“The enormous growth and great encouragement which have been bestowed upon us over the past months are simply overwhelming. To us, it is the most beautiful confirmation that we have struck the nerve of our time”, Dominik Richter, co-founder and CEO of HelloFresh, explains. “We are moving about in an incredibly exciting market with huge potential. We still have a lot planned for 2015. We want to become a global brand in the field of food and lifestyle.”
New category successfully established in the industry
Since its founding in December 2011, HelloFresh has succeeded in establishing the new category of cooking boxes on the foodstuff market. The concept was developed by founders Jessica Nilsson, Thomas Griesel and Dominik Richter in Berlin, and within the shortest time unfolded internationally. Partnerships with experienced venture capital donors, and smart money in the amount of 150 million Euro fuelled the start-up’s fast growth. The USA is currently the most important market, and with that, the largest driver of growth.
“At the moment we are more strongly investing in the areas of product experience, production, logistics and technology”, Richter explains. “We have already doubled our teams in these areas, and we are continuing to bring experts aboard. Among others, we have lately opened a new production site in Dallas, Texas.
Optimal material planning through regional sourcing
Currently, the company provides fresh food and fitting recipes to customers in seven countries. The “Soft Subscription” model allows subscribers to decide anew every week whether they would like the next cooking box with three or five dishes, for two or four people, or not. Available are cooking boxes with or without meat, as well as a fruit box. The company develops its by now 15,000 tested recipes from the HelloFresh kitchen together with dietitians, and always with regard to seasonally available foodstuffs. HelloFresh obtains all products from independent and regional suppliers, thus reducing transport routes and times to a minimum. HelloFresh delivers its cooking boxes to its customers within one day, cooled in specially insulated transport boxes, from locations in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and the USA. The market launch into further countries is already planned for 2015.
