Meal-kit firm HelloFresh has posted consolidated revenue of approximately €7.6 billion in its financial year 2023, up 2.8% compared to 2022 in constant currency.
HelloFresh delivered over one billion meals to customers worldwide during the year, down 3.6% year on year, while the number of orders declined 4.7% to around 119 million, the company noted.
The company attributed the growth in revenue to its Ready-to-Eat (RTE) business, which generated €1.4 billion in its full financial year 2023.
Adjusted EBITDA for the year amounted to €448 million, down 6.3% compared to €477 million in 2022.
However, this figure was in the middle of the revised outlook range provided by the meal-kit company in November 2023.
Expenditure And Investments
Capital expenditure decreased by €112 million in 2023 compared to the previous year as the company was already well into its multi-year investment programme.
As a result, it returned to a positive free cash flow (FCF) of €78 million, with the fourth quarter contributing €33 million.
The company invested in its RTE production sites, modernisation and automation of fulfilment operations and launching new verticals, such as the human-grade pet food brand The Pets Table, that will allow HelloFresh to diversify its revenue streams.
Dominik Richter, co-founder and CEO of HelloFresh said, “In 2023, we successfully laid the supply chain foundations to significantly scale our RTE vertical over the next several years. We expect continued strong growth for our RTE brand Factor in 2024 and we are preparing to launch Factor in further European countries this year, starting with the Nordics.
“In our meal kit business we have seen strong improvements in key customer KPIs, driving Customer Lifetime Revenue to the highest levels we ever achieved. We will continue to strengthen our customer proposition in order to return to sustainable growth for our meal kit vertical in the mid-term.”
Outlook 2024
HelloFresh expects constant currency revenue growth between 2% and 8% in 2024, with its North America (NA) segment growing at a higher rate than its international unit.
Within RTE, HelloFresh hopes to continue capitalising on strong demand, as it ramps up production capacity.
For meal kits, the company aims to close the volume and revenue gap compared to the corresponding period in 2023 as it progresses through the year.
The company has projected adjusted EBITDA to range between €350 million and €400 million at group level for the full year 2024, which is below the levels reached in 2023.
