Recipe box brand HelloFresh is to open a new distribution site in Derby this spring, creating 450 jobs.
The distribution centre – named The Orchard by staff after a contest – is around one-and-a-half football pitches in size and located at SmartParc Segro Derby.
It will be HelloFresh’s third DC, and comes after the launch of Nuneaton site The Beehive, which opened in 2020.
It comes after “ongoing demand” for the brand’s meal kits and “will play a key role in allowing the business to continue growing and expanding its offering to UK customers”, the company said.
“Hundreds of operation, distribution and management jobs will be made available,” said HelloFresh UK CEO Laurent Guillemain, “and our plan is to further grow our Derby presence, offering even more local jobs in the future.”
All carbon emissions from production and distribution at the Derby site will be offset, in keeping with HelloFresh being the world’s first carbon-neutral meal kit company, it said.
The building will feature a 500kW photovoltaic system on its roof operated by SmartParc, and be able to deliver 430,000kWh per annum which relates to 224,000kg CO2 emissions. To prevent food waste, HelloFresh plans to set up a partnership with a local food bank, which will distribute unsold but still edible food to communities in need.
HelloFresh has seven million active customers globally and the opening of The Orchard will “expand production capacity significantly” in the UK, HelloFresh said.
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