Business Breakdowns
Episode 34 HelloFresh: Delivering on Process Power
Business Breakdowns

Episode 34: HelloFresh: Delivering on Process Power

Business Breakdowns

Episode 34

HelloFresh: Delivering on Process Power

Dominik Richter is the CEO and co-founder of HelloFresh. We cover the challenges of scaling an operationally intensive business, why HelloFresh is more like CPG companies than grocery stores, and what he’s learned about brand building.

This episode is brought to you by:

Tegus. Much of the foundational prep for these episodes starts with research on the Tegus platform. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Coinbase, Hinge Health, Farfetch, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial.

MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo). MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term. Visit mitimco.org and their new emerging managers page to learn more.

[00:04:07] - [First question] - What HelloFresh does for their customers

[00:05:53] - How many meals are delivered a year and the scale of the business today

[00:07:08] - The full customer experience of ordering a meal kit for the week

[00:08:03] - What the original service was and the original version of their product

[00:10:26] - Overview of the business from a P&L standpoint

[00:14:09] - Their centralized and widespread manufacturing plants 

[00:16:35] - Attributes of a good recipe that benefits both the customers and the business

[00:18:32] - Thoughts on the cost of ingredients and how they impact everything

[00:20:43] - How the HelloFresh supply chain differs from traditional ones

[00:23:58] - The magnitude of waste and its impact on gross margins

[00:27:38] - Identifying customers, acquiring them, and retaining them

[00:30:52] - Why other meal kit companies have seemingly done poorly

[00:35:53] - Differences in the customer experience of HelloFresh subscribers that allowed them to thrive

[00:38:38] - Managing a business that’s dependent on process power and balancing which levers to pull and when

[00:41:24] - An example of a decision made to improve tiny percentages of performance

[00:44:17] - How a world returning to normal might impact their pandemic propelled growth

[00:47:22] - Thoughts on potentially expanding to private supply and distribution

[00:50:23] - Lessons learned about successful advertising, branding, and marketing

[00:52:41] - Key variables in HelloFresh’s growth for the coming years

[00:57:10] - What drives the decision to acquire and build a portfolio of brands

[01:00:01] - The biggest risks that the business might face in the future

[01:02:27] - What his favorite meal is from their menu and why

HelloFresh: Delivering on Process Power

Introduction

Patrick
Today we're breaking down HelloFresh. HelloFresh delivers weekly meal kits to people's homes. With 8 million active customers, the Berlin based business is the most popular company of its kind in the world. To break down HelloFresh. I'm joined by its CEO and co-founder Dominik Richter. We discussed the challenges of scaling an operationally intense business, why HelloFresh is more like CPG companies than grocery stores, and what he's learned about brand building. Meal kits are a notoriously difficult business model to get right. And this is a great example of process power, a competitive advantage you don't come across often. Please enjoy this great breakdown of HelloFresh.

Overview of the Business & Origin Story

Patrick
So Dominik, to begin our conversation on HelloFresh, I think it's important for those that haven't used the service for you just to describe the state of the business today. So maybe you can open by telling us what your business does and who the customers are and who you reach and work with?

Access the full transcript
Sign in or register to view episode transcripts.

Contact

Get in touch at help@joincollossus.com