HelloFresh builds second production facility in Germany
-Capacity is more than doubled - customers receive even more choice and flexibility.
-Around 1,500 new jobs will be created on site.
-Sustainability standards and automation technology round off the new building.
HelloFresh, the world's leading provider of meal kits, will significantly expand its production capacities in Germany and Austria. The groundbreaking ceremony for a new production facility in Barleben near Magdeburg took place in mid-May. The facility is expected to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2022 and will more than double the current production volume for HelloFresh in Germany and Austria. The investment in capacity expansion will serve the continued strong customer growth in Germany and Austria. In addition, the new location will enable an even greater selection for HelloFresh customers. The expanded production capacities and modern production lines will perspectively increase both the number of weekly available recipes and the number of available additional products. These include soups, desserts, lunch options and snacks that complement HelloFresh meals.
"We see that the willingness to buy groceries online has increased greatly over the past few years, and we expect this trend to continue to develop.
Our newest production facility will enable us to serve even more customers and offer them an even better service," said Nils Herrmann, Managing Director HelloFresh DACH. "With this investment, we believe we are ideally positioned for the future." The Barleben site complements the previous production facility in Verden an der Aller, where all HelloFresh meal kits for Germany and Austria have been produced since 2016. At the site, which is conveniently located near the Magdeburg freeway intersection, HelloFresh will prospectively create approximately 1,500 secure and attractive jobs for the region. With over 35,000 m² of production, warehouse and office space, the largest production facility in the International segment (all markets except the USA) of the HelloFresh Group will be built in Barleben.
"Special thanks go to all employees of the authorities of the municipality of Barleben and the district of Börde, as well as the district administrator and the mayor of the municipality of Barleben for their ongoing support and good cooperation," said Nils Herrmann.
Latest technology meets sustainability
The building is specially tailored to HelloFresh's needs: Among other things, this includes production supported by automation technology, which makes it possible to supply
customers with fresh food even faster. The building also meets HelloFresh's high sustainability standards. The photovoltaic system with a capacity of around 5,000 kWp will cover a large part of the site's energy requirements itself. It is also planned to purchase only green electricity. While natural refrigerants with particularly low global warming potential will be used for cooling, the waste heat generated during cooling and production can be used to heat the building. With these and other measures, the new production facility in Barleben will be planned and built as a sustainable building and will receive the Gold Certificate of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) for this.