HelloFresh, the world’s leading provider of meal kits, is committing to offset 100% of its direct carbon emissions from its internal operations and offices, plus all emissions from corporate travel and delivery to customers as part of the company’s green energy and carbon reduction strategy. This will makeHelloFresh the first global carbon-neutral meal kit company. For the International Segment, HelloFresh will partner with Planetly, a climate-tech startup from Berlin and, with their expertise, invest in climate protection projects around the globe. The initiative is expected to offset over 40,000 metric tonnes of carbon for 2020. In the US, HelloFresh is collaborating with terrapass to offset at least 50,000 metric tonnes of carbon.
Sustainability has always been a fundamental part of HelloFresh’s company strategy. Due to its innovative supply chain, HelloFresh inherently eliminates food waste, which is a major contributor to carbon emissions in the traditional grocery supply chain. In addition, the company has launched its strategy to avoid, reduce and offset carbon emissions.
Investing in climate protection projects around the globe
In cooperation with Planetly, HelloFresh will offset the full amount of direct carbon emissions for 2020 through continuous investment in global climate protection projects as per high quality standards such as CCBS or GoldStandard. Partner organizations and projects include the Yarra Yarra Reforestation in Australia and the Farm Biomass Project in Canada.
“Whilst we continuously expand our category leadership, further grow our business and advance our role as an important player in the food industry, we need to step up our sustainability actions and commitments. We have made it a priority to continuously evaluate, measure and reduce our carbon emissions. Our carbon offset programme is another step in amplifying our sustainability efforts as we grow. I am very happy about our progress throughout the past months and years and our effort to offer people a more sustainable way to enjoy food,” says Dominik Richter, CEO and co-founder of HelloFresh.
“We are currently prioritising mitigating the emissions that we directly produce. Our highly optimized production facilities emit significantly less CO2 per euro of revenue compared to traditional food retailers, which need to cool, heat and light thousands of stores,” explains Tilman Eichstaedt, Senior Vice President Sustainability at HelloFresh. “Furthermore, we deliver our boxes as efficiently as possible for example by shipping them in batches and reducing the number of kilometers travelled through our innovative planning software. This carbon offset initiative is another important milestone towards carbon neutrality and perfectly complements our existing efforts towards becoming a more sustainable company.”
Carbon offset programme plays important role in global carbon reduction strategy
Early this year, HelloFresh committed to track and reduce its per meal carbon emissions – in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 13. Next to the carbon offset initiative, the company has several other carbon reduction measures in place. These include transitioning production facilities to green energy.
HelloFresh has already installed a 2 x 99 kW solar generation system on its production facility in Australia, and a 270 kW solar system on its distribution center in the Netherlands. In the Benelux region, HelloFresh operates its own fleet of delivery vans and could thereby significantly reduce outbound logistics-related emissions. Deliveries in the city of Amsterdam are already 100% emissions-free.
