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Sustainable Frozen Ecommerce Fulfillment with Cathy Hayward-Hughes and Mike Bradburn
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Sustainable Frozen Ecommerce Fulfillment with Cathy Hayward-Hughes and Mike Bradburn
Mike Bradburn, Cathy Hayward-Hughes, and Joe Lynch discuss sustainable frozen ecommerce fulfillment. Mike and Cathy are the founders of Crystal Creek Logistics, a fulfillment company that specializes in sustainable frozen ecommerce fulfillment.
About Mike Bradburn
Michael Bradburn is the Co-founder and Vice President of Crystal Creek Logistics. Mike is forever a resident of the great Pacific Northwest. He has enjoyed an entrepreneurial spirit for most of his adult life and loves challenges. After graduating with a self-designed degree in Business with an emphasis on Advertising, Marketing and Consumer Buying Behavior from Western Washington University in 1982, Mike found his way into the Seafood industry where he marketed pacific coast species of seafood, mostly salmon - nationally and internationally for the better part of 20 years. All the while, Mike would purchase old fixer-upper homes and remarket them – long before it was the chic thing to do! Mike also worked on several of his own real estate projects including building an office and retail complex, 28 luxury condominiums, a mini-storage facility, and a few residential homes. It was between projects in 2007 that a high school buddy suggested they have a beer with another high school buddy who was selling seafood over the internet. Mike was enthralled by this new and (at the time) somewhat unusual venture and sought to pursue this radical new direction full steam ahead. Mike managed to find an experienced and willing business partner in Cathy Hayward-Hughes and thus formed Crystal Creek Logistics to support the very business that his friend had started – and ultimately, many others like it.
About Cathy Hayward-Hughes
Cathy Hayward-Hughes is the Co-founder and President of Crystal Creek Logistics. Cathy was born into a fishing family in Alaska. She spent her childhood and much of her professional life managing people, originally on processing ships in the Bering Sea, then later in manufacturing. Cathy holds a degree in Industrial Technology from Western Washington University. Cathy worked her way from the open oceans to land-based operations and eventually into internet fulfillment. Her long and varied career includes call center management, operations management, facilities management, packaging design and development, hiring and personnel retention programs, catalog development, production line design, product flow management, inventory management, and turnaround management. In 2008 Cathy, along with her partner Mike, started Crystal Creek Logistics, her own fulfillment company. What began with one client in a small warehouse operation in Ferndale, Washington, quickly expanded to 38 customers in five states with warehouses in Washington, Nebraska, Reno, and Virginia, and Tennessee. Cathy makes her home in Bellingham, Washington. In addition to running a successful business, in her free time, Cathy loves to paint, spend time with her family, and create new communities by renovating old buildings in Mexico.
About Crystal Creek Logistics
Crystal Creek is a direct-to-consumer fulfillment business that provides shipping for ecommerce retailers across the U.S. and Canada. Crystal Creek expertly ships perishable and non-perishable products at affordable rates. Crystal Creek is committed to successfully customizing and managing every step of the fulfillment process, from receiving orders to warehousing and shipping products. They specialize in transporting frozen food. Their climate-controlled warehouses will store your products until orders are fulfilled and shipped via carriers of your choosing. Crystal Creek also ships frozen orders to Canada for next day delivery, two-day, or ground service. By partnering with Crystal Creek, your company will reduce its operating, overhead, and infrastructure costs; perform efficiently with fewer employees, and let you focus more energy on your business. Crystal Creek is a Certified B-Corporation, which means the company meets higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Crystal Creek Logistics has fulfillment centers in Washington, Nebraska, Nevada, Virginia, and Tennessee.
Key Takeaways: Sustainable Frozen Ecommerce Fulfillment
- Frozen ecommerce fulfillment is the process of receiving, storing, packaging, and shipping orders that need to stay frozen.
- Frozen ecommerce fulfillment is much more challenging than ecommerce fulfillment because the product must stay below a certain temperature.
- Because the product (usually food) must maintain a low temperature, dry ice, and or frozen gel packs must be utilized. The longer the transit time, the more dry ice (and cost) is required so shippers must select a fulfillment company close to their customers.
- Sustainability is the management and coordination of environmental, social, and financial demands and concerns to ensure responsible, ethical, and ongoing success.
- Crystal Creek Logistics is a Certified B Corporation. B Corporation is a private certification for for-profit companies. B Corp certification is conferred by B Lab, a global nonprofit organization with offices in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. To be granted and to maintain certification, companies must receive a minimum score from an assessment of social and environmental performance. Companies must re-certify every three years to retain B Corporation status.