HelloFresh is opening its biggest European warehouse in Derby, which it said will offer customers “even more choice and ability” to personalise meals.
The meal-kit company’s warehouse, named The Windmill, is its latest automated production facility, and has already created 300 jobs such as production operatives, maintenance engineers and management, with more vacancies expected.
The firm described the distribution centre as a “launch pad” for future growth and innovation throughout the business, as well as its UK brands.
It also said the warehouse, which was developed in partnership with SmartParc SEGRO Derby, would be “one of the most sustainable production facilities in the country”.
HelloFresh explained some of the warehouse’s features which would “contribute to a more sustainable future” included a rainwater harvesting system, solar panels and a shared heating and cooling system.
CEO Adam Park said: “We have invested for over two years to build our latest automated production technology in Derby, particularly due to its incredibly diverse and skilled talent pool.
“This site and its cutting-edge technology will allow the handling of great complexity in our production to give customers even more choices while creating hundreds of jobs and opportunities for talented people in the local area to build skills and careers in a growing space.”
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
He continued: “Derby’s great connectivity also means we can provide an even better delivery experience for our UK customers with 80% of customers now being within a four-hour drive of where the product is made.
“All in all, we are delighted to be in Derby and look forward to contributing to this great community as we partner on an exciting journey of growth and innovation we have planned for HelloFresh and Green Chef in the UK.”
Earlier this year, HelloFresh was fined £140,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a campaign of 80 million spam messages that were sent over a seven-month period.
An investigation by the ICO found that 79m emails and one million texts sent by the food delivery company “lacked proper consent” as customers were not aware they had opted in to receive the marketing messages.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
