FRESNO, CA - We've all seen the rapid ascent of the e-commerce sector, especially for food companies. With the food delivery market expected to be worth over $190 billion by 2025, there is a new question that has arisen: can the streamlined business models of the online sector be environmentally sustainable as well? Calling for increased packaging and packing materials to ship products, HelloFresh U.S. shares how IFCO and its expertise are helping the company support supply chain efficiencies as well as vital sustainability initiatives.

"During the pandemic, the adaption of e-commerce increased, and demand for home delivery of food rapidly accelerated—and that behavior is expected to continue," said Jeff Yorzyk, Director of Sustainability at HelloFresh U.S. "Now, we're looking at a lot more optimizing around the meal kit supply chain through the use of data analytics, innovative sustainable packaging, and automation."

While the food delivery market is expected to surpass $190 billion, and increase from $115 billion in 2020, the meal kit sector could be worth more than $17.8 billion by 2027, according to a blog post from the company. This rapid growth will create increased competition in the market and will have companies still dealing with high operating costs and short product shelf-lives.

To differentiate itself, HelloFresh is working with IFCO to create sustainable packaging solutions, and in 2020 became one of the first meal kit delivery companies to achieve carbon neutrality. As a result, HelloFresh uses IFCO reusable plastic containers (RPCs) to safely and smoothly move its offerings through the production line, where the customer shipment boxes are then assembled.

"IFCO RPCs allow us to optimize our internal logistics operations," explained Yorzyk. "It's therefore crucial that the IFCO RPCs support the staging of meal kits in a way that allows an easy, safe, and efficient packing of the highly variable delivery boxes.”

This process is intensive and has a high volume of products making their way through HelloFresh's supply chain. Therefore, the company is currently pursuing automation that is fully supported by IFCO's RPC design and durability.

In addition to sustainability and efficiency, partnering with IFCO has increased food safety for HelloFresh.

By implementing IFCO's RPCs, processes, services, and packaging designs, HelloFresh has also been able to ensure higher product quality for its consumers in addition to:

• Reducing the physical footprint of the production sites
• Targeting carbon emissions reduction through reusables
• Minimizing food waste
• Preventing packaging waste
• Protecting produce from damage and extend produce shelf life -Maintain the high quality of the individual meal kits

"The IFCO RPCs really help us in meeting our sustainability goals," commented Yorzyk. "They maximize our ability to use our facilities more efficiently and help minimize food waste. They also help us to reduce the need to recycle cardboard. We will continue to rely on and look for ways to increase our use of IFCO RPCs. We're always looking for ways to reduce the waste stream of cardboard that enters our supply chain."

Clearly, HelloFresh's partnership with IFCO is one of mutual respect and innovation, leading to major success on both sides. Having started out as a German start-up in 2011, the meal kit provider has seen a revenue rise of more than $4.3 billion in 2020 alone. It has delivered over 600 million meals and has customers in 14 countries.

To read the blog post in full, click here.

How will this partnership continue to advance both innovative companies? Keep a tab open for AndNowUKnow to find out.

IFCO HelloFresh