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Former Olympic bobsledder Jamie Moriarty made the jump from athlete to entrepreneur, but he’s still singing the praises of healthy frozen food.

Jamie Moriarty at Cold Chain’s #PL’s warehouse in Wheeling, Ill.

When Olympic bobsledder Jamie Moriarty retired from the sport after the 2010 winter games, he never imagined a future that would bring him back to the cold — cold storage, that is. But in 2020, he partnered with industry veteran Judd Rosenberg to open Chicago-based Cold Chain 3PL, a network of eight cold storage facilities that helps CPG brands get frozen and refrigerated products to retailers and consumers.

AN UNLIKELY JOURNEY

How did a one-time college football player end up in the cold storage game? After an injury ended his pro football career after just one year, Moriarty found that he missed the competition and the camaraderie. While mulling his options, he happened to catch the bobsledding competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics on TV. And a lightbulb went off. He did a little digging and found that most members of the U.S. team had either track and field or football backgrounds. Moriarity reached out, got himself invited for a tryout and joined the team shortly thereafter. In 2009, his four-man crew took silver at the World Championships; a year later, they finished 13th at the Vancouver Olympics. Another American sled won gold, ending a long medal drought for team U.S.A.

‘There are a lot of similarities between being a successful athlete and being an entrepreneur.’

“There’s nothing like competing for your country,” says Moriarty, who loved every minute of the experience. But after four years — half of it spent away from home — he didn’t think he could ask his wife to do it all again. So Moriarty moved on to the next item on his bucket list: conquering the business world.

In many ways, he says, sports helped prepare him for his next chapter. “There are a lot of similarities between being a successful athlete and being an entrepreneur,” he explains. “Both require hard work, perseverance and determination.” And whether you’re chasing a gold medal or launching a start-up, success is never guaranteed, Moriarty continues. But winners don’t let that stop them from going after what they want. “Fear of failure can be limiting as an entrepreneur,” he says. “Not letting that hold me back has really helped me in business.”

That attitude proved useful a few years back when Moriarty joined forces with Rosenberg to enter the meal kit category. However, the direct-to-consumer delivery component proved challenging for the pair. Discussions with others in the segment revealed that they were having some of the same problems. “We knew then and there that there was a big opportunity in the cold fulfillment space,” says Rosenberg. The partners quickly shifted gears, and that’s how Cold Chain 3PL was born.

The rapidly growing business delivers frozen and refrigerated products from more than 150 different manufacturers directly to consumers’ homes. It also offers drop-shipping for retailers and distributors. “We compete against some big players,” says Rosenberg. “In fact, we’re probably the smallest of the bunch.” But the company’s size makes it more nimble and gives Rosenberg and Moriarty the flexibility to support clients in unique ways.

“We look at our relationships as true partnerships. If we work together, we know we can help solve our customers’ problems,” says Moriarty, who’s happy to use his “celebrity” to support client brands. For example, he recently drew on his experience as an Olympic athlete to highlight the nutritional value of two complementary frozen products distributed by Cold Chain 3PL — Applegate Naturals Homestyle Chicken Breast Tenders and Banza Homestyle Protein Waffles — that can be combined to create better-for-you chicken and waffles.

SPREADING THE GOOD WORD

But championing frozen food isn’t just a marketing ploy. Moriarty is a true believer. “When I was competing, I was very conscious of what I was putting into my body,” he recalls. But money was tight, so buying things like frozen chicken breasts in bulk was as much a financial necessity as it was convenient. “Fortunately, I found so many unique, flavorful, healthy frozen foods to choose from,” he says. “It made eating right so much easier.” And that’s a message he’s happy to share.