HelloFresh says goodbye to Atlanta-area distribution center

Meal kit companies have been boosted by pandemic-related demand for direct-to-home groceries, but that demand appears to be slowing.

Berlin-based HelloFresh BB #:299518 is reportedly closing its Atlanta-area distribution center, a 200,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2020.

According to an employee at the establishment, orders have slowed considerably compared to the peak reached by the company.

“Our number of kits was between 21,000, 22,000, 30,000,” the employee told WANF. “Today there were 8,000 of us.”

The most recent analysis from Mercatus and Brick Meets Click found that home delivery e-commerce has fallen sharply since the early days of the pandemic, from $2.5 billion in March 2020 to $1.4 billion. dollars in March 2024.

The composition of online grocery users has changed dramatically since March 2020. Nearly 55% of all online grocery users order online for pickup.

“The share of pickup and delivery has increased at the expense of Ship-to-Home,” the report said. “Pickup, which accounted for less than a third of online grocery sales in 2019, quickly rose to the top spot when the pandemic began and has remained there ever since, growing 586 basis points (bps ) compared to March 2020 to reach 43.2% this year. .”

The establishment is expected to close in July.

A company spokesperson said it was focused on “diversifying our offerings and optimizing our operational network to better serve our customers and grow profitably”, and would “take advantage of existing sites in the United States” to serve its customers.