Last updated on June 8th, 2018
HelloFresh SE is making its retail debut, starting at 581 stores under the Ahold Delhaize USA brands Giant Food (Landover) and Stop & Shop. As an independent food brand, HelloFresh will partner to increase its availability with more retailers throughout the year, including “revitalizing the grab-and-go aisles for smaller format retail chains,” the company says.
HelloFresh spent two years creating its meal solution for retail, conducting global pilot programs to optimize its retail brand for taste, freshness and convenience.
“How we’ve been embraced by retail brands shows the quality product line HelloFresh has brought to market,” said Tobias Hartmann, president for North America at HelloFresh. “HelloFresh strikes a chord with households that want fresh dinners on the table, without artificial ingredients or overly complicated recipes. The addition of retail, a channel well-placed to benefit from the unique data, brand and infrastructure assets we have built out over the years, allows us to better address the everyday needs for even more customers, adding what we view as a highly complementary customer segment.”
HelloFresh expanded its distribution network from five to 11 facilities to minimize travel time and maintain ingredient quality for retailers. It also designed packaging intended to optimize shelf space and drive profitable revenue streams for grocers.
“Grocers needed to profitably replace underperforming or low-margin product categories and meet their customer demands for chef-curated, fresh and convenient meals,” said Hartmann. “Our retail line reduces the pressure on grocers to create these meals themselves and easily integrates into growing areas of their business such as online grocery and delivery.”
Through its online business, HelloFresh collects more than 60,000 U.S. customer data points per week.
“What results from these insights are recipes delivered to retail that are endorsed as delicious by a broad consumer base,” the company says.
HelloFresh’s retail offering includes choices like Peppercorn Steak, Mediterranean Style Chicken, Homestyle Meatloaf, Chickpea Couscous and Paprika Chicken. The kits range in price from $14.99-$19.99 and take less than 30 minutes to cook.
According to Giant Food, it will sell those five HelloFresh meal kits in the deli sections in all of its 166 stores in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Delaware. Each meal kit contains pre-cut, pre-measured, and pre-washed ingredients and serves two people.
“As we look to expand our prepared food items at Giant, the partnership with HelloFresh was a natural fit,” said Tonya Herring, VP of merchandising at the Landover, Maryland-based banner. “For customers that may not have as much time to spend cooking at home, these fresh and delicious meal kits are a great convenience option.”
Giant says it is committed to providing additional prepared food options and expanded hot bars in its stores, noting that a “growing number of locations will offer quick-serve stations such as sushi, sandwiches, smoothies and more. Additional convenience sections include grab-and-go options like all-new snacking options, salads, sandwiches and rotisserie chickens, all available in stores in June.
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