HelloFresh has started recruiting at its new meal kit distribution centre in Derby.
The fresh food business, which supplies subscribers with easy-to-cook menus, has teamed up with Derby City Council’s Economic Growth Service to find people to work at its new hub, which will eventually employ up to 450 people.
The distribution centre, called ‘The Orchard’, is due to open at the SmartParc SEGRO Spondon site this spring.
HelloFresh was founded in Berlin in 2011, and delivered more than a billion food boxes last year in 15-plus countries across three continents. It had revenues of more than 6 billion euros in 2021 and employs more than 20,000 people.
Customers can order from a range of meals each week such as chicken and mushroom hotpot, herby meatballs and linguine, prawn and chickpea bulgur salad and cheesy BBQ pork burger. All the ingredients come in the same box with an easy to follow recipe guide.
It is the first business to move into the new high-tech food manufacturing and distribution campus, going up on the former British Celanese site.
HelloFresh UK chief executive Laurent Guillemain said: “We are really excited to be opening The Orchard, our new distribution centre in Derby, where we will become good neighbours and supportive of the local community.
“Hundreds of operations, distribution, and management jobs are available now.”
Andy Smith, strategic director of people services at the city council, said: “HelloFresh is bringing good quality, sustainable jobs to the city, which will help to boost the local economy.
“They are in a great location on the state-of-the-art SmartParc SEGRO site, which is very well connected by multiple bus and train routes to and from the city centre.”
Roles range from warehouse and food packaging operatives to supervisory positions and, according to HelloFresh, many of the positions require little or no experience and come with staff benefits, including food box discounts and a free breakfast for staff working in the office.
HelloFresh recently said it plans to more than double annual investment in capacity, infrastructure and product development to between €450 million and €550 million (£375 million to £460 million) this year to help it reach a mid-term goal of €10 billion (£8.3 billion) in revenues.
It is hoped the SmartParc food campus is being built as a low carbon food manufacturing and distribution campus which could eventually provide work for around 5,000 people.
