HelloFresh

HelloFresh SE is an international publicly traded meal-kit company based in Berlin, Germany. It is the largest meal-kit provider in the United States,[3] and also has operations in Canada, Western Europe (including Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands), New Zealand and Australia. It has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since its IPO in November 2017.

HelloFresh SE
Public
Traded asFWB: HFG
ISINDE000A161408 
IndustryMeal kit
Founded2011
Founders
  • Dominik Richter
  • Thomas Griesel
  • Jessica Nilsson
Headquarters
Berlin
,
Germany
Key people
  • Dominik Richter (CEO)
  • Thomas Griesel (COO)
  • Christian Gartner (CFO)
  • Nuno Simaria (CTO)
  • Maximilian Backhaus (CMO)
Revenue€1.28 billion[1] (2018)
Number of employees
4,276 (2018) [2]
Websitewww.hellofresh.com
hellofreshgroup.com

History

HelloFresh was founded in November 2011 by Dominik Richter, Thomas Griesel, and Jessica Nilsson in Berlin, Germany.[4] Richter and Griesel packed and hand-delivered the first 10 customers.[5] It was one of the earlier companies in the meal-kit industry.[6] They were initially funded by Rocket Internet, a German startup studio company. They first started delivering meal kits to paying customers in early 2012, and expanded to the Netherlands, UK, US and Australia the same year. By 2014, the company claimed to be delivering 1 million meals per month.[4] They raised $50 million in a 2014 funding round, after having raised $10 million in 2012 and $7 million in 2013.[6]

By March 2015, the company had 250,000 subscribers, although it was still not profitable.[7] In September of that year, it was valued at €2.6 billion in a funding round where it raised €75 million, making it a unicorn company.[7] The company was still majority-owned by Rocket Internet at that time. It cancelled a planned IPO in November, due to concerns about the company's proposed value.[8] It experienced significant growth during the year, with 530,000 subscribers by the end of October.[9] It had 750,000 subscribers by July 2016,[10] and 1.3 million by the third quarter of 2017.[11]

In October 2017, the company announced a planned IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to raise $350 million.[11] On November 2, the company completed its IPO, valuing it at €1.7 billion.[12] At the time of its IPO, the company had a market capitalization of more than double Blue Apron, its largest US-based competitor.[13]

In March 2018, HelloFresh acquired Green Chef, a US organic meal-kit company.[3]

In October 2018, Toronto-based HelloFresh Canada acquired Chefs Plate, a Canadian meal-kit company.[14]

In 2019, Rocket Internet sold its remaining stake in HelloFresh by accelerated book building to international institutional investors.[15][16] Rocket Internet had held 30.6% of HelloFresh as of the end of 2018.[17]

Business

HelloFresh's business model is to prepare the ingredients needed for a meal, and then deliver them to customers, who must then cook the meal using recipe cards,[18] which takes around 30–40 minutes.[19] It generally provides about three two-person meals a week for about $60 to $70.[6] It offers a choice from about 19 recipes.[20] In the United States, HelloFresh offers a wine-subscription service, based on that of its competitor Blue Apron.[21] In several markets, it provides "Rapid Box" meals which take only 20 minutes to prepare.[22]

The company's US operations were responsible for 60% of revenues as of November 2017, and it has approximately 44% of the American market.[12] HelloFresh also has operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada.

HelloFresh has been criticized for the excessive packaging of their delivered meals, leading to waste.[10] The company has also been criticized for its continually high marketing costs, which have prevented the company from being profitable.[23] A related concern is the low customer retention rate of the company. According to an independent analysis, less than 50% of customers remain subscribers after the first week, and less than 10% remain after 6 months.[24] The company disputes these findings.

References
  1. "HelloFresh Annual Report 2018" (PDF). HelloFresh SE. March 6, 2019. p. 3. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  2. "HelloFresh profile", Craft, retrieved 13 August 2019
  3. Molla, Rani (March 26, 2018). "HelloFresh is now bigger than Blue Apron in the U.S." Recode. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  4. Li, Charmaine (August 7, 2014). "Why Berlin meal delivery startup HelloFresh just raised $50m". Tech.eu. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  5. "Our story". HelloFresh Group. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  6. de la Merced, Michael J. (June 18, 2014). "HelloFresh, a Meal Delivery Start-Up, Raises $50 Million". DealBook. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  7. "Funding round values German grocery start-up HelloFresh at €2.6bn". Financial Times. September 17, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  8. Huebner, Alexander; Burger, Ludwig (November 8, 2015). "Meal delivery firm HelloFresh puts IPO on hold". Reuters. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  9. Schuetze, Arno; Hübner, Alexander (October 28, 2015). "Loss-making online meal delivery firm HelloFresh plans to go public". Business Insider. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  10. Vines, Richard (July 20, 2016). "A Michelin-Star Chef Tests Four Home-Cooking Delivery Services". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  11. Bray, Chad (October 10, 2017). "HelloFresh, the Meal Delivery Service, Pursues I.P.O. in Frankfurt". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  12. "HelloFresh Is Worth Much More to Investors Than Blue Apron". Fortune. Reuters. November 2, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  13. Auchard, Eric; Schuetze, Arno (November 2, 2017). "UPDATE 2-HelloFresh's bright start contrasts with Blue Apron struggles". Reuters. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  14. Redman, Russell (November 28, 2018). "HelloFresh eyes bigger slice of Canadian meal kit market". supermarketnews.com. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  15. "Rocket Internet sees profits almost double". 2019-09-19.
  16. EQS Group (2019-05-13). "DGAP-News: Rocket Internet SE: Rocket Internet intends to place its entire shareholding in HelloFresh SE".
  17. "Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the Period January 1 to June 30, 2019" (PDF). 2019-09-19. The decrease of investments in associates by EUR 232.8 million primarily originates from the disposal of shares in HelloFresh and Westwing
  18. "What's in the box?". HelloFresh Canada. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  19. "HelloFresh UK Review". Top 10 Meal Delivery Services. August 31, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  20. "How It Works". HelloFresh. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  21. McCoy, Elin (November 3, 2017). "Wine on Demand? Rating Bottles From Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Caviar". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  22. Rudd, Andy (January 17, 2018). "Average UK household boasts staggering £415 worth of unused cooking gadgets". Daily Mirror. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  23. Woo, Stu (September 22, 2016). "HelloFresh, a German Tech Incubator's Star, Still Struggles to Deliver". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  24. Kessler, Sarah (October 20, 2016). "Meal-Kit Customers Dine And Dash". Fast Company. Retrieved February 7, 2018.

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