I was delighted to visit one of leading global providers of fresh food at home at their 237,000 square foot distribution centre in Banbury. I was given a tour of the facility by CEO Laurent and Head of Production Ed who showed me how the operation works. HelloFresh have been operating from the site since 2016 and produce as many as one million fresh food kits a week!”
The site receives produce and packaging from local and national suppliers. I was shown how they assemble the fresh ingredients in the meal kits and then distribute these to consumers across the country. Customers can receive between three and six meals a week, from thirty-eight different recipes. HelloFresh have also recently acquired and incorporated the new Green Chef range which offers healthier, sustainable alternatives to the main boxes. I was particularly pleased to hear that fish is soon to be reintroduced to the menu.
Following the tour, I sat down with Laurent and Head of Operations Support Karla, to discuss HelloFresh’s experiences of the pandemic. It was encouraging to hear that business continued to grow over the course of the pandemic with many staff picking up work at the factory who had lost their jobs elsewhere.
It is fantastic that we have one of the fastest growing companies in Europe operating from Banbury, with lots of job opportunities for local people.
