Home meal kit maker HelloFresh has started work on a 400,000 sq ft distribution centre on the SmartParc food manufacturing campus in Derby.
The building – due to open in spring 2024 and called The Windmill – is being built near to an existing HelloFresh packing and distribution hub called The Orchard, which opened last year. A spokeswoman would not said how many jobs will be created, but smaller Orchard site is believed to have around 450 people working there. She said the will be a recruitment drive “in due course”.
When finished The Windmill will be the company’s most advanced distribution centre in terms of its technology and sustainability credentials – sharing its heating and cooling arrangements with other tenants on the business park in addition to making high use of wind, solar and green energy.
German-based HelloFresh this week reported global sales up 27 per cent at 7.6 billion euros in 2022 (£6.77 billion), after shipping more than a billion meals through the year to 7 million active customers. But it said adjusted core profit was down 9.5 per cent at 477.4 million euros (£425.5 million) as it worked to get to grips with record levels of inflation in ingredients and labour costs.
HelloFresh UK chief executive Adam Park said: “The new site will allow us to use state-of-the-art technology to innovate and continuously improve our product offering.
“That way we will be able to offer our customers more choice, flexibility and overall better service levels, all while seamlessly fitting into their everyday lives.
“In addition, the new site will focus on maximising energy efficiency and minimising environmental impact. By investing into the new site, HelloFresh is reinforcing its commitment to Derby.
“It’s also fantastic to continue our association with SmartParc. The campus sets a precedent for the best in sustainable design and collaboration.
“Their ethos of bringing people and businesses together to meet the challenges of sustainable food production, while providing opportunities for the local area, align perfectly with our own values.”
SmartParc chief executive Jackie Wild said: "We are delighted to be working with HelloFresh on their new Windmill production facility at SmartParc SEGRO Derby.
“As our anchor tenants, HelloFresh are an important part of our journey to deliver for the city of Derby and enable sustainable, collaborative food production."
HelloFresh, which now has six brands, was founded in Berlin in November 2011 and operates in the USA, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, France, Denmark, Norway, Italy and Japan. It went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in November 2017.
