The Future of Food Chains

As well as being labour and process intensive fulfilment of meal kits is largely undertaken by third party carriers such as DPD at current, requiring meal kit providers to be in close proximity to fulfilment hubs. As a result, fulfilment and labour costs currently form a significantly higher percentage of total operating costs for meal kit providers when compared to comparable supermarket distribution operations. As such, access to lean supply chains, affordable labour, and connectivity is critical for meal kit companies looking to manage pricing, and maximise consumer experience.

OUTLOOK

And in some cases, where scale allows integrated fulfilment solutions will likely reduce the reliance on third party fulfilment providers. This will result in greater freedom of operators to locate close to key supply hubs.

As we look to the future, growth in the meal kit industry and the scale of key operators such as Hello Fresh and Gousto is likely to unlock the potential for a greater degree of automation and integration. It is likely that new facilities, acquired to meet rising demand, will see significant automation in order to overcome labour challenges.

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