HelloFresh now also greening the middle mile

German meal delivery company HelloFresh wants to make the middle mile, the transport between the central distribution center and the hubs, even more sustainable with a pilot project in the Benelux. To do so, it will deploy a refrigerated electric truck, the company’s first. With the initiative, the meal box supplier will save some 191,000 kg of CO2 emissions annually.

Since May, the HelloFresh Group has been electrically delivering more than 90% of its last-mile orders. With some 500 electric delivery vans, the group says it operates Europe’s largest 100% refrigerated e-fleet in the Benelux region.

The meal box delivery company now wants to green the middle mile in the Benelux by deploying a refrigerated e-truck, the Volvo FH Electric. The truck has a range of 300 km, a capacity of 50 tons, and charges in just 2.5 hours with a DC 250 kW charger.

HelloFresh Group is expected to save at least 191,000 kg of CO2 emissions annually from the truck itself. Thanks to the electrically powered cooling system instead of a diesel-powered variant, another 16,000 kg of CO2 is saved.

14 Benelux hubs

Electrifying the last and middle mile represents an essential step toward a fully sustainable supply chain for the meal box supplier. According to Quantis, an environmental sustainability consultancy, a HelloFresh meal in the Benelux emits 11% less greenhouse gases than a comparable meal from the supermarket.

The group does this through its own fleet of e-vans and 14 hubs in the Benelux, where the electric fleet is recharged and customer orders are loaded. It is now planned that the new e-truck will drive between the central distribution center in Bleiswijk, Netherlands, and all distribution centers in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Data-driven direct-to-customer business model

Since last year, the group has had six hubs in Belgium, including Houthalen, Ghent, Brussels, Namur, Antwerp, and Kluisbergen. This latest logistics expansion provides a weekly savings of 12,000 km, equivalent to 4% of the total weekly distance for deliveries in Belgium.

In addition, the company is effectively using advanced route optimization software, leading to more efficient routes, fewer driving hours, lower mileage, and reduced number of vehicles on the road.

Benefited from the coronavirus pandemic

HelloFresh delivered 1,008 billion meals worldwide last year, down 3.6% from 2022. The drop in customers was felt in both the US and European markets. Annual sales still clocked in at 7,59 billion euros in 2023, just 0.1% lower than in 2022, suitable for a yearly gross profit of 447.6 million euros.

During the coronavirus pandemic, HelloFresh, which operates in 18 countries, was considered a promising growth company for investors. With many people staying at home, there was a high demand for home meals. But the end of lockdowns put an end to that rapid growth.