This logistics company is attempting to give a leg up to the DTC food industry

At the beginning of March, California authorities had to shut down a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 80 after a massive snowstorm hit the region.

Needless to say, if you planned on a delivery arriving on time, it wasn’t happening. But what if that delivery included perishable goods? Well, the equation is completely different; there’s a shot clock.

That’s where Grip Shipping believes it can step in. The company provides e-commerce brands that sell and deliver perishable goods the technology that gives shipping recommendations based on the evolution of the fulfillment network.

• Grip’s technology uses data sets to determine in real time the best carriers, facilities, refrigerant amount, and box size for every package based on network conditions, founder and CEO Juan Meisel told Retail Brew.
• He said for e-commerce brands, the technology accounts for all kinds of delays, including weather events, multi-carrier relationships, and even worker strikes.

The company estimates that the closure of I-80 cost e-commerce brands up to $66 million in lost revenue.

“When you service your customer better and you get there on time, and you make sure that a box is there frozen, and how [they’re] supposed to be there with very clear communication of where in the transfer process of boxes to the whole journey, then the probability of that customer staying with you is much, much higher,” Meisel, the former head of logistics at ButcherBox, where he and came up with the idea for Grip, said.

Keep it cool: Since its launch in 2022, Meisel said Grip has delivered more than $1 billion worth of perishable goods and has saved brands more than 30% in shipping costs, and cut down failure rates by 25%. But Grip wants to offer more than its technology to its clients and handle the full end-to-end journey for orders, from fulfillment to last-mile delivery.

• The company has fulfillment centers in California, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey where it is able to carry out that aspect of the business.

Grip client Wildgrain, a bread and pasta delivery service, was one of Grip’s earliest adopters. CEO Ismail Salhi told Retail Brew that prior to using Grip, Wildgrain would simply add five pounds of dry ice to a package for every day that it would take to reach its destination, keeping track of all orders through a standard Excel spreadsheet.

• Since adopting Grip, Salhi said Wildgrain has been able to cut back delayed orders and refunds, which is critical for a subscription service, given that one bad experience, especially if it’s the first time they’re using it, can lead customers to cancel their subscriptions.

“The other thing is the savings you make on top of that based on the accuracy because if it’s December and it’s freezing outside, even though it’s a two-day transit, you don’t need to put two days worth of dry ice because it’s freezing outside and that ice is gonna hold its shape pretty well compared to 110-degree weather,” he said.

Zoom out: The DTC food market is expected to grow to $195.39 billion by 2031, according to a report from Research and Markets. However, the report states there are concerns for the industry, including brand awareness, limited products, and “product quality concerns and delay delays,” which are “limiting the growth of this market to some extent.”

“Companies and softwares are not taking what the end customer is saying, and also other data points to the journey to influence the next decision of how are you going to ship the next box,” Meisel said.