annual sales. He also previously managed operations across 31 distribution centers at Reinhart Foodservice, helping support the company’s growth from $2 billion to $7 billion in revenue.
Hummel said he has followed Grip’s development since founder and CEO Juan Camilo Meisel worked at ButcherBox, describing the opportunity to lead the company’s fulfillment operations as an exciting next step in his career.
Founded in 2022, Miami-based Grip specializes in cold chain fulfillment for brands shipping frozen and refrigerated products directly to consumers, including prepared meals, pet food, and grocery items.
Since its launch, the company has handled more than $3 billion worth of perishable goods. Its fulfillment network includes facilities in New Jersey, Texas, Michigan, Nevada, and Florida, allowing Grip to reach more than 80% of the U.S. population within 24 hours, while serving the remainder of the country within 48 hours.
According to Meisel, the company was created to address a major gap in the cold chain logistics market.
While consumers have increasingly embraced ordering refrigerated and frozen products online, much of the existing logistics infrastructure was designed to move palletized shipments to retail stores rather than individual parcels delivered directly to homes.
As a result, many brands have historically relied on multiple warehouse providers and disconnected technology systems to achieve nationwide coverage, creating operational complexity and higher costs.
To tackle this challenge, Grip created its own order management system for perishable e-commerce.
The platform differs from traditional fulfillment software in that it automatically determines the most efficient shipping strategy for each order, taking into account factors such as warehouse location, refrigerant type, dry ice quantity, insulation, carrier, and service level.
This is a move away from what Meisel calls “flat logic,” where all shipments are subject to the same rules for packaging, regardless of destination or transit time.
For example, one shipment that is in transit for two days may need 15 pounds of dry ice to keep the product in good condition, while another shipment that is in transit for the same amount of time may only need 5 pounds. By customizing the amount of refrigerant used on each shipment, Grip hopes to save on transportation costs while also ensuring the integrity of the product.
Because shipping costs increase with each pound of additional weight, optimizing refrigerant use can have a significant impact on profitability, while reducing product waste caused by temperature failures.
According to Grip, its technology can lower shipping costs by up to 30% while reducing shipping failures by 25%. Meisel said some customers have achieved overall logistics savings of 30% to 40%, combining lower transportation costs with improved delivery performance and reduced product damage.
He also emphasized that cold chain logistics demands exceptionally high operational standards because the products being shipped are intended for consumers and their families. Maintaining product quality requires both reliable warehouse operations and complete visibility throughout the transportation process.
Meisel said Hummel’s extensive operational experience will help strengthen Grip’s fulfillment capabilities as the company continues investing in both technology and infrastructure.
Rather than rapidly expanding into additional geographic markets, Grip plans to focus on increasing capacity within its existing five fulfillment regions. Meisel believes expanding beyond the current network would require customers to divide inventory across too many facilities, ultimately reducing operational efficiency.
“Instead, we’ll direct our next phase of company growth to increasing warehouse throughput and capacity where we already have demand, and continuing to enhance our software platform to make direct-to-consumer cold chain logistics more efficient and accessible.
“As e-commerce demand for refrigerated and frozen products continues to grow, we are looking to combine artificial intelligence with experienced operational leadership to improve delivery reliability and reduce costs for brands that serve consumers across the country.”
